Waterford Recreation and Parks Commission committed to youth

3/4/2021

While the past year has been a challenging one for recreation agencies, the outstanding staff at the Waterford Recreation and Parks Commission in Connecticut never wavered in their commitment to youth and their pursuit of providing the highest quality programs.

Three of its recreation professionals – Brian Flaherty, Ryan McNamara and Kerry Sullivan – participated in the Virtual Youth Sports Congress conducted by the National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS) to maintain their Certified Youth Sports Administrator credential. The signature event of NAYS, the Congress has been held for the past 18 years at a variety of venues around the country. The 2020 event, scheduled for Baltimore in conjunction with the Athletic Business Show and Expo, was canceled due to the pandemic and a three-day virtual event was held in its place.

The Virtual Congress format enabled attendees to still take part in sessions and learn all-important information, communicate with the speakers, and engage with their peers.

“During the Covid pandemic, we thought it would be an opportune time to update our CYSA certifications,” said Flaherty, Director of the Waterford Recreation and Parks Commission. “The Virtual Congress was informative, with top speakers in the field speaking on topics relevant to youth sports. This training allows us to continue to provide a safe, fun sport program for our youth. As pandemic conditions improve, we predict a surge in youth sport activity, and this will help us be prepared.”

“It’s inspiring to see these hard-working recreation professionals from the Waterford Recreation and Parks Commission who are so committed to youth and who want to stay up-to-date on all the latest information affecting youth sports programming,” said Lisa Licata, Senior Director of Professional Administrators for the National Alliance for Youth Sports. “We were so pleased that our Virtual Youth Sports Congress received rave reviews from all those who participated from the comfort of their homes and offices.”

The three-day Congress line-up was packed with informative sessions on important youth sports issues that addressed gender equity, inclusion, bullying, physical literacy, facility allocation, recognizing staff and volunteers and specialization and injuries.

While all the sessions were pre-recorded, the speakers were live on Zoom at the conclusion of their sessions to respond to questions from the attendees. A live chat box also ran alongside the presentations, enabling attendees to post comments and share insights with each other as subject matter was presented.         

The 2021 Youth Sports Congress is tentatively scheduled to take place in San Antonio, Texas on Oct. 27-30, if federal health regulations deem it safe to host an in-person event.

For more information please email academy@nays.org

CYSA Waterford Training Recreation

Search