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For kids with athletic skills, Forbes Center's got game

Forbes Recreation Center will test individual athletic abilities for the new Junior Olympics Skills Competition.

By RITA FARLOW
Published January 22, 2006

Kids will begin competing this week at a Pinellas Park recreation center for a spot in the first national Junior Olympic Skills Competition finals this summer.

Forbes Recreation Center is one of three hosts in Pinellas County that currently has agreed to be a local qualifying site for the competition, which includes kids ages 8 to 13.

The event, which tests kids' individual athletic abilities, is new in Junior Olympics. Rather than focusing on team sports, kids will be evaluated on individual basketball, soccer, tennis and track and field techniques.

"We're going to get the kids out and test their ability in different activities and have fun doing it. We want to be getting the kids involved in different activities. It's not based on teams, you just go out there and do the best you can do," said Tim Foote, Forbes' senior recreation assistant.

The first competition, basketball, begins at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at the center, 6401 94th Ave. N. Participants have 45 seconds to score as many points as possible by making baskets from specific points on the floor.

The soccer portion will be held at Forbes at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 20; tennis at 3:30 p.m. March 22; and track and field at 3:30 p.m. April 26.

Foote said the events will be held on different days to avoid disrupting other activities at the center. Registration begins at 3 p.m. on the day of each event, Foote said.

In the Rapid Rally tennis event, sponsored by the United States Tennis Association, children serve a tennis ball and continue hitting it against a wall as often as possible within 30 seconds. For the soccer event, kids dribble and shoot soccer balls into a goal in the shortest time possible. The track and field event is broken into three portions: a 50-meter dash, a standing broad jump and a softball shot put.

Foote said the recreation center staff at Forbes is always looking for new ideas to get kids involved in physical activities. The center also hosts the Pepsi NFL Punt, Pass and Kick and Pepsi MLB Pinch, Hit and Run competitions.

So far, the Skills Competition Web site lists four other organizations and government agencies in Pinellas and Tampa that will host sites for the competition: the Interbay Boys & Girls Club in Tampa; the Tampa Parks and Recreation Department; the Largo Recreation, Parks and Arts Department; and Lightning Bolt Youth Sports Academy in St. Petersburg. Qualifying sites don't have to offer all four sports.

Lightning Bolt Youth Sports Academy will host all four sports competitions. Academy founder and CEO Garlynn Boyd said recently that her organization was putting together a schedule and choosing venues. Boyd said the events would be a good opportunity for kids to broaden their horizons.

"It's pretty simple to do and kids get to try all of the sports if they want," she said.

Amy Ashbrock, account coordinator at the Junior Olympic Skills National Headquarters in Atlanta, said the program is a good way to introduce kids to different sports and is accessible to all children regardless of ability level.

"The U.S. Olympic Committee wants to get involved and implement programs that get kids more involved in grass roots sports and activities around the country. It's free of charge for organizations and it promotes a healthy lifestyle through fair and friendly competition," she said.

Boys and girls will compete separately, in three age groups: 8 to 9, 10 to 11 and 12 to 13. Children may participate in as many of the four sports as they choose, but can attend only one local qualifying event.

No previous experience is necessary and all sports equipment will be provided by the sponsors, Ashbrock said. Winners advance to regional qualifiers, to be held at various sites throughout the 50 states in June and July. The top three winners in each age group receive an all-expenses paid trip to compete in the national finals at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., in August.

"They're given a free trip and all expenses paid to go to Colorado or Pennsylvania. Some kids don't ever get out of Florida," Boyd said.

WHAT: Local athletic trials for the Junior Olympic Skills Competition

WHERE: Forbes Recreation Center, 6401 94th Ave. N, Pinellas Park

WHEN: Basketball, Thursday at 3:30 p.m.; soccer, Feb. 20 at 3:30 p.m.; tennis, March 22 at 3:30 p.m.; track and field, April 26 at 3:30 p.m.

COST: Kids 8 to 13 compete for free.

For information, including a list of local qualifying event sites, visit the Web site at www.usolympicteam.com/JOSkills/default.aspx Call Forbes Recreation Center at 541-0882.

[Last modified January 22, 2006, 01:02:19]