Three weeks and many meetings extending into the wee hours of the morning later we came up with a plan of action to answer the first question. It was one I had already answered in the conclusion to my book, Home Team Advantage: the solution to the youth sports crisis was to bring all of the stakeholders together in one place to work as a fully inclusive TEAM. In other words, to understand that everyone with a stake in youth sports – whether parent, coach, administrator, health care professional, or sporting goods manufacturer – is part of the same team, and that, like any other team, the only way to put the word “youth” back into youth sports and to make it the best possible experience for our children was to work together as a team.
With a strong foundation we knew we needed a bigger home so that every person who wants to help take youth sports back from the adults who have been running, and in some cases, ruining sports for our children, has a place to express their opinion, to talk to each other, to write their own blogs, to write articles, to share videos and ideas, to be part of a nationwide movement for a better, safer, saner, less stressful and more inclusive sports experience for everyone.
The re-launching of the YouthSportsParents site has been a huge undertaking. Inevitably, there will be bugs to be worked out along the way. But our message is loud and clear: There will be no cuts from the new YouthSportsParents team. If you want to help your child – any child – have a more enjoyable and safer sports experience, if you have ideas, or products, or wisdom to share, if you have money-and time-saving tips for sports parents wondering how they are going to pay for gas to and from away games, feed their kids nutritious meals and keep them hydrated or to balance sports and family in our winner-take-all society, our doors are now open. We will host your blog and we welcome your articles, videos, and your comments. You will shape how YouthSportsParents grows and develops. We are counting on you to help grow your community. We invite you to start a dialog in our forums.
In the past we have had to turn many fine folks away because, frankly, we simply did not have the technology. Now we are arming everyone with the Web 2.0 tools they need to make YouthSportsParents the social community for youth sports that I envisioned back so many years ago standing on the lacrosse sideline.
From my work deep in the trenches of youth sports, from the thousands upon thousands of e-mails I field every month, I know that there is a solution-orientated community of people in this country ready and eager to take a much more active role in youth sports and help everyone have a more enjoyable sports experience – from the first day of T-ball to the last day of high school lacrosse.
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
The change all of us at YouthSportsParents want to see is a safer, saner, less stressful, more inclusive youth sports experience. With your help – with each others’ help – we know we can do it.
All the best,
Brooke de Lench
YouthSportsParents Founder and Publisher
delench@YouthSportsParents.com