LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The fate of a southern Indiana youth shelter brought an emotionally-charged crowd to the Floyd County Commissioners meeting Tuesday evening.

Commissioners want to sell the Pineview Government Center on Corydon Pike in New Albany, just weeks after Open Door Youth Services cut the ribbon on The Sanctuary, its new shelter program for kids in crisis. 

“It was combination of things going on at home and choices that I made as a teenager that landed me here,” Abigail Russell, a former shelter resident, said. “I was here from the time I was 15 to right before my 19th birthday, on and off. Now, I’m 30 years old, all grown up, married and have a successful career, and I am a valuable member of society because of the services Open Door Youth Services offers.”

The youth shelter, which dates back to 1982, moved to the Pineview government building in 2012 years ago.

Last year, it served about 130 kids, and thousands more with mental health services and sexual abuse education and prevention programs at area schools.

“I’m committed as long as I’m in this position to helping them find a new location but at the end of the day this building needs to go,” Jason Sharp, Floyd County Commissioner, said.

Tuesday night, Floyd County Commissioners approved a plan to sell the Pineview Government Center and terminate Open Door Youth Services’ lease.

“Shame on you,” one resident shouted as she stared at the three commissioners.

“This is heartbreaking to me and to many people,” another resident said while sobbing. 

Many people asked the commissioners to soften the blow and make any sale contingent on the shelter finding a new home.

“If everybody took all the energy in this room and everybody decided to help out in terms of finding a new location to relocate this, there’s no telling what you can do,” Richard Fox, Attorney for Floyd County, said

At times tempers boiled as leaders tried to push back on the narrative that the shelter was being evicted.

“You’ve misled everyone behind you,” Frank Loop, commissioner, said to Leah Pezzarossi, executive director of Open Door.

Floyd County Commissioners and Open Door leaders also argued over whether there’s actually a signed lease.

“The agency never signed the interlocal agreement,” Al Knable, commissioner, told Pezzarossi.

“I don’t know that we know that,” Pezzarossi replied to Knable. “All I know is that on your end it didn’t make it to the state board of accounts where it was supposed to be recorded.”

Despite the disagreements commissioners are adamant they don’t want to cut Open Door services. 

“It’s not our intent to close this facility down, but it is our intent to move away from a building that is too expensive to maintain,” Knable said.

The plan approved Tuesday would force the shelter to find a new home by February 2026, but commissions said they are open to adding more time.

“Everywhere we go we have to have things a certain way,” Pezzarossi said. “The plans and everything have to be approved by the Department of Health and Child Services and that takes a long time. We’re kind of the most complex office to have to move and so for us to have the shortest amount of time frame is daunting.”

Russell shared her story Tuesday evening at the meeting so everyone in the room would know what’s at stake.

“I am the face of what these services can do, and I hope that impacts you in some way,” Russell told the commissioners. 

Per the agreement, a public hearing must be held and that is scheduled for June 26 at 5 p.m. at the Pineview Government Center. Then, the shelter would have 180 days after a final vote to vacate pushing the exit date into February 2026. 

Open Door has pitched the idea of buying the building. They have a $500,000 matching grant from Metro United Way, but said they need time to raise the money to get it.

Pezzarossi also said the shelter is looking into trying to find someone to buy the building that will lease it back to the shelter.

“We’re doing everything we can to figure it out,” Pezzarossi said. 

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Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (May 21, 2025) – As part of its inaugural First Tee Week celebration, leading youth development organization First Tee has announced a powerful new public service campaign titled “Dear Coach.” The campaign honors the thousands of First Tee coaches across the country who use the game of golf to help kids and teens build character, confidence and resilience.

Airing nationwide on digital and social platforms, the PSA features heartfelt messages from kids that showcase the deep and lasting impact of coaches, who are often described by parents as the “unsung heroes” of youth development. Additionally, First Tee participants and alumni will be sharing their personal stories through social media and First Tee’s website.

“A great coach does not just teach the game of golf but also the incredible life lessons and values that are inherent to the sport, including believing in yourself, acting with integrity, building resilience and playing with sportsmanship,” said Jane Fader, senior vice president of marketing and communications at First Tee. “This PSA reflects the gratitude we hear every day from kids, parents and alumni about the coaches who helped them believe in themselves.”

Shot with real participants and coaches from First Tee – Metropolitan New York, the PSA is a centerpiece of First Tee Week, a national awareness campaign running May 19–25, designed to celebrate First Tee coaches and inspire communities to get involved in youth character development through sports.

In addition to the PSA, First Tee Week includes:

• Community activations and coach appreciation events at First Tee chapters across the country
• An alumni event at the PGA TOUR’s Charles Schwab Challenge, featuring a panel discussion on the impact of coaches
• Corporate partner engagement, spreading awareness across leading sports and media platforms

First Tee coaches undergo a robust training program grounded in positive youth development research and now serve kids at 150 chapters across the globe.

Watch the new PSA and join the movement to celebrate coaches at FirstTee.org/DearCoach.

About PGA TOUR First Tee Foundation (“First Tee”)  
The mission of First Tee is to impact the lives of young people by providing educational programs that build character and instill life-enhancing values through the game of golf. First Tee is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit youth development organization that is supported by the PGA TOUR and many other organizations, foundations, companies and individuals. Over more than 27 years, First Tee has reached millions of young people through its network of 150 Chapters, 12,000 schools and 2,000 youth centers. Headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, USA, programs are delivered in all 50 United States and select international locations.

MEDIA CONTACT:    
Megan Hart, First Tee    
meganhart@firsttee.org
(904) 940-4348

As climate change continues to impact the way we interact with our planet, it’s critical to consider ways we can encourage youth to participate in climate action initiatives.

Young people across Canada are feeling frightened about the future of the planet. A Canadian study published in 2023 surveyed 1,000 young participants on their feelings about climate change. Sixty-six per cent of respondents said they felt anxiousness or hopelessness about climate change, while 78 per cent said it impacts their overall mental health.

There are a number of ways to approach this overwhelming emotion, considering it could result not only in poor quality of life for youth but also continued inaction for the planet.

My research in outdoor physical education leads me to consider more positive behaviour for youth in association to climate change that could likely benefit youth and the planet. The challenge is finding opportunities to develop pro-environmental behaviours and environmental stewardship with Canadian youth.

Read more:
6 ways to build resilience and hope into young people’s learning about climate change

It’s about more than time outdoors

When looking to develop pro-environmental behaviours, one way could be to simply encourage more time outdoors. But research from Germany suggests that just interacting with nature is not enough; rather, young people need to find ways to engage with nature and use the natural landscape to develop an emotional connection with the environment.

According to the German study, certain sports can lead to more environmentally sustainable attitudes and behaviours from participants. Some sports in particular — like cross-country skiing, mountain biking or triathlon — increase those positive behaviours more than others. This isn’t simply because participants are alone within a natural setting; it’s because the focus of the sport is on the natural landscape.

To explain a bit further, soccer, for example, is typically played outside but often on a manicured, sometimes artificial, field that is in many ways devoid of any natural influence.

Alternatively, mountain biking requires participants to ride on trails that take them directly through forested areas or spaces that are selected based on their unique natural landscape. As athletes participate in sports more frequently and spend more time within nature, they then develop a stronger emotional connection to the space they’re in. This leads to pro-environmental behaviours and attitudes, which can then generate environmental stewardship.

Read more:
Earth Day 2024: ‘Green muscle memory’ and climate education promote behaviour change

Rock climbing

Within rock climbing groups and organizations, there is evidence suggesting members frequently participate in beneficial environmental stewardship projects. Outdoor rock-climbing groups typically manage spaces — sometimes privately owned, but frequently under government jurisdiction in provincial or national parks — to ensure safe and responsible climbing practices. Climbers rely on ropes, equipment and bolts to ensure safety as they’re climbing.

But another obvious factor is the rock face they climb. The connection to rock and the climbing routes over those rock faces help foster a sense of environmental stewardship within climbers. Similar to mountain biking, the process starts with an introduction to the sport, but slowly develops into more care and attention paid to the natural spaces where climbers practise their activity.

One American study indicates that rock climbing organizations often find opportunities to clean up the areas where they climb, and also look to maintain the natural features of that space.

The research finds that for climbers, the challenge is to maintain natural spaces and keep the rock as pristine as possible. This also extends to conservation efforts to ensure that space maintains its use for climbing as opposed to turning it into a more urban or commercialized area.

The joy that participants received from the sport of climbing initiated this environmental stewardship and maintained progressive action in local environmental initiatives.

Element of physical risk

One thing to note is that climbing and mountain biking do involve an element of physical risk.

Doing some research on these sports can help youth assess risks alongside what can be gained from participating. But it’s also important to acknowledge that encouraging young people to foster deeper connections to nature as opposed to having simple interactions with outdoor spaces doesn’t mean they have to cycle down a mountain or climb a massive rock wall.

Risk cannot be completely eliminated from outdoor sports and recreation, but there can be great social and personal benefit from participating in these types of activities.

Instead of a high-risk sport, educators and outdoor leaders can influence participants with simpler actions. I am aware of outings involving outdoor hikes, or taking time at night to gaze at the stars and listen to the sounds of nature, that have sparked in young people an interest in outdoor spaces — and caring for them.

Such experiences can then lead young people to continue to explore outdoor adventure and sport, that can , significantly, foster an appreciation of natural settings through direct interaction as well as a positive sense of community. This can be a starting point to help alleviate feelings of hopelessness to climate change.

Read more:
Teachers need bolder action from our school boards to educate in and for a climate emergency

Addressing potential harms, amplifying benefits

Despite the benefits of participating in outdoor sports, there is a need to acknowledge that participation can have some negative impact on the environment.

For example, interaction with nature through sport can impact natural habitats and has the potential to alter behavioural patterns of animals. Furthermore, there is a risk of erosion of natural spaces, as well as the slim potential for the movement of invasive species.

This being said, it’s critical to consider what we can gain from supporting youth to participate in outdoor sport and education when such activities are planned with attentiveness and care.

By Emily Tuttle

You’ve seen it before: dozens of five-year-old girls running around on a soccer field dressed in purple jerseys, worried more about picking dandelions than putting the ball in the goal.

The game doesn’t stop at five. As these children grow up, weekends are full of traveling to the next state for a tournament. And parents continue to swipe their credit cards for uniforms, team fees, hotels and anything needed for their child to succeed. 

But should success be the end goal for Christian parents to teach their kids? Should a love for sports and showering children with opportunities be valued over weekly involvement in a local church? 

The National Survey of Children’s Health in 2022 found that about 54% of children ages 6-17 play on a youth sports team or take lessons after school or on weekends. Additionally, a Lifeway research study found that 39% of evangelical churchgoers said it was OK to miss church for youth sports a few times a year, and 8% said that missing many times a year was fine. 

The Bible makes it clear that the church should not neglect to meet together. However, these statistics demonstrate that church attendance declines as youth sports demand more time, which concerns church leaders. 

Jim Knauss, director of discipleship and theological development at Heritage Bible Church in Greer, South Carolina, often counsels parents on this issue. To get parents to think critically about rigorous sports involvement, he asks quantitative questions like, “How many Sundays are you missing at your local church a year?” or “How many nights do you eat dinner as a family a week?”

“What is this doing to your family and the kid’s childhood as a whole?” Knauss said. “Is half of the kid’s year spent in a hotel room?”

Sports can provide children with countless opportunities, teaching them discipline and leadership. But the adverse effects of travel sports on young athletes, especially if they miss church, may not be worth it. What priorities does it communicate that parents will skip Sundays in their church for a youth team? 

For many athletes, this trade-off influences them personally. Kaley Matney, a junior setter on Cedarville’s volleyball team, began travel volleyball in fourth grade, and her story mirrors many others. On indoor and beach volleyball travel teams, church fell by the wayside when Matney was in middle school. 

“There was no importance to church,” Matney said. “It was kind of like, ‘I’ll go when I go, and if I have travel stuff, I won’t go.’”

She also struggled to balance family time. Although she had plenty of time with her mom while traveling, she did not get as much with her dad or brothers. 

Parents often justify missing church and family time with their aspiration of getting their child a scholarship. However, i9 Sports says less than 2% of high school athletes receive athletic scholarships, and according to the NCAA, these scholarships often consist of about $5,000 or less. 

Aspen Institute’s most recent youth sports survey says that the average family spends $883 annually on one child’s primary sport. The scholarship amount hardly covers the money spent over many years, begging the question: What is the bang for your buck?

If parents have excess money to put their children through these programs, they provide value. However, from a greater perspective, it is vital to consider sport’s ultimate purpose
or goal. 

Matney believes sports are for believers to glorify God through the abilities he has blessed them with. After playing volleyball at Cedarville for the past three years, Matney has experienced a different “why.”

“Since being here and since growing in my faith, that answer has changed a lot,” Matney said. “Ultimately, volleyball and any type of sport is a gift from the Lord.” 

But if a parent and athlete’s goal is to glorify God and not themselves, how do their hard choices communicate what matters deep down? Matney believes that if people are missing opportunities to be in church and grow their faith, they need to step back and assess their motivations and priorities. 

“The danger there lies in having an earthly perspective rather than an eternal one,” she said. 

Matney thinks of the quote, “What one generation finds optional, the next finds unnecessary.” If children grow up in a household where parents don’t prioritize discipleship and attending church, they will likely do the same for their children. This effect is monumental: generations of parents who forgo church for a conflicting event grow generations of children who do not even consider attending a church in the first place.

Parents are the main agents of discipleship for their children and should instill in them a love for God and his church. When they understand the church’s value, attendance is not rote weekly repetition but done out of love and desire. 

“It starts first by being discipled in the home: what your parents are doing and what you’re doing for yourself,” Matney said. 

This is not to say we should all boycott AAU and club volleyball. When placed in their rightful position, there are benefits to playing sports in adolescence.

Knauss loves sports and says that his children are involved in them year-round. However, they do not participate in leagues that don’t allow them to eat dinner as a family or strictly require Sunday tournaments. 

“What I want my kids to learn is: how do you follow well, how do you submit to the authority of a coach, how do you treat your fellow teammates with respect and encouragement, especially when they’re not doing well,” Knauss said.  “These are the things I want to get out of this to glorify God in a way that is helpful and consistent with His Word.”

So where is the balance? Is there a way to do both? 

Knauss and Matney both believe parents should seriously consider why they put their children in sports and whether that reason is eternal or temporary. Using sports to glorify God in a way that aligns with His word, not just personal priorities or pride, is vital.

Sports have the power to shape character but should never replace the power the Bible and the church have to transform hearts. Sports are a gift, not the goal, and having a biblical view of them will allow us to see God as a giving Father who wants his children to enjoy life. 

Emily Tuttle is a sophomore journalism major and the sports editor for Cedars. She is passionate about Philly sports, weight lifting, and all things silly.

Photos provided by Logan Howard, Scott Huck, and Kaley Matney

At its core, sports always should be a meritocracy. Those who dedicate the time, put in the work and reach the pinnacle of their respective craft should be the ones who earn the opportunities to compete at the highest levels. 

This baseline truth — that if you work hard and develop your talents, you will earn the opportunity to be successful — is one of the biggest lessons that can be learned by youth athletes and one of the biggest motivations for parents to place children in youth sports. 

It also is one of the reasons why the parents and coaches of NXT GEN, a youth travel flag football team based in Windermere, are rallying together to help fundraise and send this team of fifth- and sixth-graders to Houston this July after they qualified to play in the first flag football competition at the 2025 AAU Junior Olympics.  

“For us as parents and coaches, this opportunity is really special to see,” NXT GEN parent and assistant coach Michael Woodall said. “These kids have worked so hard for about half their life at this point to grow as athletes and to have the chance to play in the Junior Olympics — which is something we didn’t even know was ever going to be an opportunity until a couple of years ago — and go there and win a medal, it’s pretty special. I don’t know if they’re really going to be able to appreciate it until they get there, but once they do get there, I think they’ll understand it.”

This collection of 10 and 11 year olds, who have been playing competitive sports together since they were 5, are no strangers to winning. In fact, beyond qualifying for the first flag football Junior Olympic competition, NXT GEN actually claimed the AFFL Youth World Championship and the 2024 Under Armor National Championship. 

Led by the Woodalls — Michael and his wife, Kelli — it’s easy to see why the parents and coaches of NXT GEN quickly got to work on brainstorming different ideas to raise the money needed to help fund the expenses of sending the team to Texas for the competition. With the help and generosity of various donors from local businesses, the group gathered enough items to raffle off a YETI cooler full of more than $2,500 worth of goodies — such as gift cards, YETI products, a round of golf for four and much more. 

RAISING THEM RIGHT
It makes complete sense for parents to rally together and do their part to help give their children a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But when it comes to this group of young athletes and the amount of time dedicated to developing their skills, chemistry and the discipline they have in their approach during each competition they’ve participated in, the amount of effort put in by the NXT GEN community becomes even more reasonable.

The idea of reinforcing these types of characteristics in this group of fifth- and sixth-graders by rewarding their hard work and achievement with this opportunity is a no-brainer for any parent. That no-brainer takes an even bigger step forward when the players start talking about the opportunity to play in this historic event. 

“I feel so blessed that we have this opportunity to play in the Junior Olympics,” NXT GEN player Tyler DeBakey said. “It’s even cooler since it’s the first time Junior Olympics is hosting a flag football tournament. We’re just blessed.”

That type of humble and grateful mindset is prevalent in this collection of athletes, and it is at the heart of everything the NXT GEN coaches want to teach these athletes.

“At the end of the day, when they leave here and go on to middle and high school athletics, and life in general, they’re going with understanding of the concept of discipline, the understanding of what it takes to be a good teammate, to be coachable,” Michael Woodall said. “These are good group of kids, and they’ve allowed us as coaches and parents to lay the groundwork for the future. As they get older and grow up, it’ll be up to them to take that as far they want to take it.”

Because these core tenants are so woven into the fabric that makes up the NXT GEN community, it often is what makes the team stand out among its competitors. 

“The biggest compliment I ever get about our team is how disciplined they are and how humble they are,” NXT GEN parent and coach Thomas Ochoa said. “They really respect their opponents, and in this era — where everybody is focused on being flashy and they’re dancing and throwing stuff in the opponent’s faces — this group is the most humble and disciplined bunch you’ll see out there.”

GOING FOR GOLD
Developing this humble and disciplined culture isn’t just making mom and dad happy, it’s also one of the main reasons why NXT GEN has been so successful on the flag football field. 

“When we show up at a lot of these tournaments, we’re never the biggest team,” Michael Woodall said. “Still, despite certainly not the betting favorite going in, more times than not, we leave those tournaments with the trophy. From my perspective that comes from the effort these kids put forth on the field, in practice and just their dedication to making sure they understand the things we’ve been working on for so long.”

This culture of humility and discipline — along with monumental-sized support from the NXT GEN parents and the winning that naturally comes with it — has allowed this group of players to do something that isn’t very common in any level of sports now-a-days: Develop chemistry. And not the microwaved version of chemistry, no, this is that spend half-of-your-life-as-teammates type chemistry. The type of chemistry that might just carry a team to a gold medal at AAU Junior Olympics. 

“Our team has the potential to win it all,” NXT GEN quarterback Jax Ochoa said. “Because we’ve been together for such a long time, we have so much chemistry with each other that it helps us play better.”

That type of confidence isn’t just coming from the quarterback, because of the level of chemistry this group has developed and the amount of work they’ve put in, this level of confidence is exuding from the entire team. 

“I know this team works really hard,” NXT GEN receiver Wade Woodall said. “We’ve been around (one another) for a really long time — some of us for like half our lives — and I just think that’s going to help us. I think we’ll be one of the best teams out there.”

The confidence doesn’t stop with the players. The coaches know this group of athletes have what it takes to make some noise this summer in Houston.

“They’ve always performed well under pressure, so I don’t think the stage will be too big for them,” Michael Woodall said. “Hopefully, they can put it all together and bring home the gold.”

If NXT GEN does end up bringing home that inaugural gold medal, it’ll be a special moment for the trail-blazing team.

“Considering the fact that this is the inaugural flag football event at the Junior Olympics, it makes it that much more special for this group,” Thomas Ochoa said. “We’ve won the inaugural world championships before, so to be the first to do it again and to lead the way at this level, it’s really special as well.”

Photo by Sam Albuquerque