Saturday, June 10, 2017

Millcreek Youth Athletic Association (MYAA) - 63 Years & Going Strong

If you grew up in Erie and the surrounding areas, you've probably heard of the Millcreek Youth Athletic Association or MYAA for short. If you're a parent of a child who likes sports, more than likely they've played on an MYAA team. Did you know they've been around for 63 years? They started off with baseball and quickly added softball. Today they have many sports such as basketball...which my son eagerly waits for each year. He loves playing because the teams are formed with equal skills across all teams. There is rarely one team that dominates the season making the games fun and competitive without a lot of pressure and the coaches want to help and develop all kids, not just the "good ones." My son also had his first experience playing lacrosse through MYAA and has now fallen in love with the sport. This program not only provided equipment rental, which is a lifesaver if you've never played a sport before, but gave him the basic stick skills and understanding of the game for him to play successfully on other teams. What you may not know is all the other opportunities there are through MYAA:

They also organize multiple golf outings through the year and sometimes even an adult kickball league...maybe we could even talk them into a dodgeball league, ok, maybe that's stretching things a bit too far.

Another thing you may not know about MYAA is that it's 100% self-funded. That means no outside funding from school districts, local or state governments. Everything they accomplish is through registration fees and sponsorships. That's pretty impressive if you ask me. So when it comes time for them to expand or take on a larger improvement project they look to the Erie community to find sponsors and partners. One of these opportunities is now. MYAA is looking to expand the Walnut Creek baseball complex. There is land that can be developed into three additional Little League sized fields when once completed will make it a seven field complex that could support 14 teams playing a night. The baseball and softball programs continue to grow with 1000 boys and girls & 90 teams wanting to play. That's a lot of kids who just want to play ball, to hang with their friends, to reach for their dreams. Can you or someone you know help?

If you know my son then you know he doesn't play baseball, so why am I even writing about this? Simple, we need organizations such as MYAA to exist in our community. We need them to thrive and provide a place for children to be children, for them to have a chance to play a sport they love, to try new ones and an opportunity to be part of something larger than just themselves, to be a part of a TEAM. With many schools losing funding for sports programs or for elementary & middle school levels to focus on winning rather than developing, we need organizations like this to thrive. When I was younger I didn't touch a soccer ball until the 5th grade and I made the high school team. If that would have been me today, I would never have made the 5th grade team. So, it doesn't matter that my son doesn't play baseball, MYAA has provided many opportunities for him to play sports in a fun, supportive, developmental environment and if this organization can bring that chance to more kids, then I'm all for it, simple as that.

With that said, if you know of a business or someone that can sponsor or partner with MYAA to make this happen, I would encourage you to share the information below. There are already many, many businesses that sponsor this organization, let's see who else we can send their way and keep making children's dreams come true.

Please contact Kregg Heenan at 814-450-6364 or myaasports@gmail.com.


Thank you.

Join the ever growing list of sponsors:
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