MRH Youth Sports

2019 Winter/Spring Newsletter

Greetings! Thank you for your interest and commitment to Maplewood Richmond-Heights Youth Sports. It’s been a busy past six months for MRHYS, our players and our coaches. This

fall our soccer program enjoyed one of its largest enrollments ever with 347 players! Our other autumn sports also had strong participation with 20 6th-8th graders running cross country and 33 girls playing 7th and 8th grade volleyball.

Basketball and wrestling are now in full tilt with 144 hoopsters and 45 young grapplers, and baseball registration is just around the corner. Our volunteer board also continued to evolve this fall with the addition of five new members and the retirement of a few important people who’ve been instrumental in the success of MRHYS throughout our now 13-year year existence.

Before we get into more important announcements, let’s first begin with a 20-second overview of MRHYS’s approach and philosophy when it comes to youth sports.

MRHYS 101

Competition: We are a recreational league. That means we believe in teaching kids the fundamentals of the game, sportsmanship and striving to have all players participate in both games and practices.
Opportunity: We believe no child should be sidelined simply due to economic hardship, and we offer financial assistance for families that qualify. Access a financial aid form here. And if you have a past due balance, please contact us via [email protected] to arrange a payment plan. We currently have over $10,000 in past balances. That debt impacts registration fees for all families.

Volunteerism: MRHYS wouldn’t exist without our coaches and board members donating their time to teach and promote youth sports. If you are interested in helping coach and coordinate youth athletics, please let us know!

NEWS

Baseball/Softball Registration: Registration for baseball and softball begins February 1 and runs through February 14 on the MRHYS website, www.mrhys.org. Players are added to rosters on a first-come-first-served basis, and teams have a strict cap limit to ensure kids spend the majority of games playing. (12 players for K-2nd grade;13 players for 3rd-8th) We encourage you to register early. This year we will field teams from age 5 (rising Kindergarten class) through 8th grade. Costs this year will remain at $90 for pre-K, K, and 1st and $140 for 2nd-8th grades. MRHYS plays through the Webster Groves Baseball Softball League with games in Webster and Maplewood. If there are enough waitlisted players and a coach for a second team, we will form one. Players waitlisted can also register to play for a Webster team athttps://wgbsl.light.sportspilot.com/.

Fall Sports Survey Results: Thank you for filling out our 2018 fall survey. These surveys are important for helping us improve MRHYS sports programming and coaching. Below are the survey results for our 1st-8th grade 2018 fall sports of soccer, cross country and volleyball programs. Kindergarten and Pre-K survey results can be found on the website where you can also find past survey results.

As you can see from the results below, kids by and large enjoyed their MRHYS experience this past fall and had positive views of their coach. When asked what they liked most about MRHYS soccer, volleyball and cross country, the most popular responses were:

1. Being with friends

2. Learning the sport (developing skills)

3. Playing games

MRHYS New and Outgoing Board Members: We would like to extend a big thank you toTonya Powell, Ron Strong and Jason Watkins who are stepping down from the board this year. Tonya has been an active member of the MRHYS since soon after its inception in the 2005/2006 and has worn many hats on the board including treasurer and, more recently, president. In addition to coaching numerous basketball teams, Ron has handled the complicated task of scheduling and assigning practice courts and fields. (Fortunately for us, he has volunteered to continue that thankless task even as he steps down from other board activities!) Jason helped launch our wrestling program and has donated hundreds of hours organizing sports equipment and taking on other tasks in his six years on the board. Thankfully Tonya, Ron and Jason have all offered to assist the board after retirement, and we—everyone who has had a child participate in MRHYS—owes them a depth of gratitude.

As mentioned, we recently added five new board members in Mel Davis, Dan Dick, Chad Garrison, Johnny Lewis and Jon Rasch. Below is a bit about those new members as well as our existing board members.

Mel Davis has three energetic boys who attend the MRH ECC and participate in MRHYS. Mel has coached MRHYS soccer for the past two years and has five years experience coaching high school volleyball and water polo.

Dan Dick joined the MRHYS board in January of 2019 and is a member of the soccer committee. He has two children, and he has been a coach or assistant coach for them in soccer, baseball, and softball.

Bryan Dopuch has been a member of the MRHYS board for three years and serves as its treasurer. He has a son active in many of the sports offered and a younger daughter who likes to cheer her brother on.

Chad Garrison has three boys active in MRHYS and a baby girl who is eager to follow her brothers' footsteps. Chad has coached baseball and soccer for the past four seasons and is a member of the MRHYS baseball and softball committee.

Johnny Lewis is a father to three boys. Johnny has been a volunteer coach for the past seven years. He enjoys coaching soccer, basketball and baseball. Johnny is a member of the soccer and basketball committees.

Jason McIntyre has been in charge of equipment and uniform ordering since joining the board in 2013. He has coached baseball for seven years and has assisted with softball, soccer and basketball. He and his wife, Amanda, have three children.

Jon Rasch has one son who is active in MRH Youth Sports. Jon is a former high school and club volleyball coach. Jon has coached basketball for the past three seasons and is a member of the soccer and volleyball committee.

Caroline Strong has four boys who play for MRH Youth Sports. She serves on the baseball/softball and basketball committees.

Steve Sukanek has two children in MRH and has served on the board for three years. Steve has coached soccer, baseball, and softball for MRHYS and coached a state championship hockey team for the St. Louis Rockets. Steve has coaching certifications from US Soccer, Missouri Youth Soccer and USA Hockey, and he is involved in coach mentoring and curriculum development for MRHYS.

We are always in need of volunteer coaches and cannot exist without the dozens of parents and guardians who donate their time and talents to our organization. Thank you to all who have coached in the past and, if you have never done so, please consider coaching or assisting your team’s coach with practices and other duties. It takes a village and all help is appreciated!

For more information visit us online at www.mrhys.org, follow us on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/mrhyouthsports/ and email us questions at[email protected].