Overview : History : Current/Past Projects : How to Help : Healthy Community : Facility/Future Goals
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Overview
Currently there are over 2500 participants in youth sports in Isle of Wight County.
IWAA’s goal is to help and assist all local youth sporting organizations. If you or your child plays youth sports, coach or volunteer in youth sports or you want to sponsor youth sports please contact us.
Although we do not directly operate any sport, we strive to provide support across a broad spectrum of needs of these organizations. These areas are administrative, education, training, fundraising, facility needs and financial support.
The Mission of IWAA is to:
1. Plan, fund, own, and/or operate an amateur sports complex to be built in Isle of Wight County; sponsor, in its broadest sense, educational events and sports competitions; and sponsor such other activities as will, primarily and generally, promote the health and wellness of all youth, including those with special needs, through participation in organized sporting activities;
2. Provide support, in its broadest sense, to amateur athletic organizations from within the County;
3. Within the bounds of prudent financial management of IWAA, provide below cost facilities, training, education and management assistance to youth amateur athletic organizations from within the County; and,
4. At such time as financially feasible, provide grants, to or for the benefit of youth athletic organizations from within the County, and provide scholarships based on need and/or athletic ability, and the need for accessibility, to County youth.
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History
IWAA was founded with the purpose of supporting local youth sports in its broadest sense. We can provide many services to local sporting organizations such as website, centralized database management, background checks, on-line registration capabilities, training and fundraising. We host an annual event to recognize volunteers from all organizations here in IOW County. We help with fundraising for local sporting organizations to help you meet your financial needs throughout the year. When financially feasible we will provide scholarship opportunities for our youth based on athletic ability, good standing in the community, and financial need. We are an advocate and voice for local organizations when there are issues that need to be addressed at the county level such as facility usage, maintenance, and capital expenditure projects that will benefit youth sports.
Ultimately it is the goal of this organization to be the ideal resource to turn to for information regarding all youth sports here in IOW County. With so many of our local sports provided by various organizations, it is difficult to figure out where to even go if you want information about participating. It is not our intention to take over any sport but rather to provide support in order to free you up to actually TEACH your sport! That is what the kids really need.
Current 2010
Hired Ripken Management and Design to update multisport complex feasibility in Isle of Wight
Committed to new fundraising approach. (3) centralized events to benefit IWAA and all sport that participate. Events are as follows:
NASQUACK Duck Derby - Oct 9, 2010
2nd Annual Eagle the Isle Fall Golf Classic - Oct 22, 2010
Volunteer Appreciation Dinner - Oct 23, 2010
In progress of funding new storage facility for Pop Warner Football.
In progress of applying for grants for continued improvements to skatepark and healthy living coordinator.
Past Projects
Provided a centralize website for all sports in the county
Funded various community info events and feasibility research for multi-sport complex
Became a local affiliate of NAYS, National Alliance of Youth Sports
Certified staff and provided training and background checks for coaches and parents.
Funded in part the ramp improvements at Nike Skateboard/BMX Park
Purchased adjustable basketball goals for every elementary school in the county
Repaired football helmets for Pop Warner Football
Replaced outfield fencing for Smithfield Recreation Association Baseball & Softball
Assisted in negotiations with the School Board on their proposed increased fee schedule for sports that utilize school facilities.
Sponsored annual youth sports volunteer appreciation dinner (3 years)
Coordinated the first joint sport fundraiser for SRA (baseball & softball), Pop Warner football and IWAA.
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THE DUCK RACE is a lot of fun and needs a lot of volunteers! Duck Taggers, Computer entry people, Be the Duck (we have a costume and lots of events to be at!), Be in charge of caring for and setting up the 15 ft blow up duck, Help work public relations promo events, technical computer support (I need some cool power points and videos), an official photographer, ……oh, and you have to quack for this one!
THE GOLF TOURNAMENT - come play, sponsor a hole, stuff goody bags, help at check in table, provide auction items - - recruit others to play!
VOLUNTEER DINNER - buy a ticket to the event and come personally thank those that give of their time to our youth! Or if you cannot come, sponsor a volunteer or a whole table of them! We do not charge the award winners from each of the sports, so we look to offset about 35-40 volunteers dinners each year. Donate the table decorations, or just be an overall sponsor.
Please see our “happening now’ tab on the top of the page for more details info on each event
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For the first time in recorded history, the life span of our youngest generation is shorter than that of their parents. There is supporting evidence that this life span shortening is preventable, and can be reversed, if we implement a massive change toward healthy living. Recently, tremendous attention has been focused on the epidemic of obesity and wellness in America. Disturbing statistics are driving sweeping change in community attitudes toward physical fitness and health.
Studies now show that activity in organized sports contributes to the positive health and development of our youth; they indicate that sports activities:
• Enhance function of the heart, lungs, muscles and bones;
• Improve flexibility, mobility and coordination;
• Increase stamina and strength;
• Enhance ability to maintain weight;
• Improve balance and agility;
• Improve self-image and self-confidence;
• Improve relaxation and stress relief; and
• Prevent conditions associated with chronic illnesses and disabilities.
Although IWAA’s mission does relate to providing healthy safe sporting opportunities to area youth - taking the lead on this is a bit outside our direct mission. However, we do recognize that by the nature of what sports are, there is opportunity to make a healthy difference in the lives of the players and their families.
IWAA is committed to do our part to participate in improving our community’s wellness culture by proactively taking a more aggressive approach toward healthy wellness living concepts in our programs.
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Outside of the school system, and the soccer and basketball programs operated by Parks and Recreation, all of our local youth sports organizations are operated independently. Several are known to operate as public charitable non-profits; others may be operating as groups of parents that have just formed a team. None receive any direct financial support from local government. Some organizations have existed for many decades, while others have developed in the past six to eight years as parents sought a greater variety of experiences for their children. Each year over 2300 participants play youth sports and that number is up from 1000 just a decade ago and continues to rise. Other than a few unlighted soccer fields at Nike Park, there have been no additional facilities built since the early 1990’s.
Today, various teams and leagues provide sporting experiences to children in Isle of Wight County. Some are recreational in nature, and others compete on a higher level. But most are bursting at the seams, and this forces many teams to travel, sometimes very large distances, to find facilities. This increases the time commitment for being active in sports activities without increasing the time actively spent participating in the sport itself. It also adds to the cost of participation. The increased time and financial commitment to the sports activity creates a barrier to those who most need to participate in these activities, causing the underprivileged and those with special needs to be underserved by the organizations that currently exist. While it is not necessarily the fault of the organizations that currently provide sports opportunities in the County, they are generally served by volunteers and are unable to take on the additional burden of providing programs for, and seeking participation from, the underprivileged and those with special needs.
Participation in youth sports is expected to increase as a result of national initiatives to fight childhood obesity. Programs like NFL Play 60 and First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move”, along with others, will all have an impact on the number of children playing sports. Combined with anticipated County population growth, County based sports organizations, working separately as advocates of their particular program, will be further burdened to meet the needs of the community. And, it will become even more difficult to find a place to play. A comprehensive community youth sports program that provides a learning environment for the development of life skill sports, fitness, healthy habits, teams, leagues, and serves special needs, will be effective in assisting families to achieve change toward a healthy lifestyle.
The increased demand for new sporting opportunities, combined with rapid population growth, especially in the northern end of the county, has created a need for playing space that exceeds what is currently available. While some organizations have their own facilities, Smithfield Recreation Association, Inc., and Windsor Athletic Association each own and maintain baseball fields, other organizations utilize indoor and outdoor facilities at schools and in parks, and these resources insufficiently meet the needs of youth sports in our community. In fact, though Smithfield Recreation owns its own facility and has limited use of two fields owned by the County, its resources insufficient to meet its needs, much less provide the additional programming required to meet community needs.
Over the past 15 years, various attempts have been made to acquire additional facilities in the northern part of the County with no success. Since 2001, the County has had a master plan for developing additional sports related amenities. However, if and when the projects contemplated by the master plan are completed, they will not satisfy the high utilization needs of multi-sport youth leagues. Additionally, public park amenities are better suited to the community’s low-impact recreational needs for programs like co-ed softball, church softball leagues, family gatherings and picnic rental use. More problematic, though, is that no funding for the master plan’s proposed amenities exist. And this fact is exacerbated by the current economy and budget cuts. In fact, due to lack of funding, County owned facilities are often not maintained at a level that will support the high demand needs of county based sports leagues.
While some may have hope that local governments would contribute to, and be supportive of, our endeavor to improve this situation, it is unrealistic to expect that local governments can provide the solution. IWAA was formed in late 2005 to find a solution. As a 501(c)(3) public charity, we seek to have the youth sporting community join forces so that there can be share facilities and resources, a reduction in duplicated costs, less emphasis on volunteers, and more reliance on paid professionals. Training of coaches, children, and parents can be geared not only to the sports activity in which they choose to participate, but to the lifestyle choices that they make.
All of this is possible with a unified group. And little of it is possible by continuing with the status quo.
If you are interested in helping changing the way we do sports in IWC, please contact us.