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MRH Youth Sports

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MRH Youth Sports is a volunteer, parent run organization that provides access to sports teams for PreK to 8th graders in the Maplewood and Richmond Heights community. We hope to provide a fun, athletic experience where children learn good sportsmanship and the skills of the game in a safe environment. 

We currently offer soccer, volleyball, cross country, basketball, wrestling, baseball and softball. With the growing population of children at MRH, our sports program is also growing. We are continually working to improve our processes and goals in order to provide the best sports experience for your child! The MRH Youth Sports board members, and other parent volunteers, donate their time to coordinate teams, find coaches, order uniforms, put together rosters, communicate about registration times, reserve field or court space for games and practices, as well as many other details that need to happen in order for your child to play sports. There are many details that go on behind the scenes in order for the games to take place. MRHYS is always looking for additional volunteers to help! If you are willing to help with small administrative tasks, coaching, sorting uniforms, helping organize a fundraiser...let us know by emailing [email protected]

Our current Board of Directors include, Bryan Dopuch, Chad Garrison, Dara Gustin, Alan Hughes, Allison Hughes, Johnny Lewis, and Joe Schott.

Mission:
MRH Youth Sports is a non-profit organization that provides recreational level sports programs for the children of the MRH Community. It is organized by a volunteer Board of Directors and volunteer parent coaches. Our Mission is to provide the opportunity for as many children as possible in Maplewood-Richmond Heights, regardless of ability or economic situation, to learn sports in a safe and supportive environment in order to encourage long-term fitness and love of sport.

Financial Aid: We believe no child should be sidelined due to economic hardship. Families that qualify for financial assistance can receive a discount on registration and free uniforms. Access a financial aid form here.

FAQ
 
What is involved in a coach’s responsibilities? Because MRH Youth Sports is a volunteer organization, we need parents or relatives to volunteer to coach the teams. Typically there are 1-2 practices a week (depending on grade) and one game per week. The coach gets to choose the night of practice, based on availability of field or gym time. Coaches also need to actively communicate with their teams to remind them about practices, game times, rain outs, etc. We find the biggest need for coaches in the younger grades since so many kids want to play team sports. You do not need to have experience to coach preschool or KG soccer. You need patience, a positive attitude and be ready to help the kids learn to be a good sport, team player and pick up a few skills along the way! We are developing a coaching manual for those who would like the help and are always willing to find a “co-coach”. If you are interested in coaching, please email us at [email protected]

How do I find out about registration? MRH Youth Sports announces registration for the upcoming seasons by emailing everyone in our database and in announcements in the MRH School District weekly newsletter. If you do not currently get a weekly email newsletter from the MRH school district, you can sign up to be on that list by going to the district webpage and click on the “subscribe to newsletter” at the bottom of the homepage. http:// www.mrhschools.net. We also announce registration by posting on Facebook. If you “LIKE” MRH Youth Sports, announcements and updates should show up on your feed. The MRH Homepage also gives updates when MRH Youth Sports registrations are beginning. We do our best to communicate in a variety of ways to ensure that the word gets out. If your child has played on a MRHYS team before, you are in our database.

How do I register my child for sports with MRH Youth Sports? You can register your child by clicking the Register button on this site. 

Why are there set registration dates? We have set registration dates to coincide with dates that the leaders of MRHYS need to register the teams in leagues that they play, to reserve field time for practices and games, order uniforms and allow teams to get started with practices. 

My child was put on a waitlist... what does that mean? We make every effort for all children to be able play on teams, however teams are capped because we want kids to spend more time on the field or court than sitting on the sideline. The number of teams we have are also limited by the number of coach who volunteer to lead a team. If we do not have enough coaches, we can't add teams. Sometimes we need to wait and see if we can find a coach and also see if we will have enough children register to fill an additional team. We think it is better to offer a great experience for some kids than a poor experience for many. If there is a situation where there are not enough children for an additional team, we will make every effort to come up with a solution. In order to avoid that, sign up early and also consider volunteering as a coach! Different sports have different caps and even within the same sport, there are different sizes of teams based on the number of children on the court or field at one time. As a general rule, you do not want to have more than double the number of players on the field/court in the younger grades. Once you hit 3rd grade, you want about 3-4 subs per team. Each description of the team in the registration will say how many kids are on the field for that particular grade as well as what the cap is. 

When is payment due? Due to the limited sizes of teams, it is OK to sign your child up when registration occurs and pay before the season starts. There will be a date given for each registration period, along with a "late fee" date when an additional $10 is added. We do have financial assistance available and offer a 25-50% discount for those who qualify. Look under "forms" section for the financial aid form or email [email protected] with specific questions.