Rec Sports

5 ways to get (or keep) kids active

Published

4 months ago

September 12, 2025

If you’re a parent of a young athlete, you’ve probably heard the numbers.

According to a survey by Project Play, a national initiative to get more children involved in athletics, the average child spends less than three years playing a sport and quits by age 11, most often because it just isn’t fun anymore. It’s a consistent theme across the landscape.

We “professionalize” youth sports too soon, expecting tangible progress, skills development and wins from their earliest ages. We forget that it’s primarily their experience, not ours.

Fall is a time we like to reset our priorities. Why not include kids sports? There are easy ways to get your son or daughter active in sports, or even get them back in the game if they’ve stopped playing.

Here are five:

Get out and play with your kids

When you engage with your child, it validates what they’re doing. This works with about any activity, from coloring to reading to kicking a soccer ball or playing catch.

We can instruct them about how to throw with proper form, of course, but we build their confidence when they show us what they’ve learned through their own experiences.

Try playing a game with them you don’t fully understand, such as foursquare. Let them explain the rules.

“I can be dressed in a suit, and if I jump in a game, it changes my relationship to those kids from being an adult who is potentially scary to I’m just another player,” says Elizabeth Cushing, CEO of Playworks, a nonprofit organization that provides instruction and training to elementary schools to keep kids active and engaged at recess.

“It’s the only time in the school day when an adult is an amateur. And that really changes the relationship.”

Make up or modify your own sports and games

When I was about 8 and attended summer camp in the 1980s, I remember having a group tennis lesson in which the instructor was rigid about using proper form and keeping the ball in bounds. He said if we hit the ball off the court and into the woods, we had to run and get it.

It was an invitation. A kid in line took a big swing and swatted one high over the chain link fence as most of us doubled over with laughter. The boy turned, smiled to us, and started to run out of the gate after the ball.

There were at least a few boys in the group who regularly played tennis and enjoyed trying to keep the ball within the lines. Others of us liked baseball better and wanted to clear the wall.

I’m not advocating for doing the opposite of what a coach is teaching in practice but for letting kids explore different sports. Keep an open mind about what they love to do. Tailoring their ability, or their interest to a specific sport can come later. Or maybe not.

According to USA Pickleball, the wildly popular sport was invented when two families, including one of a U.S. congressman, were looking for an activity as they vacationed.

They created something out of what they could find: ping pong paddles, a perforated plastic ball and a net. The idea behind the game, which has held true to today, is that the whole family could play it.

Cushing, the Playworks CEO, has three 20-something children who played varsity sports in high school. When they get together as a family, they play a made up game in which someone wails away at a ball and tries to get around as many bases as possible.

What do they call it? Tennis baseball.

Try out a new sport, especially at the start of high school

There is a trend among youth travel coaches to require young athletes to play only one sport, or for only their team.

It’s the road, the kids are told, to playing at an elite level. It also can lead to orthopedists’ offices for treatment of overuse injuries.

If players are fortunate enough to reach UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close’s program, the pain is on their faces, and the burden of their parents’ investment is on their shoulders.

UCLA Bruins head coach Cori Close celebrates after a Elite 8 NCAA Tournament basketball game against the LSU Lady Tigers at Spokane Arena.

“I see both sides of it,” Close told USA TODAY Sports in 2024. “I see the good wind-in-your-sails side, the equipping side. And then I see the burdensome, pressurized, performance oriented side that it’s saddening to see.

“Everything has been leading towards, ‘Get a scholarship, get to college,’ and then they get to us, and when they should have the most joy and the most freedom and the most good habits, they’re completely burned out.”

While about 6-7% of high school athletes (or a little more than 500,000) go on to compete at the NCAA level, more than 8.2 million played high school sports in 2024-25, according to the latest National Federation of State High School Associations participation survey.

At the most granular level, we can use sports as a way to meet people, especially if you’re filtering into a high school from one of many middle schools. You’ll find a wide array of them – rowing, track and even football – where little or no experience is required.

“I didn’t start playing football until ninth grade. I played soccer, even though my dad was a high school football coach,” says Jason Nickleby, assistant director of Minnesota’s league of high schools. “All of my best friends I played football with, ending up playing slow-pitch softball with, they were in my wedding.

“Football’s a great team sport from the perspective that 30 to 40 kids, 50, can play in a night. Basketball, (it’s) seven. That’s why my dad has always said: It’s the greatest team sport because you get kids out there on kickoff or on punt return or whatever that maybe aren’t the most athletic or most skilled but that’s their role and they just excel at it.”

‘Sportsmanship is not sexy’: Have we lost the purpose of high school sports?

Ask your kid athlete about how you should act at their games

If your child has tried more than one sport, and dropped out, have you looked inside yourself?

Were you one of those parents who was correcting them during the game?

Even if you were cheering, you might have been “distracting.” Skye Eddy, founder of soccerparenting.com, a website that assists in getting the most out of athletic experiences with your kids, labeled the word as a type of sideline behavior. She discovered she was doing it herself.

Her daughter told her simply hearing her voice, even in positive support, distracted her from the game. Eddy learned to sit in attentive silence. Having this conversation is an interactive step we often don’t think about as sports parents.

When we allow them to play without our interference, our kids become more autonomous with their decision making and development as athletes.

“I think part of it is learning what (your) role is,” says Amanda Visek, a sport scientist at The George Washington University and researcher behind groundbreaking studies about what makes sports “fun” for kids. “And I always go back to the greatest sources of information are the athletes. And part of how you establish good social connections and good relationships with them is being open and honest and asking, ‘How can I support you? What do you want me to do?’ ”

Tell them, ‘I love to watch you play’

Monroe head coach Kyle Reed (right) assistant coaches Jody McCollum and Dave Reed stand with their players for the National Anthem as they honored the military and first responders on military/first responder night at MHS Friday, September 8, 2023.

You’ll be surprised at the connection you might make with six simple words. Say it when you’re driving home from a game, and let them take the discussion from there.

“That’s something they want to hear you say,” says Kyle Reed, the head football coach at Monroe (Michigan) High, whom I met at the Project Play Summit in 2023. “My father was my coach as well. And at home, we never talked about football. We never talked about what we needed to do on the field. He was just a parent for me at that time.”

Coach Steve: Tips for the car ride home. (Hint: Don’t’ be like Andre Agassi’s dad.)

If we are former athletes, perhaps we need to take a deeper look at ourselves. Asia Mape was a Division 1 basketball player and sports television producer who took ownership of her role of sports mom to her daughters in a public fashion.

She created a website (ilovetowatchyouplay.com) under the premise that good sports parents make mistakes. Mape has written about how her oldest daughter with Olympic aspirations quit water polo and the role she played in the experience.

“Your child and your family sacrifice hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars, you are carpool mom extraordinaire, you make special game day muffins, many of your friends are the parents from the team, and you have already made a college recruiting video,” Mape writes. “You are so invested; in fact, you’re on the board of the club team. This is me. And then, poof, one day, they quit. It’s gone in a flash. And you’re left wondering what it was all for, where we did go wrong, and why didn’t I do something about her unhappiness sooner.

“She had been trying to tell us she was unhappy for several years. I just didn’t listen.”

Looking within is how we get better at sports parenting. Maybe it’s as simple as telling our kids how much we enjoy it.

Steve Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He spent 10 years coaching his two sons’ baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents for two high schoolers. His column is posted weekly.

For his past columns, click here.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Five ways to take a reset as a youth sports parent

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Rec Sports

Panther alums show up against varsity

Published

3 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Your Sports Nation

ANAHUAC— Dusting off old sneakers, Anahuac High School alums joined in a friendly game of basketball against the new generation of Panthers, taking a couple of wins while raising funds for a worthy cause.

The Anahuac High School Gym was packed on Saturday, Dec. 20, for the 2025 Anahuac Panther Alumni Basketball Game, hosted by the Anahuac Youth Sports Organization in partnership with the Anahuac Independent School District.

“We are so proud of how this event turned out,” AYSO Communications Officer Samantha Humphrey said. “There was so much joy in the Panther Den, and it was incredible to see multiple generations come together for such a special night.”

Generations of Panther basketball players and fans enjoyed a day of basketball, with nearly 300 in attendance, all gathered for some lighthearted competition that served as a fundraiser supporting local youth sports.

With graduating classes dating back to 1998, a total of 28 men and 10 women returned to the court to see if they still had their skills.

Two men’s alum teams, coached by Tristan Lewis and Deray Williams, played in the opening game, followed by the women’s alum team, coached by Samantha Humphrey and Tori Lewis.

As for the game results, the 4 p.m. game saw Williams Alumni defeat Lewis Alumni.

At 5 p.m., Women’s Alumni faced Girls Varsity, with the alum team taking the win. At 6 p.m., the Men’s Alumni took the victory over the Boys Varsity.

Fans also competed during some three-point contests throughout the evening.

Winners included Meagan Perry, Women’s Three-Point Contest; Zachary Childress, Men’s Three-Point Contest; and Cullen Cotton, Open Three-Point Contest.

Perry received a prize of $110, Childress earned $170, and Cotton was awarded $250.

The evening was full of energy and Panther pride as alumni, current students, families and friends came together to support a sport they hold dear.

AYSO wishes to share a special thanks to AISD, the alum players, coaches, volunteers, referees and the community for making the evening a great success.

For more information about upcoming events or to find out how to get involved with AYSO, contact AYSO, follow the organization on social media, or join the group on Facebook at Facebook.com/groups/AnahuacYouthSportsOrg.

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Rec Sports

A Look Inside: Canton Citizen’s January 8 edition

Published

3 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Your Sports Nation

By Canton Citizen

Check out this week’s issue of the Citizen for the latest in Canton news, sports, events, and more. Highlights from the January 8 edition include:

* The Citizen’s annual Year in Review, featuring a look back at the top news and sports stories of 2025

* Notable deaths and retirements from the past year

* Highlights from the January 6 Select Board meeting

* Meet Canton’s new police chief (click here for excerpt)

* Canton High seniors organize bike giveaway

* Ponky Rink public skating photos

* Good News: “The Nose Knows” by Jane Eagles

* Beantown Buckaroos to perform at Open Book Coffeehouse

* Details on town of Canton’s Annual Census and more News Notes by Mike Berger

* Athlete of the Week and more winter sports coverage

Also, don’t forget to check out our many weekly features, including:

* Police & Fire News Notes

* Senior Corner and letters to the editor

* Cable Guide, Citizen Around Town, and much more

* House of the Week and more local real estate resources

Not a subscriber? Click here to order your subscription today, or check out our new digital edition, the e-Citizen.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=133147

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Rec Sports

Watsonville boys’ soccer extends win streak to three

Published

3 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Your Sports Nation

PAJ2602 WHS boys' soccer - weeklys roundup - WEB-1 — Watsonville High senior forward Anthony Guido, left, and junior Alan Alonso currently have the Wildcatz boys’ soccer team on a three game win streak following a 4-1 victory over Salinas High on Jan. 6. (Raul Ebio/The Pajaronian)

Watsonville junior Justin Alfaro recorded a hat trick to help lift the boys’ soccer team to a 4-1 victory over Salinas in the teams’ Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission Division opener Jan. 6.

Alfaro finished with a game-best three goals, while teammate junior Jesus Contreras-Barboza notched one goal for the Wildcatz, who are currently riding a three game win streak.

Damien Mora, Anthony Guido, Diego Guillen and Contreras-Baroboza each had one assist, while goalkeeper Adrian Fernandez tallied six saves in front of the net.

Watsonville (6-1-1, 1-0-0) plays at Seaside (2-6) in league play on Jan. 12 at 5:45pm.

At Monte Vista Christian 2, Pacific Collegiate 0: Enzo Owens and Ryan Noyes each notched one goal in the Mustangs’ shutout victory over the Pumas in PCAL Cypress Division action Tuesday afternoon.

Teammate Patrick Tracey finished with a pair of assists, while Sai Patel and Owens each had one assist for MVC (5-3-1, 1-0), which hosts Rancho San Juan in league play on Jan. 12 at 5:45pm.

Girls’ soccer

St. Ignatius 4, Aptos 3: Isabella Hartnett, Emilie Santigao and Aubrie Ford each notched one goal in the Mariners’ narrow loss to the Wildcats at the SoCal High School Classic in Oceanside on Dec. 31.

Teammate Maddie Redding and Hartnett each recorded one assist, while goalkeeper Tayanna Bonilla came up big with a pair of key saves to keep the Mariners within reach.

Aptos (4-4-1) will begin Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League play at Santa Cruz on Jan. 13 at 7pm.

At Pacific Collegiate 3, MVC 2: Ashley Drago and Tea Knowles-Osmeni each had one goal in the Mustangs’ loss to the Pumas in PCAL Mission Division play Tuesday.

Goalkeepers Charlotte Groves and Cloe Morrow had two and one saves, respectively, for MVC (3-4-2, 0-1-0), which plays at Watsonville in league play on Jan. 12 at 6:45pm.

Alvarez 2, at Pajaro Valley 1: Scarlet Gomez recorded the lone goal for the Grizzlies in Tuesday afternoon’s loss to the Eagles in PCAL Gabilan Division action.

Teammate goalkeeper Aniah Federico tallied six saves for Pajar Valley (2-3-1, 0-1-0), which plays hosts Soledad in league play on Jan. 14 at 3:30pm.

Boys’ basketball

At Watsonville 60, Aptos 36: Gabe Castillo had a team-best seven points in the Mariners’ loss to the Wildcatz in non-league play Jan. 2. Teammate Madoxx Diaz added six points, one rebound and one assist.

Levi Race, Diego Mejia and Sam Penera each contributed five points for Aptos (4-10), which begins SCCAL play at Santa Cruz on Jan. 9 at 7:30pm.

At MVC 60, King City 49: Matteo Vidal finished with a team-best 18 points in the Mustangs’ win over King City in PCAL Cypress Division play on Tuesday evening.

Vidal added eight rebounds and four assists, while teammate Jeremy Silver added 17 points, three rebounds and four assists. Go Kamishita contributed 10 points and six assists for MVC (7-3, 1-0), which plays at Harbor in non-league play on Jan. 10 at 2pm.

Alvarez 68, at St. Francis 62: Robert Gomez Jr. finished with a team-best 24 points in the Sharks’ loss to the Eagles in PCAL Mission Division play Tuesday evening.

Teammate Jacob Jimenez tallied 20 points, while Isiah Villalobos contributed 11 points for St. Francis (5-7, 0-1), which plays at Marina on Jan. 12 at 7pm.

At Watsonville 64, Salinas 53: Senior Max Aceves recorded a team-best 20 points in the ‘Catz’s victory over the Cowboys in PCAL Gabilan Division action Monday evening.

Teammate senior Yahir Cisneros contributed 15 points for Watsonville (5-6, 1-1), which hosts Carmel on Jan. 9 at 7pm.

Girls’ basketball

At Salinas 55, Watsonville 33: Stephanie Martinez finished with eight points five assists and three steals in the ‘Catz’s loss to the Cowboys in PCAL Gabilan Division play on Tuesday evening.

Teammate Leilani Yasin had seven points, four rebounds and six steals for Watsonville (5-6, 0-1), which plays at Hollister on Jan. 12 at 7pm.

Editor’s note: Coaches and athletic directors are encouraged to submit results and highlights to jr****@*****ys.com. Follow sports editor Juan Reyes (@jmreyes831) on X/Twitter for scores and news updates.

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Rec Sports

Roundup of news from Hull’s wide world of sports — The Hull Times

Published

5 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Your Sports Nation

• The Hull High Boys Varsity Basketball team also split its last two matchups, losing a close game, 48-47, to Academy of the Pacific Rim Charter School in Boston on Friday, January 2, and defeating Falmouth Academy at home, 60-20, on Monday. Up next for the 3-2 team are a rematch with Academy of the Pacific Rim at home on Thursday, January 8 at 6:30 p.m. and a road game against Upper Cape Cod Regional Vocational Technical High School on Friday, January 9 at 6:30 p.m. The JV squad defeated the Academy of the Pacific Rim team, 54-35, on January 2 and will play the Dragons again on Thursday at 5 p.m. before the varsity game.

• The Girls Varsity Basketball team is 0-6 on the season after losses to Ursuline Academy in the Scituate Holiday Tournament, 40-19, on December 31, and a 44-37 loss on the road to New Heights Charter School in Brockton on Monday. Next up for the Pirates are a road game against Boston Latin Academy on Friday, January 9 at 6 p.m. and then home matchups against Excel Academy Charter School on Monday, January 12 at 6:30 p.m. and Abington High School on Wednesday, January 14 at 5:30 p.m.

• The Hingham-Hull Cooperative Gymnastics squad’s next competition will be held on Saturday, January 10 at 6 p.m. against Scituate High School at the South Shore YMCA Gymnastics Training Center.

• The next meet for the Boys and Girls Indoor Track teams will be against Mashpee on Monday, January 26 at 4 p.m. at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston.

• For the full schedule for each Hull High team, visit www.arbiterlive.com/Teams?entityId=10611.

• Hull Pirates In-Town Youth Basketball begins this weekend. Programs include a skills and drills co-ed session for grades 1 and 2 from 8-9 a.m., a co-ed program for grades 3 and 4 from 9-10 a.m., as well as an open gym program (also co-ed) for grades 5-8 from 10-11:30 a.m., all at the Jacobs School gym. Some travel teams are on the road this weekend, but there are home games as well:

Saturday, January 10 at the Jacobs School: Girls Grade 6 vs. Hingham at 2 p.m.; Girls Grade 7 vs. Marshfield at 3 p.m.; Girls Grade 8 vs. Cohasset at 4 p.m.

Sunday, January 11 at the Jacobs School: Girls Grade 7 vs. Halifax at 12 p.m.

Sunday, January 11 at the Hull High: Boys Grade 8 vs. Hanover at 1 p.m.; Boys Grade 4 vs. Scituate at 2:15 p.m.; Boys Grade 3 vs. Norwell at 3:30 p.m.

For more information, visit http://hullbasketball.leagueapps.com/camps.

• A combined Girls 3/4 travel basketball team competes at the fourth-grade level and has a record of 1-3. Next games are against Kingston on Saturday, January 10 at 6 p.m. and against Sandwich on Sunday, January 11 at 2 p.m. All games are played at Indian Head Elementary School in Hanson, so fans have to travel to take in a game. The full schedule of game times and weekly opponents is at this link: www.oldcolonybasketball.org/team/hull/4/1.

• Registration is open for Hull Youth Lacrosse – two travel teams and the in-town programs – through January 22. For more information, visit www.hulllax.com or email hullyouthlax@gmail.com if you have any questions.

• Coaches, league organizers, and superfans – We need your help to report the scores and results of the latest events in Hull’s sports world! Please send local sports news and photos to sports@hulltimes.com. Deadline is Wednesday at noon. When providing details of the games or races, please be sure to include the sport/team, the players’ full names, and the final scores. When sending photos, names of those pictured are greatly appreciated, as well as who should get credit for taking the photo.

Thank you for your help!

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Rec Sports

Century standout travels through Europe with Northern Lights Volleyball club team – Post Bulletin

Published

6 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Your Sports Nation

The Northern Lights Volleyball 16-1 club team spent the holidays traveling through Europe and competing in two tournaments abroad Dec. 25-Jan. 5.

The team won the 18U Youth Alpen Tournament in Innsbruck, Austria and took third place in the 19U SV Dynamo International Youth Tournament in Apeldoorn, Netherlands.

The 16-1 team out of Burnsville, Minn., is made up of players from high schools around the state, including Rochester Century’s sophomore Laney Stellmaker. Other players on the roster attend Eagan, Prior Lake, St. Paul Academy, Lakeville North, East Ridge, Thomas Jefferson (Bloomington), Waconia and Chanhassen.

According to its website, the SV Dynamo tournament “guarantees three days of top-level volleyball with the best youth teams from the Netherlands and beyond. For many clubs, the youth tournament has been the ideal preparation for the Open Club (national championships for club teams). Foreign top youth teams see the tournament as a unique opportunity to measure their strength against European opponents.”

The NLV 16-2 team also traveled and competed in the tournaments, finishing third in Apeldoorn and sixth in Innsbruck.

Players from both teams documented their travels with

journals and videos.

Stellmaker, an All-Big Nine selection, recorded 493 set assists, 200 kills, 313 digs, 61 ace serves and 20 blocks during her sophomore campaign with the Panthers. She also reached 1,000 career set assists during the 2025 season.

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

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Rec Sports

Introducing Community Coach | USA Ultimate

Published

7 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Your Sports Nation

Colorado Springs, Colo. (January 8, 2026) – USA Ultimate has recently made available a new, free resource for adults teaching young, beginning ultimate players. This new program, titled Community Coach, offers a learning experience targeted to individuals who have an interest in coaching but limited experience with the sport of ultimate.

The effort — led by USA Ultimate’s Youth and Education Program Manager Sam Callan — was developed in collaboration with Youth Programs Director Dan Raabe and Grant Boyd of USA Ultimate Affiliate, California Ultimate, with input from others in the ultimate coaching community.

The program went live with a soft launch near the end of last year and is currently available through the USA Ultimate’s Mobile Coach website and app.

The course is aimed at those looking to start middle school programs and includes:

An introduction to coaching, including advice from elite ultimate coach Matty Tsang.
A module covering the basics of the game and how to facilitate a learning environment with videos covering how to teach skills, including throwing and catching.
Videos featuring longtime ultimate coach Libby Cravens explaining how to teach offensive and defensive plays.
Four introductory practice plans with equipment lists and advice for how to change things up to fit different groups and spaces.
A kid-friendly rules introduction and additional resources.

“We are excited to introduce this new coaching program for adults who are newcomers to ultimate,” shared Callan. “Making ultimate accessible is an ongoing goal of USAU and getting parents and teachers involved is a great way to extend the availability of ultimate programming to youth who are exploring new sports.”

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