In Tabernacle, local children have the opportunity to have fun in a safe, affordable and supportive environment playing sports they love while learning valuable life skills through the non-profit Tabernacle Athletic Association.
The association is an all-volunteer, community-based nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of children in Tabernacle through recreational sports.
Since 1972, TAA has offered community-based, organized recreational sports to the children of Tabernacle in baseball, softball, soccer, basketball and wrestling. Recently, TAA added a volleyball program and just formed its first-ever Youth Track and Field Club, hosting fall and winter clinics to prepare for its inaugural spring season.
In addition to offering children a positive environment to have fun playing a variety of sports, the TAA athletic programs also help instill a sense of community pride and foster the development of life-long friendships and skills, TAA volunteer public relations director Peter Damiri said.
“TAA officers, directors and members strive to instill the values of sportsmanship, teamwork, honesty and dedication to all those who participate. These valuable life-lessons forged, in part, through TAA sports can help positively shape the character and development of our children as they grow and mature into responsible young adults,” Damiri said.
All positions held within TAA, including board members, program directors, managers and coaches, are filled by dedicated volunteers who devote their time, talents and services to fulfill the mission of the organization.
“As an all-volunteer organization, TAA could not exist and serve the children of Tabernacle without the amazing efforts and dedicated support of our volunteers. From coaching to field maintenance to general administrative assistance, we are fortunate to enlist the talents and skills of parents, high school athletes and other members of the community who support TAA in a variety of activities,” Damiri said.
As with most community organizations, TAA can always use and benefit from additional supporters to share the workload and improve the lives of children within the community. The organization is seeking to fill a new volunteer board position of sponsorship director. The new position is designed to transfer the responsibility of recruiting local team sponsors away from the overwhelmed individual sports directors to one organized volunteer who can manage and grow these opportunities.
To help ensure the safety and protection of children in the program, TAA volunteer coaches are required to complete a free criminal background check through the organization as well as participate in other online training courses, depending on the sport.
“TAA invites anyone interested in volunteering and supporting the organization in a variety of ways to contact their respective sports director or visit the website for more information,” Damiri said.
Additionally, TAA also offers high school seniors who played TAA sports with opportunities to help pursue their higher education goals through its two annual college scholarship funds. Sponsored by TAA Baseball, the Sean Clegg Memorial College Scholarship Fund is supported in part by Foley Mechanical and provides a $1,000 college scholarship award in honor of a past Tabernacle baseball player who was tragically killed at the age of 14 while riding his bike. The Chad Adams Memorial College Scholarship provides two $1,250 awards, one for a female athlete and one for a male athlete, in honor of Adams who served as TAA’s vice president and dedicated many years of his life to strengthening the organization and enriching the lives of children in the community. All scholarship awards require applicants to describe how their involvement in a TAA sport has positively impacted their life, according to Damiri.
Program registrations are now all online and can be found on the organization’s website, www.tabsports.org. TAA officials encourage parents to respect the individual program deadlines and register their child on time, as delays can affect team selections, scheduling and uniform orders.
Anyone interested in learning more about TAA, volunteering or registering their child for a sport, can visit www.tabsports.org or attend its monthly meetings held at 7 p.m. in Town Hall on the last Tuesday of each month except July and December.
