Photo Credit: Courtesy of NAYS
Red-faced coaches screaming at officials, out-of-control parents and players kicking the ideals of good sportsmanship to the curb--Kyle Kebaugh saw it all as a young athlete.
“I would say in my 11 years as a youth athlete, I saw my fair share of coaches and players who did not represent a quality level of sportsmanship on the playing field,” says Kebaugh, the sports coordinator for St. Mary’s recreation and parks in Maryland. “So now I work to educate our coaches and parents on what true sportsmanship is, and take pride when I see it displayed in our community.”
St. Mary’s caters to more than 10,000 athletes ages 4 to 17, and offers indoor soccer, roller hockey, indoor field hockey, indoor lacrosse, gymnastics, cheerleading, tennis, and basketball, while volunteer youth leagues conduct more than a dozen other sports ranging from baseball and cheerleading to wrestling and kickball.