Photo Credit: pexels | Jay Brand
It was 1987, but for those of us who were there, the memories remain as vivid as last week’s game. At the time, the National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS) was strictly focused on one thing: training volunteer coaches. Youth sports were almost exclusively the domain of municipal recreation departments, which served as the heartbeat of community athletics.
The organization had toyed with the idea of hosting a national meeting for volunteer coaches. However, reality quickly set in. These volunteers were already pouring their hearts—and their limited free time—into their local teams. The idea of spending a hard-earned vacation at a youth-sports convention was a tough sell. In fact, most of them probably felt they needed a vacation from youth sports more than they did from their actual day jobs!
Realizing we needed a different approach, we shifted the focus to the professionals—the individuals managing the fields, courts, and rinks where millions of children played. This pivot sparked a revolutionary idea: the creation of the first-ever National Standards for Youth Sports.