Katy Family YMCA
Youth Sports
Parents
Manual
KATY FAMILY YMCA
22807 Westheimer Parkway
Katy, TX 77494
281-392-5055
ymcahouston.org
Katy Family YMCA
22807 Westheimer Parkway, Katy TX 77494
P 281 392 5055 F 281 392 4664 www.ymcahouston.org
Dear Parents,
Thank you for choosing the Katy Family YMCA youth sports program.
Our goal is to give your child a great experience that includes fun, skill
development and character building through the 5 core values of the
YMCA: respect, responsibility, honesty, caring and faith.
This Parents Manual is designed to give you as much information as you
will need to make the start of the season a smooth one. We realize that
this packet may not cover everything you might need to know. Please
feel free to contact Candi Revere at [email protected] or Reese
Mullennix at [email protected] or at (281) 392-5055 if
you have any questions or concerns. We always welcome your feedback.
Parent packet, coaches packet, important dates, rules and other
Information can be found and printed at
www.quickscores.com/katyymca.
Game schedules will be sent through www.playerspace.com.
Thanks again,
Brian Haines
Brian Haines
District VP over Katy, Alief, Fort Bend, Sealy & T.W. Davis YMCA’s
What Makes YMCA Youth Sports so Special?
First, we built the program by bringing together the knowledge of sport scientists
who’ve spent their careers studying children’s sports with the practical wisdom of YMCA
youth sports directors who have guided literally millions of young people through sports
programs.
Second, to ensure having the highest quality coaches, officials, and sport
administrators, YMCA Youth Sports offers training and educational resources for all
adults involved in the program. This training emphasizes the positive objectives of the
program and de-emphasizes the winning-at-all-costs mentality that leads to so many
negative practices in youth sports programs.
Third, YMCA Youth Sports goes beyond teaching tactics and skills by weaving in simple
but important fitness and character development concepts (in the form of brief
activities and discussions) in every practice. YMCA Youth Sports focuses not only on
skill development, but also on the overall development of the youngster in areas that
are important not just for the season but for a lifetime.
And fourth, the YMCA Sports Programs teach the YMCA values of Honesty, Caring,
Respect, Responsibility, and Faith. These values are taught through value discussions
at each practice and through take home exercises called “Family Huddles”. Use these
activities to further teach your own family values. The players will receive incentives to
complete the activities. The YMCA believes that it’s necessary to teach the values so
that we can build strong kids and families.
Candi Revere
Youth Development Senior Director
Swim, Sports and Play
[email protected]
Reese Mullennix
Youth Development Director
Sports and Play
[email protected]
YMCA OF GREATER HOUSTON
PHILOSOPHY OF YOUTH SPORTS
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. To help parents get involved
appropriately, YMCA Youth Sports offers parent orientation programs.
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.
YMCA Mission
To put Judeo-Christian principles into practice through programs that
a build healthy spirit, mind and body for all.
YMCA Core Values
Respect, Responsibility, Caring, Honesty and Faith
Youth Sports Pledge
“Win or lose, I pledge before God, to play the game, the best that I know
how, to obey all the rules, to respect the officials, to be a good sport at
all times, and to improve myself, in Spirit, Mind and Body.”
The Youth Sports Pledge is to be recited before every game by all players,
coaches and officials. The pledge is a reminder that the game is to be played for
fun and should be treated accordingly. This will be done at mid-court or mid-field
with both teams present. Parents are encouraged to participate as well.
Your Responsibilities as a YMCA Youth Sports Parent
All parents want their kids to do well and have fun in the activities they pursue. We
want you to be actively involved in positive ways with your child’s sport experiences in
YMCA Youth Sports. To do that, you need to first understand your responsibilities as a
parent of a child in YMCA Youth Sports:
1. Encourage your child to play sports, but don’t pressure. Let your child choose
to play—and to quit—if he or she wants.
2. Understand what your child wants from sports, and provide a supportive
atmosphere for achieving these goals.
3. Set limits on your child’s participation. Don’t make sports everything in your
child’s life; make it a part of life.
4. Make sure the coach is qualified to guide your child through the sports
experience.
5. Keep winning in perspective, and help your child do the same.
6. Help your child set challenging but realistic performance goals rather
than focusing only on “winning the game”.
7. Help your child understand the valuable lessons sports can teach.
8. Help your child meet responsibilities to the team and to the coach.
9. Turn your child over to the coach at practices and games—don’t meddle
or coach from the sidelines.
Supply the coach with information on any allergies or special health conditions your
child has. Make sure your child brings any necessary medications to
Be Involved, But Not TOO Involved
YMCA Youth Sports needs enthusiastic involvement from parents to be
successful. Volunteering your time not only helps the program; it’s also an
enjoyable way to meet other adults and make new friends. Here are just a few
ways to become involved:
Be a coach or an assistant coach.
Be an official or umpire.
Keep time or score.
Maintain equipment or facilities.
Coordinate registrations.
Be an announcer.
Be a first aid attendant.
Coordinate refreshments.
Be a publicity director.
Become part of a car pool.
A healthy involvement will usually be welcomed by both the coach and your son or
daughter. However, no coach wants to be—or should be—second-guessed by
parents on strategy moves or other coaching decisions. Signs of parents being
too closely involved include these:
You are overly concerned with the outcome of the game.
You spend a lot of time talking with the coach about the game plan, player skill levels, and the way she or he conducts practices and coaches
games.
Your son or daughter has stopped enjoying the sport or has asked you to
stop coming to games or practices.
You require your son or daughter to take extra practice.
Be involved, show interest, help the coach where he or she needs help, encourage
your child—and enjoy the sport yourself!
A YMCA Youth Sports Parent’s Code Of Conduct
1.
Remain in the spectator area during competitions.
2.
Let coaches coach.
3.
Keep comments positive to players, parents, officials, and coaches of either team.
4. Come to games sober and do not drink alcohol at contests.
5.
Cheer for your team.
6. Show interest, enthusiasm, and support for your child.
7.
Be in control of your emotions.
8.
Help when you’re asked to be a coach or an official.
9. Thank the coaches, officials, and other volunteers who conducted the event.
10. The YMCA, founded on Christian principles, prohibits behavior which is
inappropriate, such as profanity, abusive language or behavior, smoking and the
consumption of alcohol, removal of any YMCA property, or criminal misconduct.
Helping Your Child Enjoy Sports
You can help your child enjoy sports by doing the following:
1.
Developing a winning perspective.
2.
Building your child’s self-esteem.
3.
Emphasizing fun, skill development, and striving to win.
4. Helping your child set performance goals.
Developing a Winning Perspective
Every decision parents make in guiding their children should be based first on what’s
best for the child and second on what may help the child win. Stated
another way, this perspective places Athletes First, Winning Second.
We’re not saying winning is unimportant. Winning—or striving to win—is essential to enjoyable competition. Pursuing victory and achieving goals are sweet rewards of sport
participation. But they can turn sour if, through losing, you or your child lose the proper
perspective also. An obsession with winning often produces a fear of failure, resulting in
below average performances and upset children.
Building Your Child’s Self-Esteem
Building self-esteem in your child is one of your most important parenting duties. It’s
not easy—and it’s made even more difficult in sport by the prevailing attitude of
“winning is everything”. Athletes who find their self-worth through winning will go
through tough times when they lose.
Building self-esteem in your child takes more than encouragement. You need to show
your child unconditional approval and love. Don’t praise dishonestly;
children can see through that. If your child strikes out three times and makes an error
in a softball game, don’t tell her she played well. Just show the same amount of love
and approval for her—not for her performance—that you showed before the game.
Emphasizing Fun, Skill Development, and Striving to Win
The reason you should emphasize fun is quite simple: without it, your child may not
want to keep playing. Kids don’t have fun when they stand around in practice or sit on
the bench during games, when they feel pressure to win and don’t
improve or learn new skills. Conversely, they do have fun when practices are well
organized, they get to play in games, they develop new skills, and the focus is on
striving to win.
Helping Your Child Set Performance Goals
Performance goals—which emphasize individual skill improvement—are much better
than the outcome goal of winning for two reasons:
1. Performance goals are in the athlete’s control.
2. Performance goals help the athlete improve.
Performance goals should be specific, and they should be challenging but not too difficult to achieve. For example, if your child plays soccer, you might help him set the
goals of making short, crisp passes; of staying between the ball and the goal on defense; and of giving his best effort throughout the game.
You (and your child’s coach) should help your young athlete set such goals. And help
your child focus on performance goals before a game; this focus will help sports be an
enjoyable learning experience for your son or daughter.
Practice and Game Information
Coaches have a week after the parents meeting to contact their players. If you have not
heard from a coach by this time, you may call the front desk at the YMCA. Please do not
call before this date, because the YMCA front desk will not have this information.
Practices will begin after the coaches meeting.
Older teams may travel to other YMCAs for games.
Practices and games will be played at the YMCA and other area locations depending on
the sport. If your child brings any equipment to a practice or a game, please mark that
equipment with your name and phone number. We will attempt to return lost
equipment.
Volunteer Coaches
Volunteers are the core of our program at the YMCA and in order for the programs to be
successful we are looking for people to serve as coaches, assistant coaches, and team
parents. Each team will need assistant coaches and team parents to assist the head
coach. These volunteers usually come from the team’s parents, older siblings,
grandparents or a family friend. If you are interested in volunteering please call the
Youth Sports Director. Volunteer coaches will need to fill out a coaches application packet so we may check references and backgrounds to ensure the safety for both you and
your children. Coaches are also required to have their drivers license scanned through
our raptor system. Coaches will also receive training in child abuse awareness.
Time Commitment
A head coach will plan on spending around three hours a week with a team. One hour
practices, one hour for games, and the rest for planning time, driving time and phone
calls. Each coach is required to attend our Coaches Course, which is tailor-made to teach
parents how to coach in the YMCA youth sports program. This course is open to anyone
who wishes to attend.
No Coach?
If your team does not have a coach please don’t be alarmed. YMCA youth sports is
based on volunteerism and there are always cases where teams do not have coaches.
When this happens, YMCA staff will meet with your team to discuss the program and its
commitment and recruit volunteers from the team. In these instances there are usually
two or three parents that will volunteer to co-coach together, which is great! All
volunteers will be provided with appropriate training.
GOOD STUFF TO KNOW
HOW TEAMS ARE FORMED: By grade level, sex, request, school, subdivision,
random assignment
***The YMCA does not have a “no practice, no play” policy***
VOLUNTEERS: We rely on volunteers to help make our program successful.
Each team will need to have the following: Head Coach, Assistant Coach, and
Team Parent.
Coaches Meeting—Sat, Sept 6 at Williams Elem 9am
ALL Head and Assistant Coaches must attend.
Volunteer Application/DL Scans—**ALL Head and Assistant coaches
need to fill out a volunteer application for a background check and have
their Drivers License physically scanned through our Raptor license
scanning system prior to holding the 1st practice. You must scan your
license every season you coach. Every Fall season you must fill out a new
volunteer application.
EQUIPMENT: The following equipment is required and/or recommended:
Basketball—Basketball - recommended
Flag Football—Mouthpiece - required
Soccer—Shin guards - required; Soccer ball - recommended
Volleyball—Knee Pads - required; Volleyball - recommended
*No jewelry of any kind can be worn during practice or games*
**Every participant should bring water to practice to stay hydrated**
UNIFORM:
Basketball—Each player will receive a jersey
Flag Football—Each player will receive a jersey and flags
Soccer —Each player will receive a jersey
Volleyball—Each player will receive a jersey
For a player who misplaces their jersey, they can purchase an additional
jersey for $20.
Coaches Shirts—Each team will receive two coaches’ shirts. Additional
coaches shirts will be available for purchase for $10. Coaches will not be
given their shirts until they have had their DL scanned and volunteer
application turned in.
UNIFORM PICK-UP: Tue, Sept 16 at the YMCA starting at 4pm. Each
team must designate one person to pick up all their teams’ uniforms.
PRACTICE INFO: (10 practices) Practices begin the week of Sept 8.
Each team will practice 1 hour per week. We are guests in the facilities that we
use, so please treat them accordingly. Parents, please supervise siblings not
participating and pick up all trash/food before you leave your practice.
Practices begin the week of Sept 8.
GAME SCHEDULES: (Youth - 8 games; Teen - 6 games plus playoffs)
Game schedules will be sent out through playerspace to participants email by end
of day Monday, September 15.
1st game:
Teen Volleyball—September 19
NFL Flag Football/Youth Volleyball/Soccer & Teen Basketball—September 20
Last Game:
Teen Volleyball—October 24 (followed by playoffs)
Teen Basketball—October 25 (followed by playoffs)
NFL Flag Football, Youth Volleyball & Soccer—November 8
RAIN-OUTS/MAKE-UPS: Decision will be made by YMCA staff by 7:30am on
Saturdays. If we cancel games, we will email the coaches, update the
quickscores website (www.quickscores.com/katyymca) and notify the Front Desk.
PICTURE DAY:
NFL Flag Football/Soccer (Pre-K3-Kinder): Saturday, Oct 4
Teen VB: Friday, Oct 10
Youth VB/Soccer (1st-7th)/Teen BB: Saturday, Oct 11
Times TBD after game schedule is made. Coaches will be emailed and/or called
with picture information. We will post picture schedules on
www.quickscores.com/katyymca.
NtheZone will be taking individual and team pictures. It is important that each
parent fills out their order form prior to picture day and brings the form to picture
day. To ensure that the picture process is not delayed for your team, please plan
to arrive 15 minutes early. NtheZone accepts all major credit cards and checks.
You can view products and services at www.nthezonephotos.com. Photos will
be passed out at the games sites 3 weeks after picture day. Any questions
regarding pictures, please contact NtheZone at 281-481-6565 or
[email protected].
TROPHIES/MEDALS: Every youth player will receive a trophy at the end of the
season. Trophies/medals will be handed out to teen players. Trophies will
either be delivered to practices or available for pick-up at the YMCA about a week
before the last game. Coaches will be emailed when trophies are ready.
END OF THE SEASON PARTY: We want to ensure that all children and coaches
are recognized for a job well done. Team parents and coaches can
organize their own team parties at desired locations. Past sites have included:
CiCi’s, Chuck E Cheese, Buffalo Wild Wings, team member’s house, park, and
many others. Those are just ideas. Feel free to have your party wherever
desired.
REFUNDS/CREDITS: Full refunds are given prior to the 1st game. No
refunds will be given after that date; only partial credits and on a case by case
basis and must go through the Sports Department. You must fill out a refund/
credit form available at the front desk.
IMPORTANT DATES
COACHES MEETING:
LAST DAY TO REQUEST
TEAM CHANGE:
Saturday, September 6
ALL Coaches meeting— 9 am (Lunch provided)
Friday, September 12
JEWELRY:
No jewelry of any kind can be worn during practice or
games
PRACTICES:
Begin the week of September 8
HOLIDAYS:
October 17 (Teen VB Only)
UNIFORM PICK-UP:
Tuesday, September 16 starting at 4pm @YMCA
Uniforms must be picked up as a team
FIRST GAME:
Friday, September 19 (Teen VB)
Saturday, September 20 (NFL Flag Football, Youth
VB, Soccer, & Teen BB)
PICTURE DAY:
Saturday, October 4 (NFL Flag Football &
Soccer Pre-K3-Kinder)
Friday, October 10 (Teen VB)
Saturday, October 11 (Youth VB, Soccer 1st-7th grades
& Teen BB)
LAST GAME:
Friday, October 24 (Teen VB) followed by playoffs
Saturday, October 25 (Teen BB) followed by playoffs
Saturday, November 8 (NFL Flag Football, Youth VB
& Soccer)
Thanks again for choosing YMCA youth sports
for your child! Please feel free to contact us
with any questions or concerns.