Teaming with pros a winning idea in Q-C
- Font Size:
- Default font size
- Larger font size
By Craig DeVrieze | Monday, November 26, 2007 |
The Mini-Wheelers indoor flag football program got the ball rolling, but Moline Park and Recreation Department programmers Justin Brandt and Scott Lund didn’t stop there.
Behind the arenafootball-style flag football program, they launched a Junior Swing youth baseball program, a youth basketball clinic tied to the Quad-City Riverhawks and, come January, indoor roller hockey league in conjunction with the Quad-City Flames.
Brandt’s “Teaming Up with the Pros’’ concept has been well-received by Quad-City pro sports teams and school-aged participants alike.
“All four (teams) just
basically jumped at the idea,’’ Brandt reported. “It is kind of a win-win for everybody. It gives us a namebrand and it gets the professional teams involved in (a marketing) area they may not have been hitting.
“It is helping everybody — the kids, the parks department and the teams.’’
Local minor league team leaders certainly see upside.
The concept started with a Mini-Wheelers league involving 83 school-aged kids just over a year ago. A second spring session grew to 130. This year’s fall session, which has included instruction from Steamwheelers players Kris Peters, Kevin Talley and Malik Jackson, includes 202 young players.
Steamwheelers co-owner Mike Bawden said it is a fool-proof way to cultivate a new, young fan base.
“We want to give kids a chance to interact with players and coaches,’’ Bawden said. “We want these kids to feel like they are able to make a connection with the Steamwheelers rather than just seeing the players’ names in the sports section.’’
The Swing of the Quad-Cities saw the worth of a similar program that brought almost 100 young baseball players to John O’Donnell Stadium for three games apiece last summer.
As with the Steamwheelers, participating players also received tickets to a Swing game.
“We got a new group of future fans out to the ballpark,’’ said Mike Weindruch, the baseball team’s vice-president of sales and marketing. “We are trying to cultivate a new fan base and be a little more pro-active on the Illinois side.’’
The parks department will conduct a pair of Jr. Swing T-ball camps in December and January.
Currently in session is a basketball clinic for a handful of seventh- and eighth-graders being conducted by former Riverhawks vice-president of basketball operations Acie Earl, but Brandt said personnel from the Premier Basketball League team will get more involved in a new youth league after the first of the year.
Also scheduled to start in January is the Quad-City Street Heat indoor roller hockey league, run in cooperation with the American Hockey League Flames. A summer outdoor league will follow.
Flames coaches and players will be as involved in January as their schedule will allow, said team president Tim Taylor.
“Our intent is to grow the game of hockey in the Quad-Cities, whether that is through ice skates or roller blades,’’ said Taylor, whose Flames are involved with junior hockey at the Quad-City Sports Center. “If we grow the game, we hope to grow our fan base.’’
Bawden has seen that happen for the Steamwheelers. In conjunction with the junior football league, the team launched a Mini-Wheelers kids club, charging $5 per ticket for students to games last season.
By season’s end, the club had more the 400 members, including a few members of the Brandt clan.
“My 3-year-old daughter and her two cousins can’t wait to go to games again next year,’’ Justin Brandt said.
Brandt said he is anxious to export the “Teaming Up with the Pros’’ concept to other local park districts.
He has had preliminary discussions with Rock Island and hopes to talk to Davenport park and rec leaders soon.
“How that is going to work, we’re not sure, but it is something we definitely want to work on,’’ he said.
In the meantime, the Moline programs are open to all-comers. “It’s not limited to just Moline residents,’’ Brandt said.
For information on upcoming programs and registration deadlines, interested young athletes can go to www.moline.il.us and click on Parks and Activity Registration in the online services section.
Craig DeVrieze can be contacted at (563) 333-2610 or cdevrieze@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com
del.icio.us
Digg
NewsVine
Fark
redditMore Stories By Craig DeVrieze
» More Sports Stories
Highest Rated Articles from the last 7 Days
- Technology News Articles
- Computers, MP3, Phones & More. See Product Pics, Specs & Reviews.
- www.NexTag.com
- 2008 Diet Of The Year:
- Finally, A Diet That Really Works! Seen On CNN, NBC, CBS & Fox News.
- www.Wu-YiSource.com
- Cheap Airfare
- Compare multiple travel sites. Discount web fares made easy.
- www.LowFares.com
- Ads by Yahoo!
