Earlier this year during the Travis Air Force Base Youth Sports program’s basketball season, Patty Karels’ son’s coach was forced to leave the base for duty assignment, temporarily leaving the team without a coach. Rather than sit by and watch these young athletes be led by parents with little knowledge of the sport, Karels stepped up and received National Youth Sports Coaches Association (NYSCA) training and took over as head coach.
“With husbands deployed or having busy work schedules, there wasn’t a parent willing to step up, except for Patty, a single mother who couldn’t bear to see her child’s team fold up because of the lack of a coach,” said Mo Artero, youth sports director for Travis Air Force Base Youth Sports (Calif.). “Her courage to take charge enabled their team to have a successful season.”
Because of her willingness to regularly go above and beyond normal team parent duties, Karels was named the 2009 National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS) Parent of the Year. She was presented with the award during the annual NAYS Youth Sports Congress. The prestigious award is presented each year to one special youth sports parent who consistently emphasizes fun, learning and safety, who treats every child with the same respect and patience as their own child, and who is an enthusiastic supporter of the coach and the team.
“A ‘Parent of the Year’ nominee should be someone who not only does this, but goes above and beyond the normal scope of the everyday sport parent,” Artero said. “For the Travis Air Force Base sports program, this parent is Ms. Patty Karels.”
Karels will be presented her award at the NAYS Youth Sports Congress in Orlando, Fla. on Dec. 2. Karels and Travis Air Force Base will each receive a custom award to display at the facility; national, state and local recognition; and complimentary airfare, lodging and registration to the NAYS Youth Sports Congress, which is held in conjunction with the Athletic Business Conference and Expo.
“Patty has always been a supporter of Travis Youth Sports,” Artero said. “Her children have participated in at least two sports each year. Along with normal team parent duties, Patty arranges her team’s snack schedules, provides an excellent phone tree system, and even organized securing trophies and a team party for season’s end. To add to this, where she has surpassed the normal parent volunteer are the countless selfless acts she performs that benefit the league as a whole.”
Parents of children in organized sports play a crucial role in helping their children get the most out of their participation in team sports, while at the same time helping to keep things fun and in perspective. As a parent, this involves the effort, commitment, and most of all, patience, to successfully meet their child’s ever changing needs during the course of a season.
Karels regularly makes sure that the needs of her community’s families come first. Earlier this year the league concession stand was having trouble getting ready in time for the youth baseball season, leaving spectators without their usual hot dogs and cold sodas. Karels stepped up and came to the rescue by organizing and operating the concession stand herself, showing Travis Youth Sports but another selfless act.
Karels volunteers countless hours to conducting uniform and equipment inventories, assists with player evaluations, aids other coaches during team drafts, along with just about anything else she sees the need to help out with.
“As a single working mom Patty Karels’ contribution to Travis Youth Sports has been invaluable,” Artero said. “She has helped to make our program a better one for all families on Travis.”
