Dionne Koller visits the Exchange. She’s the author of a new book, “More Than Play: How Law, Policy, And Politics Shape American Youth Sport.”

About the Book
Tens of millions of children in the United States participate in youth sport, a pastime widely believed to be part of a good childhood. Yet most children who enter youth sport are driven to quit by the time they enter adolescence, and many more are sidelined by its high financial burdens.

Until now, there has been little legal scholarly attention paid to youth sport or its reform. Dionne Koller sets the stage for a different approach by illuminating the law and policy assumptions supporting a model that puts children’s bodies to work in an activity that generates significant surplus value. In doing so, she identifies the wide array of beneficiaries who have a stake in a system that is much more than just play—and the political choices that protect these parties’ interests at children’s expense.

About the Author
Dionne Koller is a law professor and Director of the Center-for-Sport and the Law at the University of Baltimore. In 2021 she was appointed to co-chair the Commission on the State of US Olympic and Paralympics. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School and received the 2024 award for significant contributions to the field of sports law by the Association of American Law Schools.

SOUTH BEND, IN (WSBT) — The Play Like a Champion conference at the University of Notre Dame not only helps provide those resources, but it also connects coaches from all over.

It’s a focus on providing equal sporting opportunities for all kids while also educating coaches on their role in a child’s life as mentors.

It’s a three-day conference that unites coaches from across the country to advocate for youth sports.

“As coach mentors, we’re coaching sports for kids, making sure it’s fun. And we are mentoring them. So, that what they learn in sports they can use for their lives and we can help them lead good lives and not just be good athletes,” said Clark Power, Play like a champion today founder,”

Organizers say it’s a community of coaches helping one another while bridging resources to reach all kids.

“We have an abundance of resources in South Bend but we don’t know how to share them as as well as we need to in the very near future,” said Clark Power.

But the common goal throughout the conference is that all children have the opportunity to be active and be part of a team.

“The thing about athletics, it’s not just for winning a championship for something. Sports is good and fun and its own right because kids just need to have fun and laugh and move their arms and things like that, And so that’s what we really want to do is make sure kids, irregardless of their ability to pay have the opportunity to play,” said Cauzae McCall, Michiana Academic and Recreation Association member.

Coaches were also educated on the importance of sports play in a child’s life.

“The way children develop as people, especially socially the way they develop as good children as good friends and then as good community members,” said Power.

It also brings awareness to what happens when kids don’t have a space for recreation and a space to play.

“That impacts their learning in school relationships, being bullied online all these things the lack of mentorship they don’t have a really strong support system at home or church or anything like that. And so, trying to bring the awareness of how much of an impact we can make collectively,” said McCall.

With the importance of sports in children’s lives, organizers just want to be able to provide recreational sports for every child in the community.

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Lawson Skipper runs with the football during the St. Aloysius youth football camp Monday at Farrell Stadium. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Kimberly Nippes hits the volleyball during the St. Aloysius youth volleyball camp Monday in the school’s gym. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Caroline Dornbusch follows through after hitting the volleyball during the St. Aloysius youth volleyball camp Monday in the school’s gym. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Joe Robert, top, takes a break alongside several St. Aloysius football players at the school’s youth football camp. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Kai Goodman, left, looks to throw a pass during the St. Aloysius youth football camp Monday at Farrell Stadium. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Kai Goodman throws a pass during the St. Aloysius youth football camp Monday at Farrell Stadium. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Iris Fletcher hits the volleyball during the St. Aloysius youth volleyball camp Monday in the school’s gym. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Scarlett Coutch hits the volleyball during the St. Aloysius youth volleyball camp Monday in the school’s gym. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Daniel Waring runs with the football after intercepting a pass during the St. Aloysius youth football camp Monday at Farrell Stadium. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

A group of young football players all try to catch a pass during St. Aloysius’ youth football camp Monday at Farrell Stadium. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius football player JR Reeder throws a pass during the team’s youth camp Monday at Farrell Stadium. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Kennedy Maples hits the volleyball during the St. Aloysius youth volleyball camp Monday in the school’s gym. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Piper Keyes hits the volleyball during the St. Aloysius youth volleyball camp Monday in the school’s gym. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Benjamin Ponder, ullen Bounds and Owen Martin stand together for a photo at the St. Aloysius youth football camp. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius volleyball players and campers pose together for a photo during the school’s youth volleyball camp on Monday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

June is camp season at St. Aloysius, as the school hosts five fun summer youth sports camps.

The season started this week with the football camp at Farrell Stadium and the volleyball camp in the St. Al gym. Nearly 40 children in grades 1-6 attended the two camps and got instruction from St. Al players and coaches.

The sessions will move off campus next week for the softball and baseball camps.

The softball camp is scheduled for June 23-27 at the Betty Hearn Foley complex on Bazinsky Road. The camp is for players entering grades 1-6 in the fall and will run from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on June 23 and 27, and from 1 to 4 p.m. on June 24-26.

The cost of the camp is $100 and includes a daily snack. Walk-up registration is welcome. For more information, email St. Al coach Mike Foley at mike.foley@vicksburgcatholic.org.

The baseball camp is June 23-25 at Bazinsky Field, from 5 to 7 p.m. each day. It is for players in grades 1-6, and the cost is $100..

The cheer and Flashette kiddie camp is Aug. 9, from 9 a.m. to noon in the St. Al gym. It is for girls in Pre-K through sixth grade, and the cost is $75.

Online registration for all of the camps is available through GoFan.co.

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post’s sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post’s sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper’s 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

More by Ernest

FAIRMONT– Due to an extreme heat warning forecasted for this afternoon, and out of an abundance of caution for the health and safety of the participants, spectators, and volunteers, the decision to cancel today’s Fairmont Youth Triathlon has been made.

However, hard work is still being celebrated with a pool part from 4 to 6 p.m. at the

Fairmont Aquatic Park. There race bags and t-shirts will be available for pickup and will be mailed to participants who cannot make it.

O’Scoops Food Truck will still be on site with sweet treats and snacks and Marty C. Pig will be there as well.

The Fairmont Youth Triathlon Team thanks everyone for their understanding and is looking forward to seeing many at the pool.

JAMESTOWN CAL RIPKEN

Tarp Skunks beat Cusimano Collision 7-3.

For Cusimano Collision, Izyk Pacheco and Trenton Johnson each had big hits. Pacheco and Easton Nary pitched well on the mound.

For the Tarp Skunks, Owen Johnson had three strikeouts, Johnny Lamancuso had two and Sawyer Anderson closed it out with five strikeouts.

Lamancuso, Anderson, Nicholas Lewis and Leo Bell all had RBIs.

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Shults Auto Group defeated Lions Club 12-2 and 9-2 in a doubleheader.

Leading Shults with multiple hits in both games were Eli Rodriguez, Colton Martin, Oakland Snow, Bryson Stone, Rocco Yarber, Niko Yarber and Jordan Berg.

For Lions Club, Alvie Peterson, Nikko Knight and Emmitt Silliman had multiple hits in both games.

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Kiwanis beat Rodger’s Surveying 7-1.

For Kiawanis, Joey Lombardo had two hits in the win. Also having hits were Rocco Hammond, PJ Zahm and Dom Pappalardo. Santino Yarber had nine strikeouts on the mound.

In the loss, Jacoby Genco had the lone hit for Rodger’s Surveying. On the mound, Jacoby Genco had five strikeouts while Paxton Nickerson collected four strikeouts.

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Lewis & Lewis earned a victory over Uber Law Office.

Leading the offense was Kingston Holland with four hits and Grayson Beebe with two hits. Liam Sostre and Eli DeVileger had two hits apiece.

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Kiwanis beat Cusimano Carstar 5-1.

Leading the way pitching were Santino Yarber and Joey Lombardo with six strikeouts apiece.

Producing the offense were Rocco Hammond and Nathan Klemens with two hits apiece. Yarber, Lombardo and Zahm each had a hit in the win.

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JACFSU earned a 1-0 win over Uber Law Office.

Leading the offense for JACFSU was Asher Anderson with two hits. Chipping in with hits were Hudson Anderson, Jet Ferrara, Orion Hitchcock, Mateo Rodriguez and Liam McAdoo.

For Uber Law Office, Grayson Beebe, Kingston Holland, Elias Foust, Quentin Thomas and Kain Price each had two hits.

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Lena’s Pizza earned a 13-4 victory over Ballgame Heroes.

Leading the offense with three hits was Prestyn Michael. Chipping in with two hits were Ethan Heppler and Ian Chapman. Ayden Faulkner had a two-RBI day.

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Shults Auto group defeated JACFSU 10-1.

Leading Shults were Brennna Paterniti and Tommy Paterniti with three hits apiece. Also with multiple hits were Cyrus Strudwick, Bryson Stone, Colton Martin, Eli Rodriguez, Oakland Snow, Rocco and Niko Yarber.

For JACFSU, Orion Hitchcock, Liam McAdoo, Declan Murray had multiple hits.

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Cusimano’s Collision had the bats rolling as they defeated Rodger’s Surveying 9-4.

Izyk Pacheco led Cusimano’s offense with two hits and four RBIs. Easton Nary and Oliver Fisher also each had two hits. Joey Paterniti, Trenton Johnson and Matthew Wolfe each contributed a hit. Joey Paterniti and Izyk Pacheco combined on the mound to strike out 10 opposing batters in the winning effort.

For Rodger’s Surveying, Hudson Slojkowski had two hits while Jacoby Genco, Landon Conti and Sebasthon DePaul each had hits. Jacoby Genco collected five strikeouts on the mound.

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Kiwanis beat the Tarp Skunks 7-3.

Santino Yarber pitched a two-inning gem with five strikeouts, Joey Lombardo and Dom Pappalardo also pitched well. PJ Zahm led the offense with a two-run single.

For the Tarp Skunks, Johnny Lamancuso had a two-run single. Kaleb Ormsby had two strikeouts on the mound while Sawyer Anderson had four.

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Shults Auto Group defeated Lions Club 8-4.

Leading Shults were Bryson Stone and Eli Rodriguez with four hits apiece. Oakland Snow and Colton Martin added to the cause with three hits apiece.

For Lions Club, Jaxon Matey had three hits and Emmitt Silliman added four hits with three doubles.

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Jamestown Area Federal Credit Union and Shults Auto Group played to a 6-6 tie.

Asher Anderson, Hudson Anderson and Orion Hitchcock led the way for JAFCU with three hits apiece while Zyan Anderson had some nice plays in the field.

Shults Auto Group was led by Bryson Stone with a double and a triple, Rocco Yarber with two doubles and Oakland Snow with two singles. Tommy Paternitti had a nice play in the field.

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Jamestown Area Federal Credit Union defeated Lewis & Lewis 10-5.

For JAFCU, Asher Anderson had three hits, including a double; Hudson Anderson and Orion Hitchcock each had two hits; and Ben Darling, Declan Murray and Zyan Anderson all went 4 for 4.

For Lewis & Lewis, Taylyn Hannold went 3 for 4 with some nice stops at third base. Elliot Panebianco went 3 for 3 with some big plays at shortstop.

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Kiwanis tied Rodger’s Surveying 4-4.

For Kiwanis, Santino Yarber and Rocco Hammond had two hits apiece while Joey Lombardo, Nathan Klemmens and Dom Pappalardo each had a hit.

For Rodger’s Surveying, Dominick Robbins, Easton Tobias, Landon Conti, Sebasthon DePaul and Oliver Schnars collected hits. Jacoby Genco had two strong innings of pitching with five strikeouts.