RESOURCES

The Knowledge Center is an electronic tool kit designed to provide youth sports providers with information about the best and most current resources available. Some of these resources are free and others involve fees – please choose carefully and select the ones which best serve your organization.

Click to see available topics

ASSESSMENT TOOLS back to top

Core Elements Assessment tool.

The essential Core Elements of an effective youth sports organization are included in this tool. These Core Elements are a roadmap for communities and organizations seeking to improve the quality of their youth sports program. We encourage you to complete this initial assessment tool and save it as a reference guide. Resources on the topics included in the assessment tool are included in this Frequently Asked Questions document.

COACHING back to top

American Sports Education Program (ASEP)
www.asep.com
Coaching Youth Sport courses offers coaching principles, sport first aid and sport-specific techniques and tactics. Classroom and online courses are available for baseball, basketball, football, soccer, softball, tennis, volleyball and wrestling. ASEP has educated more than one million coaches, officials, sport administrators, parents and athletes. 38 state high school associations (including Minnesota) require or recommend ASEP courses for their coaches

Coaching Corner
www.thecoachingcorner.com
Website sports instruction areas contain information and resources on the basics of the sport, skills & drills, team strategies and bulletin boards as well as tips from experts and other youth team coaches.

Eat to Compete
2006 Eat to Compete
Eat to Compete Attachments
Published by the Hennepin County Human Services and Public Health Department April 2005 For additional copies or information, call the Hennepin County Human Services and Public Health Department at 612-348-5618.

Guide to Coaching Sports
www.guidetocoachingsports.com
The website’s goal is to "coach the coaches" so that you can help children develop skills in sports activities and offers new techniques and drills that will enhance children’s’ ability to be successful.

National Youth Sports Coaching Association (NYSCA)
http://www.nays.org/IntMain.cfm?Page=1&Cat=3
The National Youth Sports Coaches Association (NYSCA) is a membership organization that has trained more than one million coaches More than 2,600 community-based agencies and organizations offer this opportunity. The program is designed to sensitize volunteer coaches to their responsibilities and hold them accountable to a strict Code of Conduct.

Positive Coaching Alliance
www.positivecoach.org
This program was founded at Stanford University in 1998 to encourage the teaching of positive life lessons through sports

Y-Coach
www.y-coach.com
Website offers coaching drills and information for youth baseball, youth basketball, youth soccer, youth softball, and youth track and youth volleyball.

Youth Sports Research Council
www.youthsports.rutgers.edu
The Youth Sports Research Council is a division of the Department of Exercise Science and Sports Studies at Rutgers University. The YSRC develops and disseminates scientific research about the influence of physical activity and organized sports on the healthy development of children and adolescents. Programs are designed for recreation directors, coaches, parents, and administrators of youth sports leagues.

EXERCISE & FITNESS back to top

Be Active Minnesota
http://midwestevents.com/BAMN/BAMN.html
The website is dedicated to improving the wellbeing of all people of Minnesota through the support and promotion of physical activity and contains a directory of places to be physically active in your community.

Kids Health
www.kidshealth.org
This site contains information on the amount of exercise kids should get at various age levels. It also discusses strength training and children.

Kids Sports Network
www.ksnusa.org
Website promotes non-school sports and fitness for children between the ages of 3 and 19 through the education of coaches, parents and administrators; special events activities; public awareness and regular networking with youth sports organizations and agencies.

MN Department of Health
www.health.state.mn.us/physicalactivity
This site offers information and materials to promote physical activity.

National Center on Physical Activity and Disability
www.ncpad.org
This site provides information on participating in sports with a disability.

PE4LIFE
www.pe4life.org
PE4Life seeks to raise awareness about the physical inactivity levels of America's youth and the state of physical education across the nation.

President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports
www.fitness.gov
This website is the health, physical activity, fitness and sports information website of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

VERB
www.verbnow.com
VERB is a national website of the Centers for Disease Control that encourages kids to be physically active.

NUTRITION back to top

California Department of Health Services -- Project Lean
(Leaders Encouraging Activity and Nutrition)
www.caprojectlean.org
The website mission is to increase healthy eating and physical activity in young people in order to reduce the prevalence of obesity and chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, osteoporosis, and diabetes.

Centers for Disease Control
www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/
This Centers for Disease Control site contains a wide variety of information on nutrition and healthy eating.

Kids Health
www.kidshealth.org
This site provides information about what to feed your young athlete.

U.S. Department of Agriculture
www.fns.usda.gov/eatsmartplayhard/default.htm
The "Eat Smart. Play Hard" program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
encourages youth to eat healthy and exercise.

Eat to Compete
2006 Eat to Compete
Eat to Compete Attachments
Published by the Hennepin County Human Services and Public Health Department April 2005

For additional copies or information, call the Hennepin County Human Services and Public Health Department at 612-348-5618.

OFFICIALS TRAINING back to top

American Sports Education Program (ASEP)
www.asep.com
The American Sports Education Program trains youth sports administrators.

Minnesota Youth Athletic Services
www.myas.org
Minnesota Youth Athletic Services has trained thousands of basketball referees and baseball umpires.

Minnesota SRC
www.minnesotasrc.org

North Country Region USA Volleyball
www.ncrusav.org

SAFETY/INJURY PREVENTION/EMERGENCY CARE
/VIOLENCE PREVENTION back to top

Asthma Training for Coaches Online Course
http://www.health.state.mn.us/asthma/documents/training.pdf
This site offers tips on what coaches, athletic directors, PE staff and athletic trainers need to know about
asthma and their players.

Concussion Toolkit for Coaches
www.cdc.gov/ncipc/tbi/Coaches_Tool_Kit.htm
The CDC offers a downloadable kit for coaches on concussions in sports.

Kids Health
www.kidshealth.org
This site offers tips on treating specific youth sports injuries and conditions.

National Youth Sports Safety Foundation
www.nyssf.org
The National Youth Sports Safety Foundation, Inc., is a national educational organization dedicated to reducing the number and severity of injuries youth sustain in sports and fitness activities.

National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center
www.safeyouth.org/scripts/index.asp
This site offers advice on how to prevent violence in a variety of settings.

Sport Injury Handbook
http://www.sportsinjuryhandbook.com/
Easy-to-follow do's and don'ts for every common sports injury and symptom -- plus the most effective strengthening, warm-up, and conditioning exercises -- in 3 best-selling books by Allan M. Levy, MD, team physician for the NY Giants, and professional health writer Mark L. Fuerst.

Sports Safety
www.sportssafety.org
The website promotes the importance of injury prevention and safety on all levels of youth sports through education and research. The NCSS focuses on decreasing the number and/or severity of injuries through developing and teaching sports safety courses and collecting, analyzing and researching injury data.

SPORTS PARENTING back to top

Center for Sports Parenting
www.sportsparenting.org
Website offers practical guidance to parents, coaches, educators, administrators, officials, and all other individuals involved in youth sports, equipping them with the information needed to handle the psychological and physical challenges faced by young people participating in athletics.

Moms Team
www.momsteam.com
This website provides “youth sports parenting information for sports moms.”

Shoulder to Shoulder
www.shouldertoshoulderminnesota.org
The mission of Shoulder to Shoulder is to share practical, evidence-based information and tools to support parents of teens and other caring adults as a way to raise healthy children.

Youth Sports
www.youth-sports.com
Website offers helpful information, advice and instructional products that will help you the parents, coaches and children involved in youth sports.

SPORTSMANSHIP/ CHARACTER EDUCATION back to top

Athletes for a Better World
http://www.aforbw.org
Athletes for a Better World are committed to the mission of changing the culture of sport by reaffirming the development of individual character, teamwork, and civic responsibility through commitment to a concrete athletic Code of Living formed by a set of values that will provide a foundation for life outside of sport.

Changing Lives
www.coachingtochangelives.com
"Changing Lives" is a twenty-year character education program that attempts to a positive difference in students, schools and communities.

Character Counts
www.charactercounts.org
CHARACTER COUNTS! is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian framework that teaches the Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. The CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition embraces thousands of schools, communities and nonprofits and provides consulting and training services and produces support materials and special projects.

Citizenship Through Sports
www.sportsmanship.org
The Citizenship Through Sports Alliance (CTSA) promotes fair play at all levels - youth leagues to professional sport - to reinforce the value of sport as a test of character.

Enjoy the Game
http://www.enjoythegame.com
Enjoy the Game is a national sportsmanship education and accountability program that's been developed to specifically address the disrespectful and out-of-control behavior being reported on and off the playgrounds and fields of America.

National Alliance for Youth Sports
www.nays.org
The National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS) is an advocate for positive and safe sports and activities for children. NAYS offers programs and services for everyone involved in youth sports experiences, including professional administrators, volunteer administrators, volunteer coaches, officials, parents and young athletes.

Respect Sports
www.respectsports.com
Frank White founded Respect Sports with a two-part mission. First, he aims to raise people's awareness about the violence and abuse that occur in sports in each community and remind his audiences how vitally important it is "to examine the values that we are teaching." The second part of the mission is to provide a model for leaders, administrators, parents and participants to create a new direction for youth sports that is safer, healthier and more positive.

Responsible Sports
www.responsiblesports.com

Responsible Sports™ supports volunteer youth sport coaches and parents who help our children succeed both on and off the field

Sports Plus
www.sportsplus.org
Sports PLUS is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the use of sports as a positive educational medium – contains sports literacy and character development program.

Sportsmanship Posters
Poster 1
Poster 2
Poster 3

TOBACCO, ALCOHOL & DRUG PREVENTION back to top

Tobacco-Free Youth Recreation
www.tobaccofreeparks.org
Minnesota's statewide program promoting tobacco-free sports. The website provides model policies, tip sheets, and other materials.

National Spit Tobacco Education Program
www.nstep.org
This site provides information about the dangers of spit tobacco use, with particular references to sports.

Centers for Disease Control
www.cdc.gov/tobacco
The website provides tobacco prevention information, including a Tobacco-Free Sports page.

Minnesota Institute of Public Health
www.miph.org
The website contains links to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs prevention materials and information.

Partnership for a Drug-Free America
www.drugfree.org
The website has information for parents and teens about alcohol and drug use.

Health Policy Guide
www.healthpolicycoach.org
This site provides evidence-based, peer-reviewed policy
guidance and resources. Search or browse over 150 policy topics.

WEBSITE SERVICES back to top

Info Sports
www.infosports.net
Website offers virtual community of coaches, players and parents and offers listings of tournaments and camps.

35th Avenue Studios
www.35avstudios.com

YOUTH SPORTS ADMINISTRATOR TRAINING back to top

American Sports Education Program (ASEP)
www.asep.com
The American Sports Education Program trains youth sports administrators.

National Youth Sports Coaching Association (NYSCA)
http://www.nays.org/IntMain.cfm?Page=1&Cat=3
The National Youth Sports Coaches Association (NYSCA) trains youth sports administrators.

SPEAKER’S BUREAU back to top

Sports Alliance of Minnesota
www.sportsalliancemn.org
The Sports Alliance of Minnesota offers expert speakers on many youth sports topics including: