NK kids getting their kicks from PPR preschool programs

Published 1:00 pm Wednesday, July 26, 2006

POULSBO — Athletics are about more than just exercise; sports envelop more than mere competition.

Poulsbo Parks and Recreation’s summer preschool programs — Grass Stain Gang Soccer and Dusty Bottom Tee-Ball — are aiming to teach the intangibles that make the games worth playing. In addition, the programs also provide an environment, one that instructor Jessica Bento described as “organized chaos,” in which youth, ages 3-6, can expend their itching energy while learning the basis for a sport.

The Grass Stain Gang Soccer program will be wrapping up with a scrimmage day Aug. 12, while Dusty Bottom Tee-Ball recently began. Registration is handled through the PPR center off of Front Street in Poulsbo. The course cost is $59 which includes a camp T-shirt.

“For the most part, it is an introductory course to get them excited about sports,” Bento said of the program. “We want to make sure that they come out with a positive experience, that, whatever sport they are playing, they come away saying, ‘That was fun!’”

Fun is the name of the game for the program, said Poulsbo Parks and Recreation programmer Joe Schiel, as its goal is more focused on developing a love of the game than specific sporting skills. The atmosphere on the field of each program is highly conducive to player interests, he added.

“Everything pretty much flows with what the kids want to do, we just want to get them out on the sports fields, playing the game,” Schiel said.

The Grass Stain Gang Soccer league has been taking to the pitch at Pearson Elementary School since July 17 in a practice format, teaching kids the basics of kicking around a soccer ball. At Briedablik, Dusty Bottom Tee-Ball practice has just begun. For more information or to register for Dusty Bottom call PPR at (360) 779-4464.

With an instructor-to-camper ratio of about 1-to-5, kids receive personalized assistance during hour-long practice sessions. The culmination of that practice work comes on Saturdays, which are reserved for scrimmages.

“It’s a great way for the younger ones to be able to feel like they are playing a game,” Bento said. “And it’s cute because they call it practice and games and we give out T-shirts that they call their uniforms.”

“He loves it,” Tessa Watson said, watching her 3-year-old son Nikodemus boot around a soccer ball. “It’s something different for him, something that he can do with other kids.”

Through the vehicle of sports, the program is driving to instill the character traits of an athlete such as pride, confidence and teamwork, Schiel said, adding that the kids are also learning the basics of discipline in the sense of following directions from someone other than their parents.

However, parents are still an integral part of the preschool programs.

To begin practice at Grass Stain Gang Soccer sessions children and parents kick the ball back and forth for warmups. Then as the kids and instructors take the field, parents remain on the sideline to offer support.

“We utilize the parents through it all, it’s not just a drop your kid off and leave camp, it gets the parents involved with the kids, on the field,” Schiel said. “You just don’t hear negatives on the sidelines, it’s a great environment for the kids to play in.”

For the first time this year, PPR has been offering an environment for the youngest of athletes — ages 3 and 4 — and has seen positive results. Bento said the parent support for that age level has been outstanding while the number of instructors has allowed every child to get individualized help and attention.

“I put just about the entire budget into instructors, I really wanted to man it up,” Schiel said.

Because of Schiel’s charge, the program is reaping the benefits.

“(The instructors) are great people,” Watson said. “They are very patient with them because the following of instructions is not always there.”

For Bento, patience in that area comes easy. After six years working for PPR’s summer programs, she returns year after year, mainly to see the look of enjoyment on the kids’ faces as they realize their abilities, she said.

“This is like my dream summer job. I love kids, so this is perfect,” she said, adding that she has been studying at Western Washington University to earn a teaching degree. “I love seeing the kids be successful, they score a goal and they are so enthusiastic — just like it was the best thing in the world.”

To register for the remaining sessions of Dusty Bottom Tee-Ball which are held at Briedablik Elementary school, call Poulsbo Parks and Recreation at (360) 779-9898.