Sport Saturday Returns In Brick To Build Kids' Minds, Bodies

BRICK, NJ — Brick Township parents looking for a sports training program for kids are invited to the Sport Saturday program, offered through the township.

Sport Saturday is sponsored by the Brick Municipal Anti-Drug Coalition and is for township children who are 9 to 12 years old.

"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," the township said in an announcement about the program.

The program is held on Saturdays and begins March 19 and ends June 18. There are two sessions each Saturday, 8:30 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. The program is free but parents must register their children. Kids can be signed up for one session or multiple sessions, and there is a limit of 30 children per session.

Each Sport Saturday training session is 90 minutes and includes general fitness-level training, 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," officials said.

"We reinstated BMAC so that we could provide the young people of Brick Township with programs like Sport Saturday," Mayor John G. Ducey said. "This program will not only help young people improve their athletic abilities, it will give them tools to help them become better people."

Trainers are provided by Mentor Academy of New Jersey and are certified physical education teachers as well as youth sports trainers.

Councilwoman Andrea Zapcic says programs like this are important in the fight against opioid addiction.

The push to have younger athletes focus on one sport with the hope of winning a college scholarship or playing professionally "has caused an increase in overuse-related orthopedic injuries in children ages 12 and up. Evidence suggests that a youth's first exposure to a prescription opiate is often for treatment of injury or post-operative pain,” Zapcic said.

Studies show youth exposed to opiates (prescribed) before high school graduation have a 33 percent increased risk of using opiates 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, 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m. or online at register.communitypass.net/bricktownship. Call 732-262-1053 for more information.