LT-Academy.com

Denton CountyJanuary 2013

More Than Just Football...LaDainian Tomlinson

Working on the beam at Best Gymnastics.

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Sherina McKinley, team member of the GLASA 6U Team, Ponies, dribbles the ball down the field

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Flower Mound High School Baseball Team help CCA decorate the Angel Tree at Vista Ridge Mall.

‘02 Girls of the Celtic Soccer Club enjoy a Dallas Sidekicks Game.

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Jan 31, 2013.

Jacob Marick dribbles down the court to shoot for 2.

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Madelyn Mathis stretches before practicing her ballet routine.

Zach has a lot of fun during his class at Soccer Tots.

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FMYFA was the winner of the Youth Group Float categoryin the Flower Mound Christmas Parade which was held on December 8th.

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Students from Prairie Trail Elementary have fun at their annual Jingle Bell Jog.

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January Issue, Our 16th Year!

If you’re reading this, we’ve proven the Mayan calendar wasn’t predicting the end of the

world and we can now focus on the upcoming year!

“Resolution” is the word of the month. Some people make them religiously each year and others resolve NOT to make them. I like to make goals for the year instead of resolutions. Resolutions usually seem more general in nature, i.e. “I will work out more this year”. I prefer to have a goal with a finite objective.

This is a great time to talk to your kids about what it means to have, work towards, and achieve a goal. Goals for school grades and skill development are a few good examples. Everyone likes to feel the sense of achievement

after putting forth an effort, so helping them set their goals and line out the steps they will need to take to reach them gives them an opportunity to have successes they can be proud of.

Many comment there is a sense of entitlement among the younger generation. These could be individuals that were told as children wonderful and talented they were whether they put forth any effort because their parents feared they would have no self-esteem in the absence of praise. Your child may not reach their goal, so be prepared to help them understand why and what they need to do to be more successful next time.

We give praise where praise is earned at my house. Those that have successes get the praise they deserve and those that don’t put forth the effort...well...they do the dishes!!

Cross Timbers YMCA Adventure Guides stop and pose while at the Flower Mound Christmas Parade.

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COVER STORYBY TRESHA GLOWACKILaDainian Tomlinson..................14-15

STORIESArea Athletes Honored.........................................12

REGULAR FEATURESThe Game Plan...................................................6Chalk Talk............................................................7Kids Korner..........................................................8Positive Coaching Alliance...................................9Sports Directory.............................................10-11Coach Spotlight..................................................16Student Athlete of the Month..............................19

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Congratulations to the Flower Mound Lacrosse Association Boys Varsity Team for earning championship status at the Lone Star Shootout

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Having lots of fun during class at Soccer Tots.

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Positive Coaching Alliance onFilling Emotional Tanks

Youth Sports Today proudly presents a new series of tips for youth sports coaches and parents from Positive Coaching Al-liance and its local Chapter, PCA-North Texas. This month, we cover the PCA prin-ciple of Filling Emotional Tanks as shared in PCA’s live workshops, online courses, books and free resources available at www.PCANorthTexas.org.

Following is a script that coaches can draw from in order to share the Emotional Tank concept with their players. With just a few adjustments based on which sport you coach and your players’ ages, you can deliver the core mes-sage in your own voice.

“For us to succeed as a team and have a lot of fun together this season, we want to fill each others’ Emotional Tanks. An Emotional Tank is like a car’s gas tank. When it’s empty, we go nowhere, but when it’s full, we can go anywhere. People with empty tanks become negative and give up more easily. But with full tanks, we stay optimistic and can handle difficult situa-tions.

“As coach, I will do my best to help fill your Emotional Tanks. Here are some of the ways I will do that and some of the ways you can help keep your teammates’ tanks full.

• Tell teammates when we see them do something well, or when we see them giving maximum effort, even if the play does not completely go our way.

• Tell teammates when we see them improving. That will help them continue trying hard to improve even more.

• Listen to teammates when they have ideas to share.

“People perform best and have full tanks when they get about five pieces of truthful, specific praise for each time that they receive a piece of specific, constructive criticism...not necessarily all in a row, but over time. Truthful and specific praise means not just saying “Way to go!” but something like “Great hustle! You accelerated at just the right time.” I’ll give you lots of praise to keep your tanks full so that when I do criti-cize or correct something, you’ll know I still believe in you as a player and as a person.

“I want you to fill each others’ tanks. In some practices, we’ll use a Buddy System. You’ll pair up with a buddy and watch each other to see what your buddy is doing well. Then, we’ll get together and share what we saw our buddies doing so that everyone gets a full tank.

“Let’s try to avoid draining each others’ tanks. If your team-mates make mistakes, they know it, and they feel badly. If you criticize them for mistakes, you make them feel worse, and they’re more likely to make more mistakes.

“This will be a great season if we keep our Emotional Tanks full. Let’s start right now by finding a buddy, and we’ll run some drills. Remember to keep an eye on what your buddy is doing well and be prepared to share it with your teammates.”

To bring PCA to your school or youth sports organization, phone PCA-North Texas Executive Director Scott Secules at 972-789-4100 or e-mail Scott_Secules@PositiveCoach.org.

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Football

o Cross Timbers YMCA - www.lewisvilleymca.org, 972-539-9622o Denton Boys Baseball - www.dbbi.orgo Flower Mound Youth Sports Associationwww.fmysa.com, 972-955-7328o Highland Village Baseball & Softball Associationwww.hvabsa.com, info@hvabsa.como i9 Sports (Denton County, Coppell, Southlake)www.i9sports.com, 817-400-4525o Lewisville Baseball Association - www.lbasports.net972-420-7841o Premier Prospects Softball and Baseball Academywww.ppsba.com, 214-499-6240

Directory

Baseball

o Flower Mound Youth Sports Associationwww.fmysa.com, 972-955-7328o Highland Village Baseball & Softball Associationwww.hvabsa.com, info@hvabsa.como Lewisville Baseball Association - www.lbasports.net972-420-7841o Premier Prospects Softball and Baseball Academywww.ppsba.com, 214-499-6240

Softball

o Attack Basketball Clubwww.attackball.com, 214-223-7865o Coco Sports Youth Basketballwww.lcs-ballsandbooks.com, 972-464-6580 o Cross Timbers YMCAwww.lewisvilleymca.org, 972-539-9622o Denton Youth Basketballwww.dentonyouthbasketball.com940-320-9392o i9 Sports (Denton County, Coppell, Southlake)www.i9sports.com817-400-4525

Basketballo Cross Timbers YMCAwww.lewisvilleymca.org972-539-9622o Denton All-Star Youth Footballwww.dayfl.org, 940-349-8276o Denton County Raiders Orgwww.dcraiders.org

Footballo Driven Youth Footballwww.drivenfootball.com972-746-5697o Flower Mound Youth FootballAssociation - www.fmyfa.orginfo@fmyfa.como i9 Sports (Denton County,Coppell, Southlake)www.i9sports.com, 817-400-4525o Lewisville Football Associationwww.lewisvillepeeweefootball.com972-219-1269o Upward Sports972-530-8547 ext. 216

o Cross Timbers YMCAwww.lewisvilleymca.org972-539-9622o Greater Lewisville SoccerAssociation - www.glassasoccer.org972-221-4623o i9 Sports (Denton County,Coppell, Southlake)www.i9sports.com, 817-400-4525o Upward Sports972-530-8547 ext. 216

Soccero Starcenterwww.dallasstars.com214-GO-SKATE or 972-831-2425

Hockey

o Flower Mound Lacrosse Associationwww.flowermoundlacrosse.como Hebron Hawks Lacrossewww.hebronlax.com

Lacrosse

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games, tournaments, events, camps

Your guide to area events, registrations, games and tournaments. If you would like your listing to appear here, email Amy Kenney at amy@youthsportstoday.com

o Denton All-Star Youth Footballwww.dayfl.org, 940-349-8276o Denton County Raiders Org.www.dcraiders.orgo Driven Youth Footballwww.drivenfootball.com, 972-746-5697o Excite! Gym, Cheer and Dancewww.excitegym.com, 972-874-8500o Flower Mound Youth FootballAssociation - www.fmyfa.orginfo@fmyfa.com

Cheerleadingo i9 Sports (Denton County,Coppell, Southlake)www.i9sports.com, 817-400-4525o Lewisville Football Associationwww.lewisvillepeeweefootball.com972-219-1269o Upward Sports972-530-8547 ext. 216o WinKidswww.winkids.net, 972-355-9988

o Excite! Gym, Cheer and Dancewww.excitegym.com972-874-8500o WinKidswww.winkids.net972-355-9988

Danceo Excite! Gym, Cheer and Dancewww.excitegym.com972-874-8500o WinKidswww.winkids.net972-355-9988

Gymnastics

o WinKidswww.winkids.net972-355-9988

Martial Arts

o AquaKidswww.aquakids.com, 972-724-1528o Cross Timbers YMCAwww.lewisvilleymca.org972-539-9622o Lakeside Aquatic Clubwww.www.swimlac.orgo WinKidswww.winkids.net972-355-9988

Swimming

o Play For Sportwww.playforsport.com972-965-0458

Tennis

o Lake Cities Track Club214-244-3271

Track

o Attack Volleyball Clubwww.attackvball.com972-315-9500

Volleyballo Cross Timbers YMCAwww.lewisvilleymca.org972-539-9622

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Madeline and Connelly Wilson show off their ice skating skills.

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Area Athletes HonoredThe Positive Coaching Alliance

awards Triple-Impact Competitor® scholarships to dozens of high school athletes in selected geographic regions each year. Awards are based on essays by students explaining how they represent the ideal of the Triple-Impact Competitor: Makes oneself better (Personal Mastery); makes teammates better (Leadership); and makes the sport better (Honoring the

Game).There were twenty finalists picked

for the North Texas region, one of which was from a Denton County school. He went on to the top ten and was awarded the $2000 scholarship. Congratulations to these athletes for being an example on and off the field!

Scholarship Recipients:l Brandon Aubrey, Plano Senior High School

l Kyle Berger, Lovejoy High School l Ashlyn Broussard, Rockwall High Schooll Kaitlin Dorey, The Hockaday Schooll Anthony Herrera, Mcinney North High Schooll Reghan Goldberg, Hillcrest High Schooll Hailee Johnson, Heritage Christian Academyl Hallie Larson, Poetry Community Christian School l Kale Rowe, Wylie Prepl Michael Sheffield, Samuell High School

Scholarship Finalists:l Anase Asom, The Hockaday Schooll Julia DeVinney, Plano West HSl Beau Ewton, Pilot Point HSl Michelle Hagan, Ursuline Academyl Bryce Holcomb, St. Marksl Shawn Johnson, McKinney Christian Academyl Harley Liechty, Heritage Christian Academyl Kaitlynn McAdams, McKinney Christian Academyl I’Keem Smith, Roosevelt HSl Catherine Walker, Heritage Christian Academy

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The Excite! Cheer team has a blast at a local cheer competition.

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LT-Academy.comMore Than Just Football...LaDainian Tomlinson

LaDainian Tomlinson

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hen you hear the name LaDanian Tomlinson, what comes to mind? Award winning NFL Running Back or

an outstanding TCU football player? Yes, he has many accolades in both his college and professional career; however his plays and accomplishments off the field are proving just as successful.

I had the pleasure of attending his Touching Lives Banquet in Fort Worth just before the holidays. There he honored local high school players and coaches for their performances this past year. Although this was the first foundation banquet here in the D/FW area, LT has had Touching Lives Foundation in full force in both San Diego and New York during his time in the NFL.

While football has brought him success and recognition, he now, after playing in the NFL for eleven seasons, is ready to give back full time. Like our motto here at Youth Sports Today, to help kids PLAY, LEAD, SUCCEED on and off the field, LT has set out to do just that with his LT Academy and Touching Lives Foundation. We, here at Youth Sports Today, are proud to say we are looking forward to a long and successful partnership with LT Academy and Touching Lives Foundation. Together, 2013 and beyond is looking bright.

WBy Tresha Glowacki

Youth Sports Today

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YST: L T Academy started in 2011?LT: Yes, last year here in DF/W. It is a perfect complement to our already established Touching Lives Foundation.

YST: What was your motivation to start L T Academy?LT: I have done football camps for a long time, like since my second year in the NFL. I wanted to take it to the next level. I felt like there was something missing on the education side for both the students and the parents. Things like, how do you qualify for college, a scholarship; what type of grades do you need to have. Certain things that your high school academic advisors are suppose to tell you, but let’s be honest; they are stretched so thin these days due to cut backs, etc that they can’t possibly work with everyone. It’s just impossible. When we were in school, it was obvious that there was a problem then and you would have these great athletes that didn’t know how to keep going and didn’t have the help.

I have great guys around me and that’s how this really came together. We were just sitting around the table brain storming some ideas of how we could take our foundation to the next level and really help kids as well as their parents go beyond high school. That is how we came up with the preparatory academy. Our vision comes from being athletes and kids that lived through this. We didn’t have anyone helping us become better athletes, to focus on college and receive scholarships. We only had our high school coaches and that wasn’t their job to get us to the next level of college and beyond or scholarships.

YST: I know that you have a wide range of ages for the academy, but your main focus is middle school?LT: For us, middle school is that age where you start to learn your body like nutrition, what it takes to perform, but also the mental part, the mind set of thinking, okay, I am going to play in college and think about their options. Eleventh grade is too late to think about college and your GPA.

YST: You have partnered with a company that is nationwide and coming to DFW, D 1 Sports Training. Tell us about that.LT: It’s a great partnership. For us, it’s all about creating synergy around sports. So it was important that we partnered with someone that had the same idea that we had. D 1 has that idea and vision. They train athletes. They make them stronger, faster, bigger, and really train them in their program. Where we fit in, is we teach them the skills part of it; how to be better football, basketball, baseball, volleyball player, whatever sport they play. We also have the educational side of it that not only educates the athlete, but their

parents on how to get to the next level as well. Our goal is to affect as many student athletes as we possibly can.

YST: Obviously part of being a better athlete entails more than just skills. It entails nutrition, education and hard work. How does your Academy help with that?LT: Yes, you are absolutely right. There again that is where the education is so important starting with the parents. The parents are the first step in

creating a healthier diet and teaching the kids from an early age. I have two young kids of my own and it is up to me to teach them the proper, healthy diet. At the Academy, we educate the parents on all of that; how to lay the right foundation for a healthy, successful athlete. What you put into your body, is what you get out of it. When you teach a child in elementary and middle school about a proper and healthy diet, by the time they are in high school it will be a good habit for them and they will know proper nutrition, exactly what it takes and what their bodies need to get the most of it.

YST: Let’s talk about your clinic coming up in June at TCU. Is that just for football?LT: Yes, the clinic in June is just football. It is our largest clinic that we do. As I mentioned I have been doing this over ten years. It is the same as before, but now we are adding the educational component, nutritional component and of course the three day clinic.

YST: What is the best part about all of this for you?

LT: The best part for me is when that high school athlete receives that college scholarship and has taken it to the next level. That is what we are set out to help them achieve and when they achieve it , that is the best! When we get the call from the parents and they thank us for our assistance in their child succeeding and getting a scholarship, that’s the ultimate.

A scholarship to college isn’t just taking it to the next level, it’s an education, and it is preparing them to succeed in life.

YST: Where do you see your Academy and your Touching Lives Foundation five and even ten years down the road?LT: Our Touching Lives Foundation is something we have had for several years in San Diego and New York, wherever I played in the NFL so bringing it back here is just keeping it growing. Our Thanksgiving drive, our awards banquet and our new program called Project 21 is talking about obesity, healthier lifestyles, diabetes, heart disease and how it affects our children. We aim to bring more awareness to a healthier lifestyle so we can change the lives of people in our communities. That falls back on the education component.

Our Academy is all about trying to build in our community, in Dallas/Fort Worth, in this area right now. Eventually yes, we will venture out further into Texas and further help student athletes, but for now we are just focusing on the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

For more information on how to get involved, enrolled and learn about LT’s Academy, go to www.LT-Academy.com.

LT ACADEMY PHILOSPHY:The LT Preparatory Academy staff believes

that athletic performance is but one aspect of a student-athlete’s profile necessary to achieve excellence. Athleticism without complete knowledge and understanding of recruiting and academic requirements can severely hinder progress toward the goal to compete in collegiate athletics. The Academy provides comprehensive education, in combination with premier athletic performance training, to enhance the student-athlete’s opportunity for success in earning an athletic scholarship.

The Academy is also committed to providing education and training to the parents of student-athletes. We recognize that a parent’s role throughout high school and the NCAA recruiting process can have a major impact on an athlete’s ability to play at the next level. By educating parents on academic requirements, as well as the challenges of the recruiting process, we hope to help more athletes achieve their dream of playing collegiate sports.

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Coach SpotlightEach month we spotlight a coach who is getting it right on and off the field. The favorite Coach Spotlight for 2012 will go into our Hall of Fame and will win a $100 gift card to buy equipment for their team. To nominate your favorite coach, go to the Youth Sports Today of Denton County Facebook page and vote, or email us at amy@youthsportstoday.com.

DECEMBERDon Preston, FMYSA Team12U Shockwave

MAY LHS Killough “Teacher of the Year” Michael Eiffert

JUNE Sara Price, Head Coach of the 10U Striders of FMYSA

JULY - Shannon Gillespy,Marcus HS Swim Coach, Head Site Coach at Lakeside Aquatic Club

SEPTEMBERAlbert Montero, Head Coach of the FMYFA Cowboys

OCTOBERTony Miller, Head Coach of LFA Cowboys

NOVEMBERMack Bean, Miracle League Foundation

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The FMYFA team members had a Merry Grinchmas time at the Flower Mound Christmas Parade.

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Expires: 2/1/13 Expires: 2/1/13

YSTJAN13 YSTJAN13

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STUDENT ATHLETE OF THE MONTH

How old were you when you started playing sports?

I started playing sports when I was 4 years old.

What sport did you start playing first?

Gymnastics and SoccerDo you continue to play

multiple sports, and if yes,

which do you play?I compete in gymnastics and

I am a cheerleader. I’m also thinking about trying volleyball.

Which sport is your favorite and why?

My favorite sport is football because it’s intense and fun, so I love cheerleading to be a part of it.

Who is your sports role model and why?

Jason Witten because he is determined and gives back to the community.

What do you like to do when you’re not playing sports?

Play with my little brothers, read books and hang out with my friends.

What is your favorite subject in school?

ReadingWhat would you like to do

for a profession when you graduate?

Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader or Veterinarian.

What is your favorite thing about playing sports?

I like the competition and I enjoy meeting new people.

What has been your biggest challenge while playing sports?

Learning a new sport (cheer) in a short time - there are lots of routines and jumps to memorize.

Who is your favorite sports team?

Dallas CowboysWho has been the biggest

influence in your life (could be a parent, coach, or teacher) and what have they taught you?

Jesus/God - forgiveness and love for others

What is your favorite

moment during a game so far?When our team, the Panthers,

won LFA Playoffs.What accomplishment are

you most proud of? Winning LFA Cheer Off as a

first time squad.If you were able to give a

younger athlete advice, what would it be?

Don’t give up and work hard, be kind to others.

What’s one thing about you that most people don’t know?

That I would love to play pro football.

Do you know what college you would like to attend and what you would like to major in?

University of Texas at Austin. I would like to study veterinary science or health and fitness

Fifth grader, Jenna Alexandra Krebbs attends Timbercreek Elementary in Flower Mound, Texas. She is a gymnast and a cheerleader for the Lewisville Football Association.

What makes a Youth Sports Today athlete special? They know how to keep things in perspective and have fun on the field! Let’s get to know this month’s Student Athlete of the Month!