Dear YMCA Families,
We want to share an important update about our youth sports programming this fall and some of the thinking behind the direction we are taking.
As we prepared for the upcoming season, we took a close look at past registration and enrollment in our fall league sports. Participation has consistently been lower than needed to create strong, age-appropriate leagues. In some cases, we have needed to combine several grade levels to create large enough teams or enough teams for league play.
At the same time, we recently asked our community what they are looking for in youth sports and recreation. What we heard is helping shape our next steps: Families and community members expressed greater interest in recreation, skill development, and social, fun, non-competitive experiences than in competitive leagues or tournament play.
Combined with our current staffing capacity, these findings led us to make a thoughtful decision: the YMCA will not offer traditional basketball or soccer leagues this fall. Instead, we will focus our resources on the types ofyouth sports and recreation experiences our community is telling us it needs most.
This does not mean the YMCA is stepping away from fall youth sports. Rather, we are taking this opportunity to strengthen what youth sports can look like at the Y.
Our gal is to help youth develop a positive relationship with movement and sports from an early age. Through expanded Itty Bitty Sports, clinics, recreational play, and other introductory experiences, young people can explore different activities, develop fundamental movement and sport skills, build confidence, make friends, and—most importantly—discover that being active can be fun.
We also know that some families are specifically looking for traditional team and league experiences this fall. We want to help those families continue playing.
We have connected with KIDSPORTS, a longtime Eugene-area youth sports organization, about this transition. Their programs share many of the same youth-development goals we value at the Y, including recreation, skill development, teamwork, sportsmanship, and positive experiences through sport. KIDSPORTS has agreed to work in partnership with us and extend its fall registration to accommodate families who had been planning to participate in Y fall leagues. We understand that their programming does not perfectly align with the Y's traditional fall offerings, however, we are grateful for their willingness to work alongside the Y so that youth in our community can continue to have access to team sports while we focus our fall programming on complementary recreational and developmental opportunities.
This fall, families can look forward to expanded Itty Bitty Sports at our Don Stathos Campus, along with Ninja classes, sport-specific clinics, dodgeball, pickleball, open gym, and other recreational and family-friendly activities. Additional program details will be available on our website by September 1.
Looking ahead, we will continue evaluating participation, listening to families, and assessing how the Y can make the greatest impact through youth sports and recreation. Our commitment remains the same: helping young people be active, develop skills and confidence, build relationships, experience belonging, and grow through positive experiences.
We also want to keep hearing from you. If you have ideas about the youth sports and recreation opportunities you would like to see at the Y, please take a few minutes to complete the feedback form below. Your input will continue to shape our future programming.
Thank you for being part of our YMCA community and for helping us create opportunities where every child can learn, play, grow, and belong.
Rachel Jackson
Youth, Teen and Family Director
Eugene Family YMCA
