Upward Sports Program proves popular
Upward Sports soccer teams pray before their games.
MOSES LAKE - The Upward Sports Program in Moses Lake quadrupled in participants and added different sports since it started last year.
The youth programs, through Covenant Church Moses Lake, offers activities for preschool to middle school-aged kids, depending on the sport.
The program is the largest Christian sports league for children in the world.
In Moses Lake, soccer, flag football and cheerleading are available.
For more information, or to sign your child up, call 509-762-9060, or visit www.covenantmoseslake.org/.
Parent Mindy Farias, of Moses Lake, just enrolled her daughter, Emery, 5, in soccer for the first time.
Emery took dance lessons for two years, but decided she wanted to do other things and picked soccer.
"She's really excited," Mindy said.
The program teaches kids to respect coaches and parents, and to be a team player, she explained.
They learned about the program from a flyer distributed at Emery's school.
The program's director, Jennifer Robertson, has four sons, ages 3-10, taking part. She also owns Soccer Tots in Moses Lake.
She and her husband worked with the Upward program when they lived in Spokane.
Upward is not a church recruitment tool. Rather, it's a community outreach and youth program, she said.
The program's goal is that every child is a winner, Robertson explained.
"We make sure all teams are equal," she said. "Everyone gets a chance to start and finish."
It means kids are put on teams with others of equal ability.
There's no scoreboard, although players tend to keep score themselves.
Kids are also guaranteed to play at least half a game.
The program teaches participants the fundamentals of the sport.
At Upward, kids have a way to show parents what they learned.
Players receive a card similar to a trader card, which has a Bible verse printed on it and practice drills that can be done at home.
The program got started in Moses Lake through Covenant Church Moses Lake's Pastor Jeff Wallace's pastor in Spokane.
Wallace's pastor wanted to launch Upward Sports here.
They began with a spring and fall soccer program last year.
During the second season, Robertson was able to place flyers in public schools.
The word about the program also got out by participants and parents telling family and friends.
"There's just an amazing spirit out there," Wallace said.
Your child will feel accepted, he says.
The flag football program currently has 65 children enrolled.
"It's a league where they are trying to get kids to experience the game, enjoy the game and build good relationships with people in the community," Wallace said.
You don't have to be a Covenant Church member to participate.
A variety of churches, including Baptist, Presbyterian, Foursquare, Lutheran, Latter-day Saints, Assembly of God, Catholic, Seventh-day Adventist and others, have members taking part.