The Seven Pillars of YMCA Youth Sports Everyone Plays We do not use tryouts to select the best players, nor do we cut kids from YMCA Youth Sports. Everyone who registers is assigned to a team. During the season everyone receives equal practice time and plays at least half of every game. Safety First. Although children may get hurt playing sports, we do all we can to prevent injuries. We’ve modified each sport to make it safer and more enjoyable to play. We ask you to make sure the equipment and facilities are safe and to teach the sport as we’ve prescribed so the skills you teach are appropriate for children’s developmental level. We ask you to gradually develop your players’ fitness levels so they are conditioned for the sport. We also ask you to constantly supervise your young players so you can stop any unsafe activities. Character Development. Honesty, Respect, Responsibility, Caring, and Faith are about playing by the rules and more. It’s about you and your players showing respect for all that are involved in YMCA Youth Sports. It’s about you being a role model of sporting behavior and guiding your players to do the same. Remember, we’re more interested in developing children’s character through sports than in developing a few highly skilled players. Positive Competition. We believe competition is a positive process when the pursuit of victory remains in the right perspective. The right perspective is when adults make decisions that put the best interests of the children before winning the contest. Learning to compete is important for children, and learning to cooperate in a competitive world is an essential lesson of life. Through YMCA Youth Sports, we want to help children learn these lessons, and parents to do the same. Family Involvement. YMCA Youth Sports encourages parents to be involved appropriately in their child’s participation in our sports programs. In addition to parents helping as volunteer coaches, officials, and timekeepers, we encourage them to be at practices and games to support their child’s participation. Sport for All. YMCA Youth Sports is an inclusive sport program. That means that children who differ in various characteristics are included in rather than excluded from participation. We offer sports programs for children who differ in physical abilities by matching them with children of similar abilities and modifying the sport. We offer programs to all children regardless of their race, gender, religious creed, or ability. We ask our adult leaders to encourage and appreciate the diversity of children in our society and to encourage the children and their parents to do the same. Sport for Fun. Sports are naturally fun for most children. They love the challenge of mastering the skills of the game, playing with their friends, and competing with their peers. Sometimes when adults become involved in children’s sports they over organize and dominate the activity to the point that it destroys children’s enjoyment of the sport. If we take the fun out of sports for our children, we are in danger of the kids taking themselves out of sports. Remember the sports are for the kids; let them have fun. These seven pillars represent what YMCA Youth Sports is all about. The focus, as you can see, is on the child, not the final score or final record. As with all programs at the YMCA, Youth Sports is also centered around our mission and the YMCA’s 5 core values. Thank you for trusting us to be a part of your child’s development. We take that responsibility seriously and do everything we can to continue earning your trust. We’ve created this section to provide you with general information about our Y employees, volunteer coaches, and refs. We also have some helpful tips to make your Y sport experience the best that it can be.

FAQs

How are the coaches picked?

GREAT QUESTION!! All of our coaches are volunteers. Some of them are Y staff, some are parents helping coach their kids, while others are folks from the community who share the same Y values. ALL of our coaches go through a background check as well as a drug test. Your child’s safety is our #1 priority.

How often is practice?

Typically our teams practice once or twice a week. We know your life is busy so most of those practices will last around 1 hour. We want to honor your time so we provide resources to the coaches to help make your season the best it can be.  

What equipment will my child need?

At the beginning of each season you will receive information on what is “required equipment” as well as “recommended equipment”.  If you have any questions make sure to ask your Coach.

Helpful Tips

Here are some helpful tips to ensure you have a great season!

  1. Save the Coaches contact information and give them yours.
  2. Sign up for Weather and Emergency Text Alerts – We want to get you the right information at the right time. This is a great resource to help in that communication.
  3. Make sure your athlete has the equipment they need.
  4. Be on time – We want to honor your time and effort by providing the best quality sports experience we can, we need your help though. By showing up on time, ready to play, for practices and games it makes a world of difference. Picking up your athlete on time is a huge help to our coaches too. We understand that can’t happen every time. When those situations occur the best thing to do is notify the Coach via phone call or text.
  5. Make it FUN!! At the Y we encourage fair play, positive competition and family involvement. Every child gets to play so make sure to cheer loud!! (For both teams!)
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