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What It’s All About

A youth-sports leader explains why teaching, encouragement, character, and positive role models matter more than winning games.

3 min read

Photo Credit: NAYS

For Christi DeLoach, sports have always been a huge—and incredibly rewarding—part of her life. Whether it’s playing and competing or organizing and supervising, they have an impact on everything she does.

“Sports have been a part of my life since I was very young, and it is where I am most comfortable,” says DeLoach, who has spent the past 14 years with the Columbia County Recreation Department in Georgia, including the last 10 months as assistant athletic supervisor. “It has been a positive in my life, and I learned a lot of life skills through sports. Whether it’s at work, with family, or wherever, I think everything follows the same principles as you do with a team. You have a coach, a goal, and the team works together unselfishly to achieve the goal.”

The county staff members do exactly that, providing a diverse offering of sports programs for roughly 4,500 kids ranging in age from 4 to 15.