Bev's Blog(KIDSPORTS Executive Director Bev Smith's Forum)

2011-11-28T13:30:00.001-08:00

The winter months are upon us and KIDSPORTS, after a successful fall season of outdoor sports and activities, has moved indoors with 1st and 2nd grade basketball and 3 - 8th grade volleyball currently up and running. KIDSPORTS thanks everyone: kids, coaches, parents, and the schools and city for helping us to keep kids playing, developing, and having fun!

Winter basketball - 3rd through 8th grade - is about to tip. Our 3rd - 5th grade boys and girls basketball will remain the same as it has in the past, in terms of team formation. 3rd - 5th grade teams will be formed according to elementary schools. Boys 5th grade basketball practices start the week of Dec. 5th while girls 3rd – 5th grade and boys 3rd-4th grade basketball practices start the week of Dec. 12th.

KIDSPORTS 6th - 8th grade basketball has made structural changes this year (please see kidsports.org/sport season descriptions) and starting today, Monday, Nov. 28th, TEAM FORMATION is taking place for our boys program. (5th and 6th - 8th grade girls have a registration deadline this Friday, Dec. 2nd, a Coaches organizational meeting next Tuesday, Dec. 6th and TEAM FORMATION for 6th - 8th grade girls starting the week of Dec. 12th, 2011)

As we head into the basketball season, I wanted to share some words of advice and experience from Chip Kelly, Head Coach of the Oregon Duck's Football Program. This fall, Coach Kelly spoke to the KIDSPORTS Tackle Football Coaches at the annual KIDSPORTS Tackle Football Coaches Organizational Meeting. Even though Coach Kelly is a football coach, he had very important, significant, and meaningful advice for not only our Tackle Football coaches, but as well, for ALL youth sport coaches.

Coach Kelly's coaching and teaching philosophy has been formed by his overall sporting and life experience, from that of a child and adolescent participating in sport to now, one of the most successful coaches in college football.

I share his comments with you all as we head into the basketball season of team formation, practice, and play so that we can all keep in mind the importance of having "all kids," play, develop, and have fun! If you follow Coach Kelly's advice, there is no guarantee of a championship season, but that of something bigger: an opportunity to help all kids develop character and confidence and thus, give them all a chance to "win the day, and win in life!"

Chip Kelly's Coaching Philosophy:
• Coach Kelly's coaching philosophy is founded on his experience as a kid participating and competing in team sports
• The best part of his youth sport experience was playing and having fun.
• Most memorable moments of his youth sport experience was playing for a coach who developed FUNdamentals, who involved ALL of the kids, played ALL of the kids, and thus allowed everyone on the team to have FUN.
• Coach Kelly advised that at the youth level, one must teach FUNdamentals to ALL kids, and let ALL kids play. At Oregon, Coach Kelly says, "the first thing the coaches do is explain to the student athletes WHY we do the things we do. If you explain the WHY'S rather than just tell the kids what to do, or do it because I say so, they will be engaged, give great effort, and be more focused on the drill, skill, or scheme, because the understand the why."
• Coach Kelly basis his teaching and coaching philosophy on this:
1. I hear and I forget.
2. I see and I remember.
3. I do and I understand.
• Coach Kelly therefore recommends for coaches at the youth level in whatever sport one is coaching, to let kids "DO" rather than talk, lecture, or chalkboard to them the why's and the what's of practice.
• For instance at Oregon, practices begin with a walk through to let the athletes do and feel and understand the what of the drill after they know the why of the drill.
• Again, "I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand.
Chip Kelly's Practice Philosophy:
• Oregon's practices are very intense but not long in duration. The coaching staff breaks practices down into: a teaching component, and competition components. They teach more skills and fundamentals than they do schemes (x's and o's). Coach Kelly advises, " don't try and run too much stuff - many youth coaches try to "out- coach" or "out - fox," the other guy and they teach way too much! If you can run 3 plays well, then run 3 plays well! Most coaches have too much and as a result, the kids aren't able to do anything really well or effectively. Keep it simple, stick to the basics, and work on the fundamentals of each kid."
• Coach Kelly talks about the importance of all the kids on your team, knowing that they will be given a chance to play in the game. "At the youth level, it is of utmost importance that ALL kids play! That is what is FUN - playing! As a kid, why would you be at practice, and practice hard, IF you knew you weren't going to play? NOT PLAYING IS NOT FUN! As a youth coach, why wouldn't you play ALL the Kids?"
• Coach Kelly relates that even at the college level, if his players are not having FUN, they lose interest and they will not and do not practice well. And that is why the football team's practices and meetings are not very long, but focused on playing hard and having fun. Coach Kelly's only goal for every practice, game, and year is that his team leads the country in effort. And for kids to give effort in practice, at any age, but particularly in youth sport, kids have to be having fun and fun means being able to play in the game.
Coach Kelly's Game Philosophy:
• Coach Kelly says, " If all kids are given an opportunity to play in the game, you will be amazed at how well the kids play when given a shot! Their engagement, effort, and execution in practice is magnified when they know they are going to get in and play during the game! Establish a rotation so that ALL kids get in the game and play a meaningful role.
• Kids when given a chance, will rise to the occasion. And if they make a mistake, well that is part of teaching, coaching, and developing kids. They will learn form those mistakes. You must keep the kids playing! Isn't that why you are coaching? I mean, it is certainly not about your resume at the youth level, is it? I mean really, as youth coaches, are we looking for a job? Come on, the biggest victory is having all those kids play and as a result develop, and have fun! They just have to! Our guys at this level have to have fun!
• Coach Kelly says, "play all your kids. Great things happen! As an example of this, let me tell you about our defense at Oregon and how and why it has improved in the last couple of years. Our defense is very good and very effective because we play 23 - 25 guys on the defensive team in a game. Most teams play 11 - 15 guys on defense during a game. ALL of our defensive guys know that they WILL play in the game. And when you watch them play, see how much effort and energy they have! Because so many guys are playing, our whole unit is fitter, faster, and we wear people down! Now that is FUN!
• We have established a rotation where they ALL get in and get to contribute in a meaningful way. As a result, in practice ALL of our guys are fully engaged, give great effort, and our entire defensive execution is magnified because of this focus and attention. Our guys do make mistakes, but our goal is to have them learn from those mistakes. Effort and engagement on their part is a requirement, however, knowing they will get another chance and get in the game, galvanizes that effort and engagement.
Coach Kelly final words to the KIDSPORTS Tackle Football Coaches and All youth sport coaches:
• Keep things simple.
• Focus on the FUNdamentals allow ALL kids play, develop, and have fun.
• Tell the kids "why" we do things the way we do.
• Coach and Teach with this in mind: "I hear and I forget: I see and I remember: I do and I understand!"
• Coach Kelly asks his team only one thing: "We need to lead the country in EFFORT! If we lead the nation in effort, success and winning will take care of itself! Effort is what we all should be coaching and you will get great effort when kids are engaged, having fun, and are well rested. PLAY ALL YOUR KIDS!"

2011-08-08T08:33:00.001-07:00

Beginning in August of 2011, KIDSPORTS will provide a free online coach education course from the Positive Coaching Alliance, and as well, a Concussion Awareness Training course through ACTive Coach, to all KIDSPORTS volunteer coaches.

KIDSPORTS believes in supporting our volunteer coaches with safety and educational information. It is KS goal to help each of our coaches become the best that they can be. All coaches will be required to complete the Certified KIDSPORTS Coach Program in order to coach kids in our organization.

Along with parents and schools, coaches are key to developing character in children. At KIDPORTS, our volunteer coaches take this responsibility to heart. As John Wooden once said, "...a coach has a most powerful influence on those he or she leads; therefore it is the obligation of that coach to treat such responsibility with great care. I consider it a sacred trust; helping to mold character...and provide a positive example to those under my supervision."

Less than 10% of the 3.5 million volunteer coaches in the US have had any type of coaching education. (National Youth Sports Safety Foundation) KIDSPORTS believes it is time to support the 1200+ volunteer coaches in this community by offering a free online coaching education and concussion safety awareness programs to help coaches continue to provide a safe, positive, and supportive environment for children involved in 21st century youth sport activities.

For almost 60 years, KIDSPORTS volunteer coaches have done their part to be a positive force in the lives of many children throughout this community. The Certified KIDSPORTS Coach program will not only enhance this service, but as well, begin to take a step towards a back to the basics and big picture youth sport culture.

KIDSPORTS is partnering with the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA), a non - profit organization founded at Stanford University with the mission to transform youth sports so sports can transform youth.

Many people in our community and throughout the United States want to change the culture of youth sports, however, it will not just happen. Organizational leaders, coaches’, officials, and parents must model, show, and demonstrate what a positive youth sport environment is by setting examples and not just talking about it.
Coach education is all about being a responsible coach who strives to win and yet at the same time, has a second but more important goal of using sports to teach life lessons.

At KIDSPORTS, winning is important. Competing is important. However, when winning and the focus on competition trump the values and importance of kids learning, developing, having fun, and being part of something bigger than themselves, then we all lose no matter what the scoreboard says.

Through the KIDSPORTS Certified Coach Program the goal is to help coaches and parents keep more kids playing and playing longer in a safe and positive environment.
PCA provides practical and commons sense tools to redefine winning to get coaches, parents, and fans of youth sports to focus on:

-- Effort and personal improvement, rather than simply on the results of the game.
-- The understanding that mistakes are an inevitable and important part of the learning process and that a key to success is being able to rebound from mistakes with renewed determination.
-- The desire for children to learn by focusing not on the opposition or competition, but on being the best that one can be. Some days being your best may result in a win, but on other days it may not, even though, personal standards are achieved and surpassed. Coaches, parents, and fans need to acknowledge and reward the small personal victories that occur on the fields of play every day!

For the most part, coaches and parents throughout this community and the nation play their part in nurturing a positive youth sport environment. The challenge however usually comes when a game is on the line and an official makes a “bad” call, or a child drops the ball, or when respecting the rules gets in the way of winning the game.

Can we all, coaches, players, fans, and parents uphold a positive culture if it might result in losing the game?

We say yes. And at KIDSPORTS we are committed to supporting our coaches and parents in saying yes. Our vision needs to stretch far beyond winning a specific game to making a lasting impact on the lives of our children and players.

Please visit our website www.kidsports.org, or come in and see us to be a part of the KIDSPORTS team. We want and need you to coach, parent, and be fans of kids as they play, develop, have fun, compete, and learn valuable lifelong lessons.

Join the KIDSPORTS legendary coaching team and honor past coaches by going forward with the organization’s first ever comprehensive (and community’s) youth sport coach certification program that says yes! to a positive, safe, and supportive youth sport environment for kids.

2011-07-05T08:02:00.001-07:00

As we all head into the summer months, here is some food for thought regarding what is best for developing athletes as they make their way through middle school and high school sports. This is an article from the June 29th/11 edition of the Charleston Gazette in West Virginia which outlines the dilemma that not only developing athletes face, but also parents who are often involved in the decision making to determine what direction their child should take when it comes to playing multi - sports verses specializing.

New research has actually shown that specializing in one sport can be detrimental to an athlete's development. This article speaks predominately about young boys choosing between football and basketball, but this situation also is also prevalent on the girls side when so many club basketball or soccer teams demand year round commitment.

Charleston, West Virginia may be a long way from Eugene, Oregon, but throughout the nation, our youth are being exposed to pressures of performance rather than playing for process and global athletic development that may, in the long run, increase the athlete's capability and success in the sport that they choose to pursue full time.

This August we will have an opportunity to hear Chip Kelly speak to our football coaches about how he believes that developing athletes who play multiple sports are in the long run, the football student athletes he seeks to recruit for his football program here at the University of Oregon.

So whether you are near or far, or whether you agree or not, this kind of information is always good for student athletes, parents, and youth coaches to take into consideration as we all seek to make more informed decisions with regards to the best path to take towards athletic excellence.

Enjoy!

HEADLINE: Coaches: Let 'em play two (or more)

BYLINE: Rick Ryan, Assistant sports editor

College football coaches around the state agree. Limiting players to one sport is one bad idea.

The trend over the last generation of high school athletics is to hone a player's skills in a single sport over the entire year instead of allowing him or her to dabble in several sports.

Thus, the boom of travel teams in AAU basketball and youth soccer and the proliferation of summer football camps. One-sport specialists, after all, need to stay sharp year-round.

"At a lot of bigger [high] schools, what we're finding is that the student-athletes are not allowed to play three sports,'' said Pat Kirkland, the University of Charleston's football coach. "They'll say, 'Well, he hasn't spent the summer and winter and spring in the weight room, and he needs to be. Maybe he doesn't need to run track or play basketball.'

"At small schools, they might be able to play basketball or baseball and run track, and don't need to get into the weight room. But coaches at bigger schools have more of a pool [of athletes] to select from, and obviously football is the No. 1 sport for a lot of kids. I've recruited the state for the last 11 years - six at Glenville State and five at West Virginia - and I've definitely been starting to see it more and more. You don't know if it's coming from coaches or family members or the individual students. Someone saying you need to pick a sport and focus on that.''

However, that doesn't mean everybody's in favor of the trend. A panel of state college coaches, past and present, contacted by the Gazette doesn't like it one bit.

"I'm old school, over 50,'' said West Virginia State coach Earl Monroe. "Naturally, as kids, we just played every sport when the season came. But everybody now's trying to create a Michael Jordan, a LeBron James or whoever - a superstar. There's AAU and some people love it. I'm not a great fan of it, simply because if it's basketball, then all that kid plays is basketball.

"As kids, we'd go out all day and sometimes we might play basketball, football and even baseball on a given Saturday, and we were pretty good athletes. Now they're cooped up playing video games half the day and working on their basketball game the rest of the day.''

Don Nehlen, the former WVU coach, got his start in coaching at two high schools in Canton, Ohio - McKinley and South. He said he never asked his players - even with the Mountaineers - to concentrate on football and skip other sports.

"I was never for that,'' Nehlen said. "I always felt that if I had a good football player who was good enough to play basketball, it was fine with me. The guys who didn't play basketball would be doing mat drills or lifting weights to get stronger and quicker, and build a bond amongst themselves.

"I never wanted to talk a kid out of playing another sport. You're competing, and that's the name of the game - to beat the other guy.''

Lots of coaches say you can't get enough competition, no matter what sport.

"I've got a strong opinion on that,'' said WVU Tech coach Scott Tinsley. "I think high school kids should play every sport, and nobody can change my mind. There's nothing like competition to make you better.''

Tinsley, who coached football for 13 seasons at Nitro, pointed to the case of Brett McClanahan, a basketball star for the Wildcats who went out for football for the first time as a senior.

"The year he came out and played football made him such a better competitor on the basketball court,'' Tinsley said, "just to go out on Friday nights and compete against another opponent. You handle completely different situations.

"You can go in a gym and shoot all you want and concentrate on your sport, but there's nothing like game time. It doesn't have to be the sport you're trying to excel in. That year gave him a lot more confidence to get in there and bang around [in basketball]. It brought it out of him. I don't think it makes you tougher, but it brings that quality out in you. It lets you know it's OK to get banged around, and he had success with it.''

McClanahan is set to enter his senior season at Division I Akron as the squad's No. 2 returning basketball scorer at 10 points per game.

Bob Pruett, who coached football at Marshall from 1996-2004, thinks that by playing more sports, budding athletes become more versatile.

"I played three sports at Marshall,'' Pruett said. "I've always encouraged players we signed to play in all-star games. I think the more you play, the better well rounded you are. If Randy Moss [the DuPont star who played for Pruett at MU] had only played basketball in high school - and he was Mr. Basketball in the state - he wouldn't be in the NFL.

"I know it's a debate, but I think you can play more than one sport and still excel, be it football, baseball, basketball or track. One thing in coaching now is that you have to sell your sport. But when selling your sport, you don't have to berate another sport. If they're an athlete, I think they're capable of doing more than one thing.''

Monroe feels like coaches and parents could be penalizing their son's or daughter's potential by limiting them to one sport if they have a knack for several.

"You never know which sport could end up being your sport,'' Monroe said. "You could be an up-and-coming baseball player and your skill level in basketball in the fifth grade is not as high as baseball. But if you quit playing the other sport, you don't know which one you'd actually develop further in. Something can happen; you can get growth spurts. You don't realize the other sport is also going to help you develop your hand-eye coordination a little different. It's different muscle development. Fast-twitch, slow-twitch, [more sports] develop all different skill sets.

"I don't have a degree in anatomy or physiology, but I know baseball helped me with skills that just playing football wouldn't have developed. Basketball helped me develop some things coordination-wise and athletics-wise that wouldn't have happened just concentrating on football all the time. You have to train a [complete] athlete because all sports take a whole lot of hand-eye coordination and agility and footwork. Each specific sport has their own area that they develop, and you need to be exposed to all of it.''

Monroe sees the differences that specializing in a single sport causes by looking at his own football players.

"We've got linemen who can't catch,'' he said. "When I grew up, everybody threw and caught the football, because that's what we did every day. We played whatever sport we could pick up. I'm a 54-year-old guy, and I can throw and catch better than them because we did everything.''

Monroe said some parents want their children to "star'' in one sport rather than be competent in several.

"I think that's doing kids an injustice,'' he said. "They're not given a chance to develop all their skills, and diversify. I think we've got it all wrong.''

Monroe even let Kevin O'Brien, his program's all-time leading passer, dabble in baseball during O'Brien's freshman season at State.

"It doesn't bother me,'' Monroe said. "We tell our kids, 'If you can help [coach] Bryan Poore and the basketball team and contribute, then go play basketball and we'll catch up to you in football when you can.''

Tinsley mentioned other intangible benefits an athlete accrues from branching out to other sports.

"There are things you can't simulate in practice,'' Tinsley said, "and that's the feeling you get with the game on the line.

"Even if you're not an All-American baseball player, you come up with two out in the bottom of the seventh down one with runners at first and second. It's get a hit or go home. That teaches you how to handle the situation that you can't get in the gym. The more situations they're in against outside competition teaches them a lot of lessons. Not only things that carry over in sports, but also when you get out in real life and learn how to be successful. Competition is a great thing. The more you can do, the better you are.''

West Virginia State football coach Earl Monroe is adamant that young athletes should be encouraged to play multiple sports.

Reach Rick Ryan at 304-348-5175 or rickryan@wvgazette.com

2011-06-06T10:34:00.000-07:00

Baseball/softball/t-ball season is upon us! As we take to the fields to get ready to pitch, hit, and run, we are faced with challenges posed by Mother Nature and her proclivity for wet spring weather. But perhaps we can say, "enough already," as we head into the first week of June!

Another challenge associated with weather and field and space restrictions, is the task we have as coaches to keep kids active, playing, and having fun during the on again - off again access to the proper playing and game fields. As coaches, it becomes essential to have as part of our coaching package, innovative and creative ways to keep kids working on the fundamentals of both the game and as importantly, the movement, motor, and physical fitness components of team sport development .

When you don't have an "official" field to play on, or the water keeps you off of the infield, there are many modified games and activities that will help children develop the gross motor and fundamental movement motor skills that provide the foundation for sport specific skills. Below you will find a couple of websites dedicated to these kind of games and drills that coaches can use for a rainy day or, what we call on our team, a "FUNdamental field day" practice.

These drills and modified games are also great for keeping kids active and achieving the age appropriate intensity and frequency of 60 minutes of physical exercise recommended by the CDC. As coaches of any sport, we need to provide kids with a chance to move in a way that helps kids to obtain and maintain the benefits of physical activity.

As well as the baseball websites, I have also included an excerpt from the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, which speaks to the importance of providing kids not only with a team sport opportunity, but a movement and exercise opportunity within the context of team sport practices.

So as the rain comes and goes, and the sun begins to shine, remember that any day, rain or shine, play or practice, win or lose, is a day that with innovation and creativity, we can help kids improve their fitness, fundamentals, and still have fun!

March 15, 2011

Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine: Team Sports Providing Insufficient Amount Of Exercise

A new study, released in the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, finds that children and teens who play sports might not get enough daily exercise.

The study looked at how much exercise 200 kids age 7 to 14 in San Diego got while playing team soccer, baseball or softball. The children wore accelerometers that tracked movement and intensity during team practice time, which ranged from 40 to 130 minutes for soccer and 35 to 217 minutes for baseball and softball.

Among all participants, only 24% received the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity during practices. Among teens, only 10% of those between the ages of 11 to 14 reached the guideline. Two percent of girl softball players met the guideline. All participants averaged about 45 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity.

Soccer players were active for an average of 13.7 minutes more than those who played baseball or softball. Boys outdid girls during practice, spending on average 10.7 more minutes being active. And both boys and girls were inactive for an average of 30 minutes per practice.

In the study, the authors wrote, "The health effects of youth sports could be improved by adopting policies and practices that ensure youth obtain sufficient physical activity during practices: emphasizing participation over competition, sponsoring teams for all skill levels across all ages, ensuring access by lower-income youth with sliding scales for fees, increasing practice frequency, extending short seasons, using pedometers or accelerometers to monitor physical activity periodically during practices, providing coaches strategies to increase physical activity, and supporting youth and parents in obtaining adequate physical activity on nonpractice days." (Exercise, Fitness, Research, Trends)

Baseball Websites for Youth:

• www.y-coach.com
• www.baseball-practice-plans.com
• www.youthbaseballbasics.com
• www.ltad.ca (click on athletes and coaches link; then click on related LTAD stages to locate movement, motor, and physical fitness capabilities for the age group you are coaching)

GO KIDS!

2011-02-01T16:46:00.000-08:00

February Greetings Everyone!

As we teach, coach, and parent, the following is a message that every adult should read, because children are watching you and doing as you do, not as you say.

It comes from LSU’s assistant women’s basketball coach Bob Starkey’s blog: hoopthoughts.blogspot.com. Bob received it from Coach Creighton Burn’s most recent newsletter, with the following message also for coaches and senior members of any team or organization:

“.....while it (the message) obviously is directed towards the influence of a parent on a child, it can also be translated into coaches and their players. I honestly believe that players watch every move we make to read into what we think and believe. One step further, I think it can also be converted for the seniors in your program and how the other players, especially freshman monitor their actions.”

Author Unknown: (written by a former child)

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you hung my first painting on the refrigerator and I immediately wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you feed a stray cat and I learned that it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick and I learned that we all have to help take care of each other.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you make my favorite cake for me and I learned that the little things can be the special things in my life.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it and I learned that we have to take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw how you handled your responsibilities even when you didn’t feel good and I learned that I would have to be responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw tears come from your eyes and I learned that sometimes things hurt and it is okay to cry.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw that you cared and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I learned most of life’s lessons that I need to know to be a good and productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I looked at you and wanted to say, ‘Thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn’t looking.’

Please always remember children seem to learn best what they see you doing, not from what you say.

2011-01-18T17:18:00.000-08:00

The 2011 New Year is upon us and KIDSPORTS is back on the courts of the community running, jumping, dribbling, passing, and shooting its way into our basketball season!

As the 2011 season begins, we as an organization and a community face the challenges and rewards of our 21st century youth sport culture. A serious concern for us is the health and well being of the children and youth participating in sport.

As youth sport administrators, coaches, and parents we need to pay attention to how we teach and train our children during team sport activities. Articles from both medical journals and newspaper editorials are currently describing how the 21st century trends of youth sport participation are failing to meet the needs of injury prevention standards. Here are a number of recent articles describing these disturbing trends:

From NEWSDAY, December 8th, 2010: Youth sport injuries have become rampant in the United States, with emergency departments treating more than 8,000 children a day for sports-related injuries, safety experts reported yesterday. And from the American Academy of Orthopeadic Surgeons: 3.5 million children under the age of 14 receive medical treatment each year for sports related injuries.

According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control) more than ½ of all sports injuries in children are preventable. Since 2000, there has been a fivefold increase in the number of serious shoulder and elbow injuries in youth baseball and softball. There has been a dramatic increase in overuse injuries, as well as training related injuries – primarily related to the volume of training.

Overuse injuries account for nearly half of all injuries sustained in middle and high school and over half of these injuries are considered preventable. Most overuse injuries occur during periods of rapid growth and almost always involve training errors.

Traumatic injuries such as ACL ligament tears and head injuries/concussions are also on the rise with the National Athletic Trainers Association (Newsday, New York, Dec. 2010) reporting that about 63,000 high school athletes suffer brain injuries each year. These numbers led the association to issue a report card on youth sport safety, giving the nation a C- for 2010.

As administrators, coaches, and parents we can help to develop a healthy youth sport environment that respects age appropriate growth, development, and training principles. We must however, work together to develop a game plan for our kids and it starts with information and education on age appropriate teaching, coaching, and training.

First of all, we need to provide coaches training that helps them to develop the 5 S's of youth sport training: strength, stamina, suppleness, speed, and skill (motor, movement, and sport specific) before we even begin to think about technical and tactical strategies.

Secondly, there needs to be a focus on the development of the ABC's of movement and motor skill development: Agility, Balance, and Coordination. Without physical education classes and the lack of playground accessibility, where else will children learn these important movement fundamentals that are in reality, best practice antidotes to injury prevention. The training of the ABC’s is optimally developed in children K – 5.

Lastly, we need to access and share information and education readily available on line and in books, training manuals, and DVD's. Working together we can help to establish a youth sport environment that keeps our kids playing, having fun, and developing healthy and age appropriate movement, motor, and sport specific skills so that they can play hard, play smart, and play together longer and injury free.

The following are recommendations and resources that will help us all to create a local youth sport environment that promotes fitness and proactive “pre – hab” injury prevention verses reactive injury re-habilitation and recovery.

• The American Academy of Pediatricians found that children who participated in a variety of sports and specialized in a specific high volume training sport only after reaching the age of puberty, tended to be more consistent performers, had fewer injuries, and adhered to sports longer than those who specialized early.

• Sports, Trauma, Overuse, Prevention: STOP is a national campaign backed by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Visit their website at www.stopsportsinjuries.org to read more about sport injury preventative practices.

• Physical Literacy Movement - CS4L- Canadian Sport for Life is a movement to increase sport’s contribution in Canadian society recognizing sport as an important part of everyone’s life by promoting each child’s healthy and logical development in a sport or physical activity. Visit www.canadiansportforlife.ca

• IYCA – International Youth Conditioning Fitness Association: the goal is to enhance the knowledge of youth sports/fitness professionals and volunteers throughout the world via intensive educational opportunities as well as continuing education requirements. The main purpose of the IYCA is to assist in the evolution of the youth athletic/fitness industry by regulating the knowledge and skill of the individuals who work within it.

As a parent, coach, or participant in youth sports, I would encourage you to spend some time visiting these sights to get more information on what you can do to make the youth sport experience a positive and healthy one for our kids. Together we can keep kids playing, staying healthy, and having fun. If you have any thoughts or experience in this area, I would be most interested in hearing from you.

Go KIDS!
Bev

2010-12-20T13:10:00.000-08:00

Season's Greetings!

As we get ready for both the basketball season and the holiday season, I and our staff here at KS want to say thank you to everyone who is a part of the KIDSPORT community! As we close out the final month of the 2010 KIDSPORTS year, the KS staff and board want to acknowledge our community for its tremendous care and consideration of our children.

The gifts we receive throughout the year from our Corporate Sponsors, our Team Sponsors, our Adopt – A – School Sponsors, and our Scholarship and General Fund sponsors, are fundamental in allowing us to meet the physical and affective needs of our children! Your contributions directly impact our ability to continue to give the gift of play and your generosity provides our organization with a sense of the Christmas spirit year round – the gift of play is always a very special gift any time of the year.

To our coaches, parents, and participants we wish you all the best for the Holiday Season and the coming New Year. We hope that participating in our KIDSPORT programs allows your child to experience the joy of physical activity, to learn the fundamentals of movement and sport specific concepts and skills, to have fun, and to enjoy and learn from the values of teamwork and team play.

The year 2011 opens with our 3 – 5th, 6th – 8th, and 6th – 8th AAAA basketball programs. The effort that our staff, coaches, participants, and parents put into cultivating an environment where participants are immersed in a positive, productive, challenging, and supportive environment is extremely crucial to the KS mission of “all kids” play! All children need and deserve the opportunity to play to learn and learn to play and thanks to you, this is KIDSPORTS 56th year in making this happen.

In this upcoming 57th year, KIDSPORTS faces the challenges and rewards of our 21st century youth sport culture. It is of extreme importance for us to provide our 1,400 volunteer coaches and 10,000+ parents with information and education about the truths and trends of what is happening on the courts and fields of play not only here in Lane County, but as well throughout North America and the world.

Our goal at KIDSPORTS in 2011 is to not only continue to provide opportunities for "all kids," to play, but as well, to support our parents and volunteer coaches by providing information and education so that they can help our children develop age appropriate fundamentals and fitness, as well as learning to play and playing to learn. KIDSPORTS beginning in January will introduce two new added value programs:

K – 5 Physical Literacy Program: is an informational and educational curriculum that will be presented to both our coaches and parents alike and will center around age appropriate movement and motor skill development, injury prevention, "double goal coaching," sport specialization, and child - coach - parent communication, collaboration, and cooperation.

Competition not Conflict Ombuds: Competition Not Conflict (CNC) a University of Oregon Law School Graduate program, promotes positive competition by empowering athletes, coaches, and community members to understand, prevent, and resolve conflict. (Check out their web-site at: www.competitionnotconflict.com)

CNC will be working with KIDSPORTS to strengthen the systems and procedures that assist youth sports organizations in dealing with conflict that occurs among participants, parents, coaches, fans and referees, while also identifying areas of potential skills trainings for individuals and youth participants. (see www.kidsports.org/aboutus/ombuds.htm for more information)

As we play our way into 2011, KIDSPORTS is both excited and honored to be a part of this community's efforts to keep our kids playing, staying safe, developing fitness, learning fundamentals, and having fun!

Happy Holidays Everyone and we will see you all on the courts of the community in 2011!

Bev

2010-11-15T15:55:00.001-08:00

The refund policy was changed this year to better protect our business and ensure that we can continue to provide quality and affordable youth sports to our community.

I want to give you some background with regards to how our organization works.

Our registration process is done with every intent to give our customers as much information as we have at the time of registration. However, in any given year and in any given sport, and at any given age or grade level, we may have 8 children sign up, or we may have 18 children sign up. We do not know that until the end of the registration process.

Our sport managers work very hard to have volunteer coaches in place before the registration process begins. However, depending on registration numbers, at times we have too many children and too few coaches. We are also obliged to support our volunteer coaches in working with them to determine practice days and times that fit with their schedule.

However, not only must we schedule practices that fit with the coaches schedule, we also must share the school facilities with other youth sport organizations and to do that, we must wait until registration closes, determine the teams , AND then sit down at a coaches meeting with other youth sport organizations to schedule practice times on the fields and in the gymnasiums of our city and schools. The time for practice is further limited by school and community events which is frustrating and inconvenient for us all.

Once coaches, teams, and practice times have all been determined, we get that information as quickly as we can to our customers – families and children. Do we require families to have some flexibility in their calendars and schedules when signing up? Yes, we are a community run organization that relies on volunteer coaches. And the success of a community run program depends upon a certain level of collaboration by all – the organization, coaches, and families - to work together for the greater good of all. In this manner, we are able to provide a quality youth sport experience for many children at very reasonable and affordable rates.

If the end result of this process is that it does not fit our customer’s schedule and a refund is requested, our policy is designed to protect our organization in a way that covers the cost of the registration/refund process and to give our customers a credit towards another sport season. This policy is critical to our goal of continuing to provide quality and affordable youth sports to our community.

For instance, when a customer decides that the finalized schedule doesn’t work for them, at that point our organization has assigned and trained the coach, organized the team, scheduled practices, purchased equipment and t-shirt uniforms, serviced and prepared fields, hired gym supervisors, coordinated officials, and organized practice and games based on our customer’s registration.

When a customer requests a refund and withdraws their child from the team, that leaves the team short one player and the time, effort, and expense required by the sport manager and administrative staff to register and process the child, becomes a significant and prohibitive cost to our organization.

Our refund policy takes into consideration the cost of the work associated with the organization and registration service and provides the customer with an opportunity of credit towards our next sport season, thus allowing us to keep registration costs as affordable and competitive as possible for you our customer.

2010-05-19T14:10:00.001-07:00

The longer, brighter, and lighter days of spring have slowly arrived. Not without a battle from the wind and rains of the winter season trying to overextend its stay! But we are getting close and what is even more a tell tale sign of spring is the sight of KIDS out in the fields of play!

The sights, sounds, and smells of seeing our KIDS play, takes me back to the days of childhood and the pursuit of the same sweet sensations of crazy and chaotic movement! And this is one of the healthiest things we can provide our KIDS these days is just that: the opportunity to play and learn, and learn to play.

Brian Grasso is one of the leading experts in youth sport training and education. I wanted to share a couple of excerpts from one of his articles on coaching and teaching KIDS because I think that we forget at times how valuable supervised unstructured play is for KIDS. Here is some advice he offers for teaching, coaching, and helping KIDS play to learn and learn to play:

“….Let me start with the 5 – 9 year old group. The goal of working with 5 – 9 year olds is NOT what you think
This message can be summed up in two words: Guided Discovery. The whole point of athletic stimulus within this time-frame of life is to explore, in a self-regulated fashion. One of the terribly inappropriate things I see constantly being done with children in the young pre-adolescent years is adults over-coaching them.

Think about babies for a second. It’s a generally held belief that when a baby is learning to crawl and eventually walk, the greatest possible ‘external reinforcement’ an adult could give would be to positively encourage and provide safe boundaries. No one would ever consider stopping a baby from doing what he or she naturally is trying to accomplish – we understand that in order to develop proper motor functioning, a baby must explore and self-regulate.

Nothing changes in the early pre-adolescent years. Kids must be given boundaries (outcomes) but be allowed to explore, try, fail and learn. It is the only way for them to develop proper movement skill. 1/3 of your practice should be based on athletic skill… no matter what sport you coach. 5 – 9 year old athletes are not baseball players, soccer players or football players.

They are kids. And they need (and deserve) responsible adults who understand human development. It never stops amazing me how simple and basic this concept is, but how grossly it is misunderstood in our over-zealous sporting society. That’s why in the scope of a 60-minute soccer or lacrosse practice, 20 of those minutes must be spent on the things that are important from a physically globalized intelligence factor.” (Brian Grasso, IYCA)

Remember then when you see the sun, the field, and the KIDS outside that we make sure we to help them learn to play and play to learn!

Go KIDS!

2010-03-21T17:19:00.000-07:00

KIDSPORTS is excited to head out doors once again! We officially moved from winter to spring on Saturday, March 20^th, which means it is time to go back outside and play in the beautiful northwest.

As we head back out to the soccer fields to practice, play, learn, grow, cooperate, develop, compete, and have fun, I thought this article was a good reminder about just exactly what youth sport and soccer is really all about. Take it from two “experts” of both the parent and soccer world!

I hope you enjoy the article AND most importantly, for all who are playing, coaching, officiating, and watching, remember KIDSPORTS is about “All Kids Play,” and that we all must play our role to the best of our abilities to ensure a positive, productive, and meaningful experience for all!

Let’s work together to develop our children’s confidence and positive self image through sports, while creating a team atmosphere that helps improve not only athletic performance but character and social development as well. All for one and one for all!

March 13, 2010 Saturday

SECTION: BREAKING; Communities; San Jose - Valley; News; Local

HEADLINE: World class soccer star, soccer mom - Joy Fawcett - urges parents to back off

BYLINE: By Karen de Sá kdesa@mercurynews.com

Three-time Olympian and women's World Cup champion Joy Fawcett and her 8-year-old daughter spent Saturday at the Palo Alto High School soccer field, signing autographs and promoting well-behaved parenting from the sidelines.

Fawcett, 42, made history as the first national team player to give birth during the season darting off the field for just three weeks before returning to play. She went on to have two more daughters during her 17-year career among the nation's soccer elite.

Together with the second national team player to give birth, Carla Overbeck, the pair convinced the national league to support parenting players by paying for babysitters and separate rooms.

Fawcett never felt she had to choose between her children and the game, and pregnancy did not set her back; she nursed her babies in halftime breaks in the locker room.

Now, as mother of three young athletes herself, the winner of two Olympic gold medals following a successful playing career at the University of California-Berkeley, is an advocate for change in the sports culture consuming so many American families and not always in healthy ways. Fawcett who sits on the board of a national nonprofit organization promoting "positive sports parenting" said she sees too many parents "stomping around on the sidelines" and lecturing their kids after games.

"Parents just go a bit crazy," she said.

But she understands the impulses, and has to check her own at times, she added. Two of Fawcett's three daughters, ages 8, 12 and 15, are soccer players. And the family spends seven days a week shuttling between games and practices in their Suburban, loaded up with teammates, tangerines and crackers.

"I would definitely love to tell them all the things they did wrong, but I know better because they don't want to hear it," she said.

As founder of the Orange County Saddleback United Soccer Club, Fawcett has pushed for culture change among parents who are too quick to envision college scholarships and professional careers for their children, despite the relatively minuscule percentage who will achieve that status.

And Saddleback parents must behave. If they mouth off inappropriately from the sidelines, they are handed a candy sucker an opportunity to otherwise occupy their tongues.

America Brown, a Burlingame soccer mom who often stays up until 2 a.m. arranging carpools and sending out snack schedules, agreed with the main message of Fawcett's foundation, Positive Coaching Alliance. The organization that emerged from Stanford University's Athletic Department in 1998 has held workshops for more than 1,100 youth sports groups, schools and cities nationwide, while reminding parents that it is, after all, a game.

That message gets clouded among many parents, who end up overly invested as they spend hours carting kids to sporting events and watching their every move from the sidelines.

But Brown said there is a simple reminder she adheres to: "As long as my kids are having fun and enjoying the game, I'll do whatever it takes to get them there."

2010-02-18T14:57:00.000-08:00

This weekend I watched a number of games during the KS Annual Valentine's Tournament. There were over 85 games played in the course of 2 days, and I must say, I was very impressed with the intensity, concentration, and particularly the effort by our youth participants.

From the 5th grade girls to the 8th grade boys, the games were played with the highest regard and respect to and of KS's philosophy, the spirit of play, and tournament rules. Our KIDS played hard, they played smart, and they played together, but most of all, they played with pure joy for and of the game.

Our KS coaches should be acknowledged for their tremendous influence on our children in this regard. Through the ups and downs of competition; baskets made, assists given, defensive steals, bumps and bruises, missed shots, errant passes, wonderfully executed plays, and just creative individual and team play, our coaches enthusiastically urged our kids to stay the course, to keep on going, to never quit, and to balance the good with the bad and the wins with the losses.

In each division of our tournament, there are only so many trophies to be won and medals to be awarded, however, as is KIDSPORTS philosophy that "all kids play," it was definitely my impression, that in this tournament "all kids won!"

And I do not say this to sugar coat losing or to defend what child psychologists of the 20th century sought to do in protecting our children’s self esteem by declaring everyone a winner.

There were plenty of disappointed children who played their hearts out and came up short this weekend, but because of the perspective provided by coaches and parents, the loss became a valuable lesson.

And this lesson will help their self esteem in more ways than just winning ever can. Winning and success are important parts of sport, but so are knowing how to bounce back after defeat and disappointment. And it is often times the latter which develops a stronger sense of self esteem and determination than the former.

All KIDS won this weekend because they played with smiles on their faces, grit in their hearts, and with a great desire to not only be the best in the tournament, but as importantly, to give their best. When KIDS give their best, they never lose; they just run out of time AND we all know, that time is on their side!

And that truly is only what we can ask and expect from our kids. They met and exceeded those expectations and for that I say, thank you kids and coaches for making it a great tournament.

Some observations from both the tournament and in general from the first half of our KS basketball season:

• Our kids played hard and as a result, there were a lot of collisions, bumps and bruises, and in fact, one broken collar bone in the tournament. Our KIDS showed great class and concern by taking a knee upon injury of a fellow athlete, a gesture of respect and compassion that speaks to fundamental and formative values that sport can teach.

• Our officials did a great job keeping the games going, making proper interventions and keeping the spirit of the games positive and in line with KS “sportspersonship” philosophy. There were times when adults/parents in the stands reacted with poor or questionable comments and our officials stopped the game, intervened, and then instructed our kids to play on.

• Remember folks, the game of basketball is a late specialization sport; that means the game requires fine movement and motor skill that is developed throughout both youth and adolescent years. Our children are not “mini adults,” and are doing their best out there!

• For children 5th through 8th grade, the movement, motor, and sport specific skills required for basketball are very challenging for this age group

• Fundamental skills (the what and how to) and technical skills, (the when to do it; decision making) are still in the formative stages of their development at this age.

• Strategical and tactical skills are difficult to execute prior to the refinement of the fundamental and technical skills of both movement, motor AND sport specific development, so a game of basketball requires a lot of concentration and focus by our KIDS.

• And that is not to mention the added pressure of performance when coaches, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and sometimes neighbors, with good intention, voice and at times scream instructions to the children about what they should do, when they should do it, and how!!

• Remember a game of basketball is not unlike a small test in school, and imagine if we were all to crowd in around our child's desk during an arithmetic test, and act the way we act on the sidelines.

• Don’t get me wrong, kids love to hear you cheer and encourage with relative information and intensity, but if it is over the top, kids begin to tune us out, or tune themselves out of sport. (As a child once said, “I want my Mom and Dad to come out and watch me play, as long as they behave.”)

• Know your role. There are 4 roles to be played in our KS spirit of play and competition. You are either a 1)participant, 2)coach, 3)official, or 4) spectator/fan/parent.

• For the most part this weekend, kids played, officials officiated, spectators were spectators and coaches coached. There were, however, a few instances of confused and poor role play: parents officiating, parents coaching, coaches officiating, and parents administrating. Know your role. Accept your role. Play your role. Role play is vital to a successful tournament and youth organization just as it is for a successful team

• If you are not happy in your role, then I encourage you to take on another of the 4 roles. If you don’t want to do that, then there is a process in place to ask questions about your role, or that of another’s. Remember asking questions and questioning are two different aspects of communication. As the old saying goes: “if you don’t like something, work to change it. If you can’t change it, then change your attitude about it.”

• Throughout the year and inherent to the organization of over 16,000 children and over 1,400 volunteer coaches, problems will arise. And when they do, we encourage your feedback in a forum that is sensitive to time and place and civil discourse and process. We will take ownership of those problems and we will seek to find timely solutions with best practices, and with the best interest of all of our kids in mind.

• However, too often I hear many parents, coaches and even officials try to justify their lack of staying within their role or behaving according to the KS code of conduct because well, “the referee was terrible; the play was too rough; the parent was asking for it; I was just protecting my kids, my players, my family.”

• Circumstances should not determine when and how you play your role. Values of conduct determine how you play your role. (See our website for both coaches and parents code of conduct) Our coaches are experienced enough to dialogue with the officials should there be any problems. We take “due process” very seriously here at KS. That is our role.

• So let the officials play their role. Let coaches play their role. As parents, continue to play your role as so many of you already do. And if there is a concern by anyone in their role, voice that concern with us as we have roles to play too! Make your KIDS proud. Promise to play your role as well as the KIDS played theirs this weekend!

And as always, Go KIDSPORTS and Go KIDS!

2010-01-14T15:42:00.000-08:00

Dave Clark one of our long time employees here at KS, sent me this article written by Greg Heinz, a former Sports Manager here at KS who still cooperates with KS as an “official!” The article is very informative; from outlining the genesis of the organization to the growth of KS through the years to where we are today!

It’s great reading for all; it provides the foundation for why KS has been in this community for 56 years now, and will continue to be our community’s leader in the development and delivery of youth sport and more, because this community understands and walks the talk of “cooperation” like no other!

So when we occasionally lose perspective of the KS BIG PICTURE, Greg’s article brings everything back into perspective! Thanks Greg, and thank you to the people of the Eugene/Springfield area for the incredible and continuous cooperation for the greater good of our communities!

Enjoy!
Bev

co.op.er.a.tive \kõ-ä-pr'-tiv
adj 1. Willing to work with others. n 2. A cooperative association.

Over fifty years ago a group of parents got together to create new sports opportunities for their children. They each contributed what they could in time, skills, money, materials and effort. They were successful far beyond what anyone thought could be done.

Today much has changed about the organization that resulted – the name has changed, more sports are offered and for both boys and girls, it’s not just for Eugene any more and costs are higher. But at the core, KIDSPORTS remains what it was fifty years ago – a cooperative.

Parents who think of KIDSPORTS as just a Bi-mart or Walmart for sports miss the most important part of KIDSPORTS – their own personal involvement.

Much of what happens at KIDSPORTS is done by parents and family members – moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, friends and coworkers. Coaching, mentoring, team coordination and support and practice-field maintenance are done by a team’s family community.

Sometimes a parent will call to ask, “Why hasn’t KIDSPORTS found a coach for my child’s team?” Unlike traditional school sports programs, KIDSPORTS does not hire coaches.

KIDSPORTS does not have a miraculous locker room with a stash of highly qualified coaches ready to be assigned to a child’s team if only the Sports Manager would get on the job.

Coaches come from you, the parent/KIDSPORTS cooperative. About 95% of our coaches are parents or immediate family members. So, if you want a coach for your child’s team then the first question is, “Can I coach?” If your answer is, “ I don’t know anything about coaching” or “I’m not sure I have the time” then keep in mind that virtually none of the almost 4,000 volunteer coaches at KIDSPORTS each year have been professionally trained as coaches – most of them learned, on-the-job, with KIDSPORTS!

KIDSPORTS also helps solve time conflicts by allowing adjustments to game schedules and personal choice of practice times. Still, maybe you can’t or shouldn’t be the coach ... so the second question is, “Who do I know who can coach?” Networking with your parent group may find someone who has the qualities the kids need. Remember, almost certainly, early or late, the coach will come from within your group.

But why does it cost so much? The shortest answer is that the job got too big for volunteers to handle. Registering and assigning 15,000 to 20,000 kids to play in seven sports year round is a big job.

Scheduling games for 500 basketball teams, 400 baseball teams, 350 soccer teams, hundreds of flag and tackle football teams as well as volleyball is a very big job.

Then there’s paying for game field maintenance, plowing, lining, buying soccer goals, home plates and base markers, new basketball backboards (you really didn’t think the school district bought all those crank-downs, did you?), prepping baseball infields, renting port-a-potties, the equipment it takes to do these jobs, gym sups and the hundreds of referees and umpires it takes to cover thousands of games each year.

The list goes on! An almost $2,000,000 a year non-profit business does have a financial officer and people to handle and audit transactions. Insurance!!! We do background checks on coaches. Oh, how about those uniforms which have to be ordered, stocked and issued – some of them you keep; others we get back to clean, repair and recycle.

We buy baseballs, softballs, bats, bases, footballs, basketballs, soccer balls, flags, bags and volleyballs. And finally there is a staff you can actually call, which plans the sport seasons, writes and produces written materials, conducts meetings and trainings, and generally coordinates the whole thing.

Because KIDSPORTS is you – the community, we anguish about costs. We’ve done surveys all around the nation and we’ve found that generally we are a good deal.

Where we don’t match up, the answer usually is simple – subsidy, usually by a city or school district. An interesting note: Once upon a time – before Babe Ruth, Little League, AYSO and Pop Warner, KIDSPORTS was the only non-school sports provider in the community. Just imagine that all the business community donations that pay for special “major league” ball fields, fence advertising equipment and registration fees still were part of KIDSPORTS’ cash flow! The individual fees just might be significantly lower!

But, after all the work and all the problems the challenge is the same for us today as faced the founding families in 1954 -

Let’s cooperate so all kids can play!

2009-12-30T10:03:00.000-08:00

Season’s Greetings!

As we approach the end of 2009 and head into 2010, it is with great passion, purpose, and pride that we not only look back on our year here at KS, but that we also look ahead!

One of the ways to reflect and to at the same time, project, is to look into our KIDSPORTS BAG: the Blessings, Accomplishments, and Goals of our past, present, and future! Let us take a look at what KS has to be grateful, proud, and excited about and for, as we make the transition from 2009 to 2010!

KS Blessings:

• KS is BLESSED to be in a community such as Eugene/Springfield which is caring, considerate, and continues to evolve as a small city with a big heart. At KS, we sense the pulse of the big heart year in, year out and we too will continue to evolve so to make what we do at KS a significant partner in helping our children and families have fun, be active, and stay healthy regardless of the score! We all win when KIDS play with joy, play together, and learn to be physically active and literate for life!

• KS is BLESSED to have a caring, considerate, and professional staff, as well as 17 members of our community who dedicate their time as Board Members, and together work hard to continue the KIDSPORTS legacy of “ALL KIDS PLAY!” This is a time tested mission and legacy that has lasted 56 years and continues to be a truth in the myriad of trends in and of the sporting world!

• And finally, KS is BLESSED with a community of families and parents who give of their time, effort, and money to be a part of our program as participants, coaches, and sponsors!

KS Accomplishments:

• KS arranged for 16,000 KIDS to play a sport this year which means 1, 394 teams played football, soccer, volleyball, basketball, baseball, and softball. As well, we had 15 KIDS participate this fall in our newest sport Rock Climbing which we will also be offering in the spring of 2010! Stay tuned!

• KS scheduled 6,791 games played on the fields and courts of our community that KS helps to paint, supervise, and maintain.

• KS connected 1,400 dedicated volunteer coaches to the many teams and KIDS taking part in our programs. These coaches give precious time and effort to provide guidance, mentorship, and positive modeling for our youth.

• KS’s “ added value” programs this year include our new sport Rock Climbing, AND our “KS Physical Literacy Program.” Our PL program speaks to helping children learn the “ABC’s of movement (Agility, Balance, Coordination…) to help them move their bodies with confidence and in control while playing. This program is available on request to any of our KS coaches and is the foundation for our Coaching Support Program.

• KS in staying true to its mission of “ALL KIDS PLAY,” provided $229,000 dollars in scholarship assistance, thereby giving more than 4,000 KIDS the gift of play.

KS Goals:

• KS will be the community leader in delivering and developing team sports AND we will continue to add new sports that appeal to KIDs across the spectrum of our sporting and active community.

• KS will be the community leader in providing opportunities for ALL KIDS to play and to be physically active, fit, and literate as they grow and develop in this community. We will stay true to our mission of “ALL KIDS PLAY,” by being responsible stewards of our sponsors financial contributions, and funds sent our way through grants and research opportunities.

• KS will work to recruit, train, and retain quality officials for all of our sports programs. We will continue to work closely with our local Official Associations such as Lane County Soccer Referees Association; Lane County Football Officials Association; and the Lane County Basketball Officials Association.

• KS will be responsive to our clients needs through continued development of our personable and professional customer service and sport management teams.

• KS’s “Physical Literacy Program,” will be available to coaches on a volunteer basis through our 2010 spring season and will evolve into a Coaches Support Program by the fall of 2010.

As you can see for 2009/10 year our KS’s BAG is full of gratitude, passion and purpose; our organization prides itself in striving to provide an environment where we develop great KIDS, good character, and strong community. To all of you in our community that help us to achieve these ends, we THANK YOU and send our very best wishes to you and your families for a Healthy and Happy New Year and a BAG full of wonderful reflections and exciting projections!

2009-11-13T20:39:00.000-08:00

It's already November! How fast the sporting season at KIDSPORTS is speeding by.

We had a very successful fall of play, improvement, and teams having fun, working hard, and getting better! Thank you KIDS for your effort, your team work, and your passion to do what you love and love what you do out there on the fields of our community. And thank you to all of our volunteer coaches who put in the time and energy to make this all happen!

Off the field, our KIDSPORTS Campaign for 2009 has one month down and one month to go. We are trying to raise $200,000.00 dollars during our campaign (which runs from Oct. 1, 2009 until Nov. 30th, 2009) to help us to help KIDS to keep playing. This year so far, our KIDSPORTS team of staff, board members, and you the community helped over 1,000 KIDS play this fall through our scholarship program

Our request for scholarship help this year is projected to be over $300,000 dollars. We need your help. Remember when you invest in KIDSPORTS you invest in our KIDS! Your gift of time, gift in kind, or a financial contribution helps to not only give all KIDS a chance to play, but as importantly, a chance at a better day, a better way!

VOLLEYBALL:
As I mentioned, our volley ball program is up and running with practices beginning last week and games soon to be underway. As we head into the gyms with volleyball, KIDSPORTS is providing as a service to our volleyball and basketball coaches our "added value" program of coaching support with our Physical Literacy Specialist, Steve Brown.

Steve is a 1992 graduate of Harvard University, a former high school teacher and coach at Bishop's School, La Jolla, San Diego; Jesuit High School, Portland, Oregon; and Marist High School, Eugene, Oregon. Steve will help coaches to implement a warm up and cool down for their particular age group of athletes that they are coaching.

Last Tuesday Nov. 2nd I spent an hour with Cristal Bollinger's 5th grade volleyball team out at Gilham Elementary. Cristal contacted me after receiving information from our KIDSPORTS Sports Managers regarding the Physical Literacy Program. Cristal has been coaching this volleyball age group for 3 years and was very interested in seeking support from us to add value to her KIDSPORTS experience.

Steve will be working with her team to introduce the age appropriate KIDSPORTS warm - up and cool down that addresses the teaching and learning of the fundamental movement and motor skills needed to become physically literate; that is helping KIDS to be confident in moving their body with control through time and space AND being able to react with confidence and control to all the things of which the game of volleyball (or any game) challenges them with.

BASKETBALL:
This Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 we had our 1st and 2nd grade basketball coaches meeting at 7pm. Basketball is one of my favorite sports (as you might have guessed), and I am fortunate enough to be coaching a 1st grade girls basketball team this season. Very exciting! In fact I had a comment posted last month on my blog regarding basketball rules with this age group.

The comment was in the form of a question: "Bev, Appreciate the information you posted, very helpful. Will K-4 basketball rules continue to allow stealing off the dribble? If so, do you have any suggested drills?”

Before answering the question about stealing off the dribble, I would like us all to consider what the goal of youth sport should be, in any sport, between the ages K - 4.

Certainly it is fun to compete and win at any level. However, if we place a high priority or importance on winning and competing at this fundamental and formative stage, then I think we are doing a great disservice to our children and youth.

I would suggest that for this age, it has less to do with the tactical, strategic, and technical aspects of the game and more to do with the fundamentals of both basketball skill AND movement and motor skill development.

For a young child to be able to dribble the ball, pass the ball, shoot the ball WITHOUT defense even being in the picture, and to do all of this with balance, coordination, and timing, is a lot to ask!

What we should be teaching and encouraging in K - 4 basketball is to use the ball as a vehicle in order to teach agility, balance, coordination, timing, jumping, stopping, pivoting, and then the basics of the game: passing to ourselves (dribbling), passing to others, the foundation of shooting, and the simple concepts of play.

At this level we must also take into consideration the age appropriate cognitive, mental, emotional and social capacity that our K - 4 children have. At this age children must be active, instructions need to be simple, and they like and need to be led. A “follow me” approach works well with children of this age as they are good at modeling behavior and actions.

Modified games are strongly recommended at this level to enhance the teaching of space and the use of space plus there is more opportunity for each child to touch the ball frequently, which is one of the most important things at this age.

3 on 3, or 4 on 4 games for K -4 help kids learn the game and as well develop the age appropriate motor and movement skills as they focus more of their time on developing individual skills rather than strategic, tactical, or team skills.

If our kids learn to run, jump, stop, pivot, pass, dribble, and shoot with balance, coordination and in control, they will have an excellent foundation for the technical, strategic, and tactical team skills to be added as they get older. K - 4 is about establishing a foundation of which kids can then build their basketball house upon.

Our goal is to provide an environment where children develop a love of the game, (they have FUN!), confidence in moving their bodies and playing the game, concentration skills, the formation of leadership and self reliant skills, communication skills, and competition management skills.

I have included links to some very informative and great basketball web-sites that offer incredible teaching and coaching skills, drills, and frills to help you do the right thing at the right time to help our KIDS have fun, get better, and become the best that they can be as individuals and teammates at every level.

I know that I did not answer the question on the rule with regards to steal or not to steal, but I believe if we focus on helping our kids to develop in age appropriate ways we will teach, grow, and develop our way our way into the answer.

http://www.basketball.bc.ca/

http://www.thecrossovermovement.wordpress.com/

http://www.ihoops.com/

http://www.basketball.ca/ (link to LTAD)

Go KIDSPORTS!
Go KIDS!

Bev

2009-10-01T13:52:00.000-07:00

Our KIDSPORTS 2009 Campaign for KIDS starts today, Oct. 1st! Our annual campaign is an opportunity to not only raise funds for KIDS to play, BUT as well and as importantly, to raise AWARNESS as to how important KIDSPORTS is for our KIDS and families in this community!

Please join us and our Campaign Chair, Mary Decker Slaney, in spreading the good word and work of our organization and our thousands of volunteers who provide coaching, guidance, and mentoring to thousands of young girls and boys in the community!

If you know of anyone who is interested in giving to our organization in any way; a financial gift, gift in kind, gift in time by volunteering as a coach or campaign advocate, please have them contact me directly at bevs@kidsports.org! We would love to have them join our team! GO KIDS!

KIDSPORTS as you know is our community’s leader in the development and delivery of team sports. In this day of budget cuts, elementary and middle schools struggle to offer appropriate physical education, after school activities, and school team sport opportunities for our developing children.

This is a critical situation for our children and families as physical activity is an incredibly important part of a child’s education. And if children don’t have the opportunity in schools to become “physically literate,” then KIDSPORTS becomes an even more important entity in our community to ensure the health and welfare of our youth and to teach physical literacy

Physical Literacy as defined by Canadian Sport For Life (CS4L), is the development of fundamental movement skills and fundamental sport skills that permit a child to move confidently and with control in a wide range of physical activity setting and react appropriately to those events.

The learning and practice of fundamental movement skills is the basic building block for the development of physical literacy. Much like learning the alphabet and phonics are the fundamental skills needed to eventually read Shakespeare, the development of fundamental movement skills, and fundamental sport skills, is critical if children are to feel confident when they engage in physical activity for fun, health, and for competition and the pursuit of excellence in sport. 1

A couple of weekends ago on a sunny Sunday afternoon, I watched the KIDSPORTS Flag Football Jamboree on the Jefferson fields. The games were fun with lots of action, enthusiastic and patient coaching, officials working hard to make the game flow, and I enjoyed watching our youngsters run, throw, catch, and fly all over the field.

Certainly as a coach of the age group I was watching, there is a lot to teach. Our objective as coaches is to not only teach the sports specific skills of flag football and the concepts of play, but as importantly, the physical movement and motor skills that kids need in order to feel confident in moving their bodies through the range of athletic activity any sport requires.

So what should the breakdown be for our youth practices in any sport to make sure that we provide for “physical literacy” development (that will be important for the long term development of our kids) and that of the sport specific development?

Again, according to CS4L, here are recommendations for coaches of youth sport to consider as they plan practices:

Children Aged 6 – 8 yrs of age:
60% of practice should be devoted to movement skills – Fundamentals
20% of practice should be devoted to sport specific skills – Fundamentals
20% of practice should be devoted to individual decision making – Technical
(technical skill refers to “when” to apply the movement and sport specific skills when playing in a modified or game like situation/formation )

Children Aged 7 – 9 yrs of age:
30% of practice should be devoted to movement skills – Fundamental
40% of practice should be devoted to sport specific skills - Fundamental
20% of practice should be devoted to individual player – Technical
10% of practice should be devoted to multi – player – Technical

Children Aged 8 – 12 yrs of age:
20% of practice should be devoted to movement skills – Fundamental
20% of practice should be devoted to basketball skills – Fundamental
30% of practice should be devoted to individual skills – Technical
20% of practice should be devoted to multi – player – Technical
10% of practice should be devoted to basic offense & defense – Strategy 2

As you can see, what is emphasized in these age groups, is in fact, the development of the child’s physical literacy; that is their ability to move confidently and feel in control of their bodies so that they can be in a position to run, throw, catch, land, change speed, change direction, act, and react when called upon to play the game.

Many times coaches run complicated formations and “plays” with these age groups and without the child’s ability to move efficiently and confidently, the execution simply breaks down. Or, there are one or two naturally gifted young children who tend to take over the game at the expense of other children’s development.

Our goal at KIDSPORTS is to give all of our kids a chance to become physically literate, so as coaches, don’t worry so much about winning the game; think about winning the day in every child’s life. Being physically literate is important for a life time, not just game time!

1 Information from CS4L – Canadian Sport for Life; www.ltad.ca)
2 Information from CS4L – Canadian Sport for Life; www.ltad.ca)

2009-08-31T11:07:00.000-07:00

Greetings everyone from 2190 Polk Street home of KIDSPORTS!

As the new Executive Director of KIDSPORTS it gives me great pleasure to salute the community of Emerald Valley in this new capacity.

I say both hello and thank you to everyone, for I am excited and honored to be a part of this historic and “herstoric” organization that for 56 years has been the community leader in developing and delivering team sports programs for youth development.

I have had the good fortune of following in the footsteps of two very successful ED’s of KIDSPORTS, Jim Torrey and Chris Miller, who need no introduction to this community, but do need a round of applause and a sports field sized THANK YOU for their successful leadership in keeping the ball rolling for KIDSPORTS, and rolling with integrity, innovation, and inspiration into the 21st century of community based sport.

I know that I can speak for both Jim and Chris when I say that the inspiration part is contributed by none other than you, members of this caring, concerned, and compassionate community.

You all put KIDS first by volunteering to coach, by sponsoring teams and our sports and leagues. You enable us to give the special gift of sport to young children and youth by investing in our scholarship fund and in this way you give us the means to stay true to our mission of finding a way for ALL kids to play!

As we run, jump, and play our way into the 21st century, KIDSPORTS is excited about the opportunity we have in front of us to continue to be the community leader in the development and delivery of team sports programs.

We are ALSO very excited, energized, and “programized” to begin to develop and deliver complimentary and support programs and services to our “KIDS,” and the volunteers who teach and coach them throughout the year. As well, KIDPSORTS will look to expand our programs to include individual sport opportunities and life – time sports and activities.

One program which we are working hard to develop is an online system of support for our 1,200 – 1,300 volunteer coaches who provide leadership, mentorship, and guidance to the 15,000 to 17,000 youth per year that run, jump, and play with KIDSPORTS. With one click onto the KIDSPORTS web-site, volunteer teachers and coaches will be able to access the KIDSPORTS library of youth development exercises, games, skills, and drills for every age.

A sample of our on – line coaching support is written below: it is a recommendation from sport science that speaks to the need of building our KIDSPORTS programs around the principles that respect the development needs of all children.

As our coaches and youth take to the fields this week in the fall sports of flag and tackle football and soccer, the 5’S of the basics of athletic development would be important to serve as guiding principles in your team’s practice and development planning.

The 5 S’s are:
1. Stamina – developed through modified games and fun activities – tag and running activities
2. Strength – developed through body weight exercises – pushups, sit-ups, pull ups, rope climbing, tug of war
3. Speed – developed through games and exercises with focus on hand and foot speed, reaction time (ready go!) races, and relays
4. Skill – acquisition of simple fundamental and motor movement skills ( ABC’s of movement = Agility, Balance, Coordination) through games and activities and simple sport specific skills
5. Suppleness (Flexibility) – dynamic stretching, complete range of movement exercises (leg swings and arm swings, head rolls and shoulder rolls) that is important for the beginning of practice and static stretching for cool down at the end of practice.

Please stay tuned for my next blog that will speak in more detail about our KIDSPORTS library, and I will discuss further our efforts to support our teachers and coaches in order to help meet the respective development needs of our youth as they progress through the year and the ages with our KIDSPORT programs.

I would also be interested in any feed back or ideas that you have as coaches; we would love to incorporate your ideas, skills, drills, and things that you do to help your team and individual players become the best that they can be.

For now, play hard, play smart, and have FUN!!

Yours in Sport,

Bev