A catchy internet meme has surfaced: “How it started. How it’s going.”
My Youth Sports column, published in the Times Union from 2007-2017, led to the column you’re reading now. So for me, that’s how “it” started — “it” being my sportswriting career. And it’s going well, thanks to all women and girls in sports who’ve agreed to be interviewed and profiled in this column.
Memories of my Youth Sports writings were rekindled this week during an archive search of Ian Anderson and Kevin Huerter baseball cards I created in 2011 when the boyhood friends were playing under-12 baseball for the Clifton Park Knights and headed to the Cal Ripken League World Series in Maryland. Anderson, of course, is a rookie sensation and starting pitcher for the Atlanta Braves playing in the National League Championship Series and Kevin Huerter is a second-year guard for the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks.
The baseball cards, I discovered, are still easily found by searching for “Clifton Park Knights” at blog.timesunion.com/youthsports. Looking back on those stories, I remember the daily phone interviews with coach Tom Huerter as the team advanced through the tournament. What a thrill it must have been for all the families involved in that youth sports adventure. And the thrill lasts to this day as many of us watch Anderson pitch and Huerter play hoop.
How it started. How it’s going. For Anderson and Huerter, there’s no better way to illustrate their friendship than through the early days of youth sports on the Clifton Park baseball fields and basketball courts.
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Scrolling through the Youth Sports columns brought back memories of my daughter’s Clifton Park-based travel soccer team, coached by Siena women’s head coach Steve Karbowski. We spent countless days with the families of these athletes, traveling to games and tournaments throughout the Northeast and to Maryland in the spring.
All the players went on to play varsity sports in high school. Some played in college.
All are now finishing up their late 20s hard at work in their chosen fields. At least four are now on the front lines pursuing careers in healthcare: two are doctors, two are nurses.
The key to successful soccer travel teams is having a solid goalie and my daughter’s team was anchored by Erin Kelly of Guilderland, who played Division I soccer for Siena College. She too is an essential worker in a tough job during a pandemic: a middle school language teacher and coach in the Schoharie Central School District. Kelly is an assistant for the girls’ varsity soccer team and head coach of the modified girls’ basketball team.
She also helps out Schoharie boys’ head coach Prince Knight with goalkeeping clinics for soccer players of all ages through the national Just 4 Keepers program.
Her observations as a young coach reveal issues facing both youth sports and school-based athletic programs.
How it started. How it’s going. Right now it’s not going so good.
“At Schoharie, we’ve seen a drop in numbers the past few years with a lot of different sports,” Kelly said. “Less kids are coming out for the teams.”
COVID-19 has had an impact, but the dropoff started earlier. Specialization and other factors are driving down the numbers, she said. Coupled with a budget crunch, that could mean the elimination of some school-based sports. And not just in smaller districts.
Unfortunately, the pandemic could erase many of the gains we’ve made in sports programs for youth.
Despite this, Kelly said she is fortunate to help coach a solid girls’ soccer program, featuring several league all-stars. Megan and Katie Krohn are two of the top players in the Capital Region, following in the footsteps of big sister Carrie Krohn.
“Megan’s a senior and she’ll be attending UAlbany next year for soccer. Katie is a junior and she already has broken the all-time goal-scoring record at Schoharie and she’s getting recruited by some top-name D1 schools,” Kelly said.
Carrie Krohn is a soccer player in her junior year at Siena College, playing at Kelly’s alma mater and for Kelly’s former travel and college coach Karbowski.
“They’re a big soccer family,” Kelly said laughing, stating the obvious.
All the Krohn sisters’ seasons are on hold as their conferences and schools chose not to compete in soccer — not yet anyway.
“I feel bad for all these kids missing out on their seasons. Hopefully, we’ll be able to play in the spring,” Kelly said of her players. “We will see what the winter and spring holds.”
Kelly and I finished up our talk catching up on what we know of the players on those early travel teams. We agreed the travel sports experience was a special time for our families.
How it started. How it’s going. Time will tell.
#womenworthwatching
- Lindsay Gibbs, founder of the women’s sports website Power Plays, broke the news this week that “Bet on Women” T-shirts, a collaboration between Breaking T and the WNBA Players Association (WNBPA), will be available in more than 120 Dick’s Sporting Goods stores across the country. You can bet I’ll be wearing one.
- The ESPNW Women’s Sports Summit was held Thursday. Videos of each segment can be found on their website. So far I’ve watched two videos and highly recommend: Hannah Storm with Sabrina Ionescu, introduced by Alison Overholt, and Laughter Permitted featuring Simone Biles and Crystal Dunn, a segment with Julie Foudy and Lynn Olszowy.
- This column is sponsored by Times Union Women@Work, the Capital Region’s network of business and professional women. Join today at: https://womenatworkny.com
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October 19, 2020 at 06:07AM
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All In: Anderson, Huerter connection rekindles youth sports memories - Times Union
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