Photo By Cpl. Christopher Johns | Coaches watch their teams play during a soccer game at the Youth Sports Complex aboard...... read more read more
Subscribe
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. – “They push us to do better,” said James Harris III, a 10 year-old goalie with the Pegasus soccer team. “[They teach] us you have to try your best to be successful. With team work you can accomplish more.”
James learned these ideals from his Marine coaches who volunteer with the Youth and Teen Center, and he put them to use during a soccer game aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., Oct. 3.
“The Youth Sports Program is about having [children] play different sports and have fun while being active,” said Kirk McGinty, the youth sports director’s assistant with the Youth and Teen Center, and a San Diego native. “Most of our coaches are Marines, enlisted and retired, parents or not, and they help a lot.”
Coaches volunteer during evenings after regular working hours to foster the team spirit of children aboard the air station.
“From what I’ve seen, the kids seem to listen to the Marines better than their parents sometimes,” said McGinty. “With their parents the kids tend to push their boundaries and act out, whereas with the Marine coaches they listen better and do as they should. They really seem to enjoy having these Marines as coaches.”
With most activities, the coaches’ influence over the children carries on throughout many seasons of sports.
“We get requests for children to be put on the same team as the coach they had last season,” said McGinty. “It makes me feel good to see the kids out there having a good time playing. I try to make everything run smoothly on my end, so they can enjoy themselves.”
While the youth center employees ensure everything goes smoothly behind the scenes, coaches are on the front lines with the children teaching them and molding them into better athletes and citizens later in life.
“It’s pretty rewarding to watch the players learn the fundamentals of the game and come together as a team,” said Capt. Justin Taricani, a coach for the Flying Eagles and a New Britain, Conn., native. “[We] teach them that it’s just as good to pass the ball and let a teammate score a goal as it is to score one yourself, but the looks of joy on their faces when they score a goal themselves is just amazing.”
Taricani, an intelligence officer with Marine Aircraft Group 16, not only volunteers his time teaching other service members’ children, but has enrolled his own children in the program as well.
“I have an eight-year-old playing and an 11-year-old who plays, as well,” said Taricani. “They like soccer and the Miramar Youth and Teen Center Sports Program. They like to come out and play the wide variety of sports offered to them with friends they know from the Youth and Teen Center.”
With coaches like Taricani, many children soak up everything that is taught to them, from the fundamentals of the game, to the life lessons they provide.
“I’m home schooled, so I have a lot of tests and that makes things harder for me,” said Harris. “So I ask my mom questions and push myself like my coaches push me in practice. My coaches teach me a lot, and I really like it.”
For more information on youth sports programs, contact the Youth and Teen Center at 858-577-2247.
| Date Taken: | 11.03.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 11.06.2012 17:41 |
| Story ID: | 97387 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, CA, US |
| Hometown: | SAN DIEGO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 141 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Keeping the ball in their court: Marine coaches teach kids sports, values, by Cpl Christopher Johns, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT