Frequently Asked Questions?

We realize how hard it is for parents to locate sports programs. Rarely can you find listings that contain all of the options that are available in your community. In the San Antonio area the Kids Sports Network tries to keep a listing of organizations to help parents. Even in our confined area it is a daunting challenge. Refer to our Finding Youth Sports article and the answer to questions 5, 6, 7 and 12 for more information.

2. At what age can a child start playing organized youth sports?

We do not recommend starting kids in organized team sports before five or six. For more information on this subject read our "When should kids start sports article?" There are organizations that start youth sports as early as 3 or 4. You will need to call organizations directly to learn what ages they accept. The Catholic Youth Organization (CYO), YMCA's and other organizations do accept at an early age. There is an organization offering soccer, basketball and baseball for children from 18 months to 6 years.

3. How can we train our coaches and become a Training Unit?

There is no fee or test required to become a KSN Training Unit - just a commitment to train your coaches. The major benefit of our program is that it was created by someone with over 25 years in the youth sports field and that we provide direct and personal service. We promise that you will always be able to reach a knowledgeable and helpful KSN staff member when you contact us. For more information check our Coaches' Training page.

4. How can my child or my organization join the Spurs Youth Basketball League?

Spurs Youth Basketball League (SYBL) (formerly call the Spurs Drug-Free League) exists in the San Antonio and other selected areas of South Texas. For a list of organizations in the SYBL see the information on the Spurs Youth Basketball League page. Contact the organizations directly to sign a child up for their basketball program which is part of the SYBL. Organizations interested in becoming part of the SYBL can contact the .

5. How can I find a youth football team for my child?

The links below will give you more information on the tackle football leagues in the San Antonio area.

6. Where do I find the youth cheerleading programs?

KSN offers information for two different types of cheerleading programs—Youth Sports Cheerleading and All Star Cheerleading.

Youth Sports Cheerleading programs can be found in affiliation with the youth football leagues. You generally need to call the football teams listed on the football links above. Most organizations hold registration in the spring and summer and begin practicing in August. These organizations typically accept cheerleaders starting from the age of 5, but contact the organization directly for individual age rules. The cheerleading season will usually run from August through the end of football season in early December. One basketball program, the Harlandale Little Dribblers, has a Cheerleading program.

All Star Cheerleading programs, also referred to as competitive cheerleading, are squads solely devoted to participation in competitions. Most all star programs hold tryouts and begin practicing in the spring. The ages of cheerleaders accepted vary depending on what squad levels are offered for the season, but some programs offers squads for cheerleaders as young as 3 years old. You should contact the organizations directly to find out what squad/age levels will be accepted for the upcoming season. These cheerleading programs have seasons that run year-round and have a bigger time and monetary commitment. Check out this map for locations of all star cheerleading programs in San Antonio.

7. How do I find a youth baseball program?

Little League is the largest baseball organization in the city. San Antonio Little League is divided into District 19, North San Antonio and District 20, South San Antonio. Many other organizations have baseball programs. The usual baseball season is spring, but many youth baseball organizations now also play a fall and occasionally even a summer season. Competitive baseball programs may play competitive tournaments year round. Competitive play exists in many of the other sports also.

8. Do you help sponsor youth sports teams?

No, as a nonprofit 501(3)c organization, we are unable to sponsor youth leagues, individual teams or individuals. One suggestion is to have your parents ask businesses they patronize to sponsor or help your team or organization in some way. Businesses with a connection to your team or its members just might help.

We do have many other resources that may help your team or organization. We offer training to coaches and maintain an extensive library of information on individual sports and the organizational resources that a youth sports organization may need. Check out our library page for more information.

9. Can I check out items from the library by mail?

Unfortunately we are not able to mail you videos or books. You must visit our library to check out and return items. Financially you would be better off purchasing the videos or books because mailing and handling costs back and forth would be more than half the value of many items.

We now have a special page of Links to our sources for books and videos. If you cannot find a specific video or book you want, and we will try to help.

10. Are military youth organizations listed on your organization page open only to military personnel? For example, the Randolph AFB Youth Center.

The military Youth Centers are open ONLY to family members of active duty military, military retirees and DOD personnel (civilians working for the Department of Defense) living in the area.

11. Is the Kids Sports Network only in Texas?

Our only office is in San Antonio and a lot of what we do takes place in Texas. However, our Coaches' Training program is used by youth agencies in seven different states and overseas. If you are interested in the training, we can set your organization up as a Training Unit allowing you to conduct the training and certification of coaches yourself. In order for that to happen we will need to know who you are and/or what agency you represent (Parks & Rec, Boys & Girls Club, YMCA's, national or independent youth leagues, etc.) There is $200 deposit to establish a training unit, but $100 of this deposit is credited toward the first five coaches you certify. We do ask for a commitment to train your coaches and certify (register) them with our organization. For more information send E-mail to: and check out our Coaches' Training information page. We also offer many resources through the Links pages of our site.

12. How can I find youth sports programs outside the San Antonio area?

Often the most frequent information source is your local newspaper. Information on youth sports sometimes appears in the sports section or in any section of the newspaper containing neighborhood or youth information. Other sources are any free monthly youth magazines available in grocery & department stores. Many elementary schools will distribute flyers about youth sports programs. Schools are often a good source of information relevant to programs near the school. Middle or Intermediate schools are less likely to send flyers home. The number of students is often large and the percentage of students participating in non-school sports tends to drop off during these middle school years. Many youth sports organizations now have websites and voice mail containing information about their programs. Youth sports organizations now usually keep a phone numbers constant even when the leadership changes. Remember many organizations are run by volunteers.

Your local telephone directory has listings for YMCA's, Boys & Girls Clubs and Parks and Recreation facilities as well as some volunteer organizations, Pop Warner, Little League etc. If you call a number listed in the telephone book but no one answers, you may have reached a field number answered only during game season. This is happening less frequently as most organizations now use answering machines and voice mail.

Remember that the registration for many youth sports programs occurs months before actual play begins. For example youth football games start at the beginning of September but registrations may start as early as May or June. If you wait until you see teams practicing, it is often too late to find a place on a team.

Many youth organizations now have national web sites which can help you find one of their organizations near you.

Little League's has a "Finding a Local League" link on the left navigation bar of their website which directs you to another page on that allows you to search for individual teams by state or zip code on Eteamz web site.

Pony League's web site has a Contact|Search for Contacts link where you can look for your zone, e.g. South will give you the contact information for the southern region of the US.

Eteamz provides team, league and organization Web sites and the publishing tools to create and maintain the sites. Free and paid sites are available. Eteamz also has a site finder that might help you find organizations in your area. If an organization has a Eteamz Web site, the site finder can help you find their site. Just enter your zip code for a list of baseball, softball, football, basketball, soccer and volleyball teams or organizations in your area.

The San Marcos Parks and Recreation department has a 2011 pdf file which lists some youth sports.

If you are not already familiar with the Google Search Engine, we highly recommend it. You can often find the smaller youth organizations by searching for youth sports and your city name.

13. What are the employment opportunities at the Kids Sports Network?

The Kids Sports Network (KSN) is a unique organization and a fun place to work. All our employees are team players who work to accomplish our mission. Employment opportunities include project coordinators, clinic presenters with youth coaching and specific sports knowledge, all areas of office support and professional positions. The Kids Sports Network offers part and full time employment. We do hire students and also participate in Internship (670 KB PDF) programs.

INTERNSHIP INFORMATION: Interns support KSN programs and projects and are responsible for a real project. Interns are exposed to office practices, management duties, staff meetings, databases, web editing and given training in the use of computer programs needed to perform requested office duties. They must have basic computer and keyboarding skills. Sports interest and coaching experience is a plus.

Although hours can be adjusted, the student's schedule must have sufficient blocks of open time so that they can be available 20-25 hours per week. We prefer students who are doing internships for credit and who need 250 or more hours in a semester to satisfy their internship requirements. Internships are unpaid but with a monthly expense allotment plus mileage when covering functions away from our office.

Students wanting to apply for an internship should submit a resume and the Intern Requirements_FORM (pdf 105 KB) to . Internships are available during spring, fall and summer semesters.

All interns and employees must pass a background check. Fax resumes and other employment forms to (210) 646-9977

Full time employees are eligible for a sick and vacation hours. We are always looking for talented people (578 KB pdf file). If you are interested in employment opportunities with KSN, we suggest you fax (210) 646-9977 or E-mail a resume to KSN. E-mailed resumes must be in Word or Rich Text format. Once resumes are reviewed and a job opening is available you will be asked to fill out the KSN Employment Application. Applications must be submit via FAX or MAIL.
Do NOT email an employment application form.

14. What is Adobe® Reader and why do I need it for some of the links on your site?

Adobe Reader (formerly called Adobe Acrobat Reader) is a free program that allows you to open Adobe® PDF files. PDF stands for Portable Document Format and is just what the words state, a document format that is portable. The PDF format makes it easy to give a file to anyone regardless of what computer system, printer or programs they or you have. PDF files provide a convenient way of distributing electronic documents that retain their original fonts, formatting, colors, and graphics. PDF files are compact and can be shared, viewed, navigated, and printed exactly as intended by anyone with an Adobe ® Reader. You may download a FREE Acrobat Reader directly from Adobe®. Click on the link below.

You will need to know what operating system (platform - for example, Windows XP) is on your computer. Enter your platform information in Step 1 by choosing from the drop down menu. You do not need to complete Step 2. To complete Step 3 push the red download button. When you get the File Download dialog box click on the open button. This will install the program on your computer.

Now anytime you try to click on a link to a PDF file or open a PDF file, the file will open automatically. Click on a desired document link. This should automatically open your copy of the Adobe Reader with the selected document. Some PDF files may be large and could take awhile to download, especially if you are on a dial-up connection. The PDF file may also be saved and viewed separately at your convenience. To save the file, right-click the desired link and select "Save Link As."

Some form PDF documents on our site now have user rights enabled. This allows you to save the document WITH the information you enter. This is only possible if you are using Reader versions 7 or 8. Use the link below to download the latest version of the free Adobe Reader program.

You can get an updated version of Adobe Reader if you need it. You can tell what version of Reader you have by going to Help on the tool bar and clicking on About Adobe Reader. You will see a version number. The escape (Esc) key will close this window once you find the version information for your copy of Adobe Reader.

Click here to download Adobe Reader

Clicking on this Adobe icon anywhere on this site will also let you download Adobe Reader.

Note: Acrobat is different from Adobe Reader and is not free. It is a full featured programs that allows you to create and edit PDF files. Sometimes people will refer to Acrobat when they really mean Adobe Reader. Adobe changed the name of the program to just Adobe Reader to help make this clear.

15. How can we do background checks on our volunteer coaches and administrators?

The Kids Sports Network now offers youth leagues an easy and inexpensive way to conduct Criminal Background Checks on their volunteer youth coaches and youth league administrators. For more information visit our Criminal Background Check page.

16. How can we get a Spurs player or the Coyote to appear at our event?

The Kids Sports Network (KSN) partners with the Spurs on many youth programs including the award winning Spurs Youth Basketball League, and by providing volunteers for HEB Fan Zone at all home Spurs games. Requests for appearances by Spurs players, former Spurs players and the Coyote must be submitted in writing directly to the Spurs Community Relations Department at least six weeks prior to the event. You can mail appearance requests to:

17. How can a league join the Spurs Youth Basketball League?

The Spurs Youth Basketball League is not currently accepting new organizations. Contact the if you have further questions about the league.

18. How can I form a nonprofit youth sports organization?

There is often a lot more to starting your own organization than most realize. We can help you with coaches and parent training and criminal background checks for all your volunteers. The state of Texas website is a good place to start researching how to form a 501(c)3 in Texas. One of the last paragraph on this page answers the question "Can Youth Athletic Organizations qualify for tax exemption?" Commercial sites (1) (2) offer to help you form a nonprofit for a fee. Of course we cannot recommend the commercial sites as we do not have direct experience with them. Listed fees vary from over $100 to almost $1000. Another resource is The Foundation Center. These books also might be helpful: Directing Youth Sports Programs and How to Form a Nonprofit Corporation Here is a great resource on the subject from the Gordon Hartman Foundation in San Antonio. This Flow Chart is great overviews of the process.

19. What questions should I ask when looking for youth sports or a summer camp?

What questions should you ask when looking for youth sports or summer camps? Whether it’s basketball, baseball, football or some other type of sports or camp, here are some questions to consider before you sign your child up.

The time to get the answers to these questions and any other questions is BEFORE you sign your child up. People with the best of intentions can decide to start a new sports organization but can be unaware of how much is involved. Even established organization can have poor management so parents should not be afraid to ask question and talk to other parents whose children have been involved in the organization or attended the camp.

How can I sign up to become a referee?

Start by learning all you can and a good place to start is the Sports Official Links page of our site. You need to contact a local group of sports officials. One way is to contact the youth sports organizations directly and ask them how to contact the groups or person that provide their officials. Soccer and other sports often utilize younger officials who start by working as linesmen or other secondary positions. This is a good way to learn and move up the ranks. Youth sports organizations are always looking for dedicated good officials. Coaches can often learn a lot about the sport they coach by offering to be an official in a different division or level of their sport.

Table of Contents

1. How do I find youth sports information?

Back to Top

2. At what age can a child start playing organized youth sports?

Back to Top

3. How can we train our coaches and become a Training Unit?

Back to Top

4. How can my child or my organization join the Spurs Youth Basketball League?

Back to Top

5. How can I find a youth football team for my child?

Back to Top

6. Where do I find the youth cheerleading programs?

7. How do I find a youth baseball program?

Back to Top

8. Do you help sponsor youth sports teams?

Back to Top

9. Can I check out items from the library by mail?

Back to Top

10. Are military youth organizations listed on your organization page open only to military personnel? For example, the Randolph AFB Youth Center.

Back to Top

11. Is the Kids Sports Network only in Texas?

Back to Top

12. How can I find youth sports programs outside the San Antonio area?

Back to Top

13. What are the employment opportunities at the Kids Sports Network?

Back to Top

14. What is Adobe® Reader and why do I need it for some of the links on your site?

Back to Top

15. How can we do background checks on our volunteer coaches and administrators?

Back to Top

16. How can we get a Spurs player or the Coyote to appear at our event?

Back to Top

17. How can a league join the Spurs Youth Basketball League?

Back to Top

18. How can I form a nonprofit youth sports organization?

19. What questions should I ask when looking for youth sports or a summer camp?

How can I sign up to become a referee?