PlaySportsTV.com is a website where you can watch free training videos and read free articles for a variety of sports including:

• baseball
• basketball
• lacrosse
• field hockey
• football
• hockey
• soccer



• softball
• tennis
• volleyball
• cheerleading
• golf
• gymnastics
• skateboard
• ultimate Frisbee
• wrestling

PlaySportsTV.com has multimedia training programs you can purchase for football, soccer, baseball, softball, basketball, hockey, lacrosse and tennis.

I played volleyball growing up, but I’ve never taught it. When the kids at the local elementary school mentioned that they would like to learn how to play competitive volleyball so they could be ready for middle school tryouts, I thought it would make a great after school program. I really didn’t even know where to start. So I bought a few books on coaching youth volleyball. The books were really good, but I couldn’t see the drills in action.

Once I found PlaySportsTV.com I immediately began watching the videos and was hooked. Though they don’t have a training module for volleyball they do have free instructional videos.. Teaching sports is made much easier thanks to them. I have since purchased two training programs and they are fantastic. Check them out.

If you know of websites that other recreation professionals might be interested in drop me an email at curt@recreationguy.com and tell me about it. I in turn review the site and post here at RecreationGuy.com

Are you offering your teens (specifically the middle school students) a Friday night program? Here are some ideas that may appeal to the teens and pre-teens in your area. Most of these activities can take place in your community center or a school gym. If you find one or two that are a real hit then make them a monthly event. Charging an participation fee of $2-$10 is appropriate.

1. Dodgeball
   Last Friday we had our first Friday Night Dodgeball event. We did very little promotion (a couple of announcements at the local middle school) yet were able to get 20 kids to show up. We ran it for 2 hours and all the kids played dodgeball the entire time. If you don’t have your own gym, rent the school’s.
2. Dance
   Teens and pre-teens love to get together and listen to some good music. While they have their school dances to go to, a lot of them don’t necessarily like going to a “fun” event where their teachers and principal watch them like hawks. Recreation dances usually get a pretty good attendance. Just make sure you have a DJ that understands that the music still needs to be appropriate for that age group.
3. Movie
   Rent an age-appropriate new release and show it in your community center. If you have a projector you can project the movie onto a wall or white bed sheet. This gives it that big movie feel. Have some snacks and drinks on hand. Scary movies seem to go over the best for one reason or another. If need be (maybe you want to show a PG-13 movie) have the kids bring in a permission form signed by their parents. Afterward, make sure the kids clean up any mess they made.
4. Video Games
   Middle School Kids love video games (almost as much as I do) and holding a competition, or just having a couple of hours where the kids can get together and play for fun, is great. It gets them out of the house and engaged with others, instead of playing the games by themselves. You can sell snacks and drinks as well. If you hold a competition make sure you have a prize or two. This is another time where a projector would come in handy.
5. Basketball
   A lot of teens really enjoy playing basketball. Have a few courts available as well as some referees (optional). This is not supposed to be a typical open gym time. It’s strictly for teens. With two courts you could have a full court game, a half court game and a game of knockout all going at the same time. If you want to make it interesting hold a basketball competition for prizes.
6. Volleyball
   Volleyball is another gym activity that is popular. Set-up a couple of nets and have two games going on or one game on one of the nets and a fundamentals clinic on the other.
7. Chill Zone
   Set up a large room as a teen Chill Zone. Have some R&B music playing softly, a bunch of pillows, beanbags and blankets available, as well as books for reading. Make sure there are outlets to plug in laptops. It would be nice to have snacks and drinks for sale. Dim the lights a bit and keep out the kids that want to ruin the atmosphere.
8. Campfire
   Okay, so you can’t do this one in a gym or community center, but if you have an area nearby that has a fire pit then you’re good-to-go. Beaches are great for this type of event. During the campfire you can tell stories, have someone (a teen or staff member) play the guitar, make s’mores, and throw around a Frisbee or football.

A few weeks ago we started an after school program based around fitness. If you have ever tried to plan a fitness program for kids you know that it’s not as easy as having the kids run and do sit-ups. You want the kids to enjoy themselves so that they will continue to be active throughout their childhood.

So when we started planning the class I suggested we purchase FitDeck Junior. My staff asked me the same question I’m sure your thinking. What in the world is a FitDeck?

FitDeck is a special deck of playing cards. Each card has either a movement, stretch or exercise on it with illustrations and instructions. The movements, stretches and exercises require no equipment. They require only a person’s bodyweight to perform.

While there are a variety of decks (I personally have the bodyweight deck and love it) I’ll be focusing on the Junior version here.

AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS

Here are some ideas taken from the Fit Deck website:

• Obstacle course – set up a mini obstacle course inside or outside; set up stations that require children to run around, over, through, or inside. At each obstacle, children must perform a FitDeck Jr. card that is assigned.
• Scavenger Hunt – place cards around house, playground, classroom, daycare, or hallways; children split into two groups; teams are challenged to find cards, return to home base, perform exercise, and return to find rest of cards.
• Color Stations – set up four exercise stations that represent the four FitDeck Jr. colors (blue, red, orange, green); children rotate from station to station and perform that station’s cards.
• Relay Races – using relay race-friendly FitDeck Junior cards (duck walk, knee taps, bear crawl, crab crawl), administer a relay race with two teams. Cards are selected by the teams at random.

You’ll want to get the FitDeck Junior Games and Activities Booklet which has over 70 games and activities for kids. FitDeck Junior is also a perfect indoor fitness solution when outdoor activities are cancelled due to inclement weather.

CAMP PROGRAMS

While all of the activities you see above can be used with great success in a camp environment, below are a couple of other suggestions. You may want to use FitDeck Bodyweight for these.

• Sunrise Movement – as the kids wake-up (resident camp) or arrive at camp (day camp) have each camper in the group choose a card randomly. Then have the kids perform each card.
• Tough Stuff – set-up a “Ranger” or “SEAL” program where (resident camp) campers are invited to get up before everyone else for morning PT (physical training). I did this one summer at camp and had around 30 kids take part. They felt like they were part of something that other campers were not. They felt great about themselves. We included running with our bodyweight work, I wish I had the FitDeck at the time. It would have made the program 100x better.
• Warm-ups – sports are a big part of many, if not most, camps (day or resident). Have the campers randomly choose a few FitDeck cards to perform as a warm-up.

FUNDRAISER

Selling FitDecks can be a wonderful and appropriate fundraiser these days. Instead of selling cookies and candy at the next bake sale, try selling fitness. Children can sell FitDecks to parents, coaches, neighbors, and to the public.

A Drum Circle (a.k.a. rhythm circle) is an empowering group activity which uses a combination of various percussion instruments. The main purpose is to experience the joy of group music making.

The facilitator creates an atmosphere charged with excitement – and focuses on developing group cohesion. We have an innate ability to feel and respond to a strong stable pulse which ensures group success regardless of age, ability or musical experience.

The strength of the circle unites the kids in the joyful experience of music making. What transpires is a heightened feeling of camaraderie – that what was shared was unique, easily attainable, and valuable.

During this program participants will sit in a circle with a percussion instrument. The facilitator, who will usually stay in the middle of the circle, but not always, starts things off with a beat.

This program is based on good facilitation, especially with kids. At the bottom of the page you will find a great website that will help you out.

DRUM CIRCLES: SAMPLE PROGRAM OUTLINE

1. Get the group in a circle, set the ground rules, and pass out the instruments!

2. Decide the “vibe” you want your circle to have. – What is your goal for starting a drum circle? If it’s simply to have fun, your circle can be pretty laid back. If you’re setting out to learn about, say, the rhythmic principles of Classical Indian Music, you’ll want your drum circle to have a more serious attitude.

Djembe Drum

3. Have the group facilitator give some instruction. Start a basic rhythm and let everyone join in, either mimicking that rhythm or playing a rhythm that they find complimentary. Let the rhythm happen for as long as everyone wants to keep playing.

4. Have fun! – That’s the whole point, so if the others don’t seem to be having fun, you’re doing something wrong. Be encouraging and supportive.

DRUM CIRCLES: ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS

If everyone in the group is a beginning drummer, starting with very basic rhythms is recommended.

Rhythm Circles fit in nicely with staff trainings as well. It shows what can happen when everyone is on the same page (beat).

DRUM CIRCLES: MATERIALS REQUIRED

Drums! – You’ll need hand-drumming or percussion instruments. A Djembe is a good, reasonably inexpensive and practical choice as a beginner drum, and you may also consider investing in a few small but cheap alternate percussion instruments, such as egg shakers or claves. For great prices and free shipping check out Musician’s Friend.

I also recommend you set up a camp account with eBay. You can find great deals on percussion instruments there as well.

DRUM CIRCLES: RESOURCES

For more great information go to the Remo website. You’ll find some neat tips on running a drum circle.

Below are some really good books that will help you facilitated drum circles.

Transitions from one activity to another can be difficult, especially if there is downtime while your group of kids are waiting for the next activity to start. Camps are notorious for this. There is so much downtime between activities and meals that campers start getting restless during these times. Thankfully, I have a solution.

There are two pocket sized books that I love to have with me at these moments. Both of them pose questions that engage children and teens easily. The first book is The Kids’ Book of Questions: Revised.

Here are a few questions straight from the book:

• If you could have either a wonderful new experience or a wonderful new possession, which would you want? Why?
• Would you rather be a rich and famous movie star or a great doctor who saves lots of people but is not wealthy or well known?
• If you could be invisible for a day what would you do?

The other book that I think is fantastic is You Gotta be Kidding! The Crazy Book of “Would you Rather” Questions. This is another inexpensive, pocket sized book that has a load of questions that really gets kids talking, sharing and laughing. This one is for the younger kids. On most of the pages it also has fun facts related to the question.

Here are a few questions from the book:

• Would you rather share your romm with a koala bear or a kangaroo?
• Would you rather live in a house made out of chocolate or in a house made of licorice?
• Would you rather sit in a pit full of worms for a day or live in a room filled with rats for a week?

Carry one or both of these books with you and your kids will never be bored again.