HIGHLAND PARKS & RECREATION DEPARTMENT CREATES “HIGHLAND YOUTH SPORTS ADVISORY COMMISION”
The Highland Youth Sports Advisory Commission is an adisory commission that recommends and assists in developing standardized policies for youth sports. The HYSAC is a volunteer organization comprised of parents and/or adults who are active in youth sports programs and capable of working together to create a youth sports environment that is beneficial to youth of all skill levels.
The mission of the HYSAC will be: To establish policies for the continued success of youth sports in Highland while maintaining the goal of youth sports as recreational in nature. To establish policies that provide the youth with the ability to have fair opportunities and equal play in a fun and educational environment. To address the needs of the youth in a way that will encourage them to continue participation throughout their childhood years.
Because youth sports is an integral part of many people’s lives, the Parks & Recreation Department felt it was time to incorporate an organization that would fairly represent the parents that rely on the department to carry out youth sports. The sports that the HYSAC will address are baseball, softball, girls and boys basketball and indoor and outdoor soccer.
In addition to the HYSAC, subcommittees are in place that address sport specific needs, while keeping in mind the mission statement of providing a sports environment that is recreational in nature. However, in order to address the needs of parents and youth who display a higher standard of skills at their particular age, policies for implementing and selecting traveling/select teams sponsored by the Highland Parks & Recreation Department will also be addressed.
The premise for developing the HYSAC is based on the fact that athletics are a year round service. In addition, due to the fact that unique situations arise with the start of each sport’s season, a standardized format of registrations, coaching criteria and selection, picking teams, fee appropriateness, official’s training and scheduling, to name a few, needs to be consistent.
The idea to develop subcommittees stems from the thought process that there are probably individuals who are already coaching in a particular sport that may have some valuable ideas that will aid in retaining youth in sports longer. There is also the potential for people newer to the community to bring fresh ideas to the table that could spark some renewed interest in a specific sport where numbers are struggling.
It is important to know though, that the HYSAC wants to retain children and not develop a format that will cause inferior attitudes as we want to reach out to children with all skill levels. Another important detail that is imperative to the success of youth sports is that they must be kept recreational in nature. It is not the goal of the HYSAC, or the Parks & Recreation Department to create and develop athletes into high quality players. Instead, the goal is to introduce and maintain an interest for youth to be physically active in team sports and recognize the importance of team work, commitment, self-esteem and appreciate the particular sport they participate in.
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