Niwot Youth Sports heads into another summer

For youngsters in the area, Niwot Youth Sports (NYS) has brought a lifetime of memories and experiences since its beginnings with recreational baseball in the late 1960’s.

A decade later, the organization was dubbed the Gunbarrel Lefthand Valley Recreation Association, and basketball and girls softball were added.

Today, NYS serves 450 children in baseball and softball, close to 300 in basketball and around 100 in flag football each year. NYS offers competitive and recreational versions of each.

“It’s a fabulous program,” NYS Board President Tom Moore said. “The recreational side is the bulk of the kids. It’s a great, safe environment. The fields are beautiful and get even more so all the time.”

Moore started coaching 15 years ago, and then began working on the administrative side on the board of directors.

He’s one of many that have contributed to the growth of the program.

“We have a great group of volunteers that take care of them to make it a great place to play,” Moore said of the 10 ballfields the organization has built. “They’re in an idealic setting. It wasn’t always that way. We got a donation from a community member that allowed us to jump start sprucing up the fields.

“The reason we do it is because we want kids to have a great place to be able to play sports, and parents can go and enjoy themselves.”

Between the Biff Warren Complex, Hangge Fields at Monarch Park and the Left Hand Valley Grange Field, Niwot Youth Sports has top-notch facilities that draw players from outside the Niwot/Gunbarrel vicinity.

Executive Director and long-time director of baseball Tim Rudden said that the organization sees players from Niwot, southeast Longmont, including Blue Mountain, Eagle Crest, Burlington, Indian Peaks, and Flagstaff schools, as well as Boulder (Heatherwood) and Gunbarrel.

“Anybody is welcome,” Rudden said. “It doesn’t matter where you live. We have people as far away as south Boulder come up and north Longmont.”

Over the years, the program has fielded countless all-star teams, and has seen many professional and collegiate athletes who excelled in Niwot Youth Sports programs.

They include Mike Moat who was the winning pitcher in three state championship games for Niwot and went on to play in the Chicago White Sox minor league system; Sean Ratliff who played for Stanford in the College World Series and went on to the Mets organization before an injury ended his career; Pat Perry who led the nation in hitting at the University of Northern Colorado and played in the Red Sox minor league system before becoming a hitting coach at the collegiate level; Ashley Johnson who played college basketball before taking her skills around the world with Peace Players International and was recently named a Colorado Sportswoman of the Year; and Nickie Blue who currently plays softball at the University of South Carolina.

But the legacy really continues with those who played as a youth and now volunteer with their children playing.

“Many of our volunteers played as kids,” Moore said. “Now they’re involved in the program with their kids -- some are third-generation coaching their own kids.”

“It’s really a coach-driven league, it always has been. We have a great bunch of coaches every year that help the kids have a good time out there.”

Those lasting impressions are the goal of the program, Rudden said.

“It’s not what it means to us, it’s what we mean to the community I think,” Rudden said. “We try and do the best job we can to have all the kids play sports, enjoy it and learn something from it.”

He added that fun and sportsmanship are the main goals of Niwot Youth Sports.

“It teaches them to get along with each other and meet new people,” Rudden said. “Basically become better athletes and smarter because of knowledge of the game. Everybody learns something from it.”

Exercise is also a benefit.

“Being active is definitely part of it,” Rudden said. “Keeping them involved in some kind of organized sport where there’s physical activity is beneficial to everybody. It’s even good for the coaches, they learn a lot from it too from the standpoint of keeping a team together and working with parents.”

Funding for NYS comes only from donations.

“We operate only through the generosity of our patrons and sponsors,” Moore said. “If anyone wants to volunteer or donate, we usually say yes. We don’t get any government money from city, county or state.”

But money doesn’t matter, it’s about the youth doing something positive and productive.

“I see kids playing and having a great time,” Rudden said. “I see them learning these sports. That’s my goal is for them to have fun and enjoy it.”