The Brick Municipal Alliance Coalition (BMAC) is proud to once again offer the Sport Saturday program for township boys and girls ages 9 through 12. The program offers young athletes 90-minute training sessions designed to help them achieve their personal best physically, mentally and emotionally in both sports and life.
Sport Saturday sessions are available every Saturday from March 16 through June 15 at the Brick Civic Plaza. Sessions are at either 8:30am or 10:30am. The program is free for participants. Parents can register their children for one or more sessions. There is a limit of 30 children at each session.
Each Sport Saturday training session is 90 minutes. Sport Saturday provides enhancement of general fitness levels, sports specific training, and the importance of leadership qualities, problem solving and character development designed to help youth increase self-esteem, awareness and resiliency as substance use prevention strategies.
“This program has been an incredible asset to families throughout Brick,” said Mayor Lisa Crate. “Hundreds of children have participated over the years and each child has come away with the skills that help them both on the field and in life. It’s fantastic that we’ve been able to continue to work with BMAC to bring this program to the youth of Brick Township.”
Trainers are provided by Mentor Academy of New Jersey and are certified physical education teachers as well as youth sports trainers.
BMAC Chair Andrea Zapcic says programs like this are important in the effort to keep our youth healthy, safe and drug-free. “The drive towards more professionalism in youth sports has caused an increase in over-use related orthopedic injuries in children ages 12 and up, for which an opioid pain reliever may be prescribed.”
Zapcic adds that “studies show youth exposed to prescribed opioids before high school graduation have a 33% increased risk of using opioids recreationally in the years after graduation, including those with a previous unfavorable attitude toward drug use.”
Sport Saturday is funded through the BMAC grant provided by the Governor’s Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (GCADA).
Register for Sport Saturday in the Recreation Office, 270 Chambers Bridge Road, Monday through Friday, 7:30am – 4pm or online at register.communitypass.net/bricktownship. Call 732-262-1053 for more information.