Video Information
Materials:- Cones, No Cones?
- Water Bottles, Cups, Street Chalk
Motor Skill Development:
Power (Jumping, Leg Strength) | Agility | Balance | Coordination (Eye Hand & Foot) | Reaction (Foot Awareness)Who are you PHOENIX SPORTS?
Who Are You?
My name is Douglas Goldfein and I am the proud owner of Phoenix Sports. I grew up in Chicago, Illinois and I always played sports--soccer, baseball, and basketball. When I realized, I was not going to go pro, I became a huge sports fan, following all sports closely, and studied the nuances of the games.
After college, I moved to Taiwan and taught English as a second language for 6 years. In 2016, I moved to San Jose to reconnect with family, and I earned a Master’s in Education and began teaching kindergarten.
What is Phoenix Sports?
It is a reimagined athletic camp for children ages 3 to 12.
How Did You Reimagine a Sports Camp?
In my years teaching in Taiwan and in San Jose, it became clear that small group instruction was highly beneficial for students. In schools, small group instruction usually follows whole group instruction, designed to reinforce or reteach specific skills and concepts and offer more individualized instruction.
I have taken this small group instruction concept and adapted it to my sports curriculum. Most other youth sports programs will have a coach to athlete ratio of 12 or 14 participants to 1 coach. They will have a camp with 24 participants and expect every athlete to get the same large group attention and develop the same skills at the same level and at the same pace. These larger camps may not fill up to 24 participants and may only fill to 12 participants to the 1 coach. But their curriculums are designed for the larger group and they don’t give the individual attention. There are so many life lessons that can be learned through sports and they are largely ignored. (These ratios are pre-Covid-19 camp sizes)
I knew that there is a better way to teach sports and the love of the game to young children, so I have adapted the small group instruction strategy to the Phoenix Sports curriculum for a reimagined athlete experience.
How Does Your Small Group Strategy Work?
First, Phoenix Sports keeps its youth athlete to coach ratio low; immediately they get more coach time and do not get lost in a crowd. We keep our camps, pre-Covid-19 and post-Covid-19 to 12 to 1 (athlete participant to coach). Although our ratio sounds the same. We will not exceed 12 participants for a single camp. This gives the coach the ability to manage the group, control the training, and give the athletes the attention they need. Our sports curriculum is designed for 12 athletes with individualized instruction built in. Unlike the larger sports programs.
Second, as the athletes begin camp, we ask each athlete (or parent for younger children) what they want to accomplish. Then, we create a plan to get there. During the camp sessions, each athlete will get some individual coach time, working on that day's skill. Simply stated, each child gets what they need and will meaningfully improve their skills at Phoenix Sports. And, they will have a great time without pressure.
Third, at Phoenix Sports, each coach follows the same curriculum. The curriculum also offers a scaffolding approach, which is an educational concept that allows skills to build logically from the previous lesson.
Is Phoenix’s Way the Better Way?
I have worked at other camps, and I know there is a better way—Phoenix is reinventing the sports camping experience for young children. Our athletes gain critical social skills as well as game skills and they will have fun and gain confidence.