By Noah Zucker

MILFORD — As the weather warms, the Milford Parks & Recreation department will shift from its indoor youth sports leagues to outdoor offerings like field hockey and soccer.

But the indoor basketball and soccer seasons were more than a simple warmup. They were an important physical and social outlet for local kids amid a pandemic that’s been draining for people of all ages.

“The actual league(s) went very well,” said Nan Martino, the Parks & Rec’s sports coordinator. “We had a nice turnout for participation, and we had some great volunteer coaches.”

One of those coaches was Ken Williams, who has led a team in the basketball league for over a decade with his friend, Bobby Newsome.

“It gives them something to do,” he said of the kids he coached. “They’re bored as heck.”

Mr. Williams assumed that if the kids weren’t playing basketball or soccer, “they would have been sitting around playing video games probably.”

He said the kids were happy to be out of the house and with their peers.

“We had very few kids that missed any practices, so they were really looking forward to it,” Mr. Williams said. “With school being out and everything and not being able to see their friends, I think they kind of enjoyed that.”

The endeavor also got good reviews from some parents and grandparents last weekend, when the final games of the season were played.

“I think it was really good,” said Geri Elliott of Greenwood, who there watching her 10-year-old, Faith. “I was so glad they were able to play.”

Tony Miller of Lewes, the grandfather of Milford’s Justin Howe, who also played in that game, agreed that Parks & Rec “didn’t do bad.”

Still, Ms. Martino said the two leagues had to be carried out differently this time around.

“This year was a very different year with COVID,” she said. In terms of enrollment, “I would say we had about half to two-thirds of what we had last year.”

In addition to mandating masks for everyone, players were told to label their water bottles to minimize the possibility of drinking from someone else’s, and parents were asked to social distance in the bleachers.

Initially, Ms. Martino said only one spectator was allowed in the building per child, but that was eventually expanded to two.

“We had to really kind of be hard on that in the beginning, but people pretty much abided by it,” she said.

There were a few potential enrollees who took issue with the additional safety measures.

“We had maybe a handful, two to three kids, who didn’t join the league because of the masks,” Ms. Martino said. “When (the parents) called to register, they asked if we were doing masks, and then, they didn’t join us.”

Mr. Williams said he approves of the league’s heightened safety measures but did note that the masks had an impact on performance.

“I am of the opinion that you need to be wearing a mask,” he said.

“Having to run around with a face mask, we had a couple of kids who got lightheaded,” the coach said. “We would stop and take water breaks more often.”

Ms. Elliott noticed this, as well, but didn’t see it as a big problem.

“They didn’t have any trouble,” she said. “I know it’s harder on court breathing with their masks on, (but) they seemed to make out OK.”

Mr. Williams added that while the league didn’t spread the virus to his knowledge, it wasn’t completely isolated from it either.

“We had one kid on our team that had to quarantine because his brother caught COVID, but other than that, I don’t think we had any issues,” the coach said. “As far as I know, I don’t think we had any kids come down with COVID in our league.”

Still, he and Ms. Martino agreed that the league was needed, especially given how few there were Downstate this season.

“Parents were just crazy for things for their kids to do,” she said. “We were anxious to provide them an opportunity.”

Although most of the kids in the league were from Milford, Ms. Martino said a few did commute from other towns.

“We had a lot of kids who didn’t have opportunities in their area,” she said.
That includes the Elliotts.

“I think it really made a difference,” Ms. Elliott said of this season. “If you skip a year, you get behind. I saw improvement in Faith this year.”

She said she believes team sports are important for kids.

“They learn discipline, responsibility,” the mother said. “I think they build self-confidence.”

Mr. Miller said sports are even more important in trying times.

“You need sports,” he said. “When you have turmoil in life or anything, it’s like a stress relief. It keeps the mind off what’s going on.”

Ed Evans, the coach for Milford High’s varsity soccer team, agreed with both parents. That’s why he got involved as an assistant coach with the Parks & Rec department’s soccer program. This indoor season was a success, he said, and he expects the same of the outdoor program in the spring.

“I had five of our seniors (from the high school team) this year that helped out,” he said. “These kids have a tendency to listen to the high schools kids, probably more so than me, because they probably just look at me as an adult. I think that had a lot of impact on them, as well.”

Their coaching approach emphasized skill-building over winning.

“When you’re trying to develop players, sometimes you have to sacrifice winning to get the bigger picture,” Mr. Evans said.

That doesn’t mean they’re focused on drills instead of actual games, however.

“There was a significant coach from New Jersey who would say, ‘The game’s a great teacher,’” Mr. Evans said. “That teaches them more than we will.”

But competition can’t get in the way of building character.

“Most kids are competitive by nature, and they’ll ask, but we don’t have the score up,” Mr. Evans said. “When they leave, you want to make sure they’ve had a positive experience with the game.”

Parents looking to get their kids doing some outdoor sports in April and May have two options available through Milford Parks & Rec.

Starting April 11, the department will be offering a field hockey clinic for 7- to 10-year-old girls at Milford High School. The clinic will go from 1-2:30 p.m. Saturdays until May 23.

Parks & Rec will also be offering outdoor soccer for boys and girls, which will begin in April. There’s an under-6 league, and players can be as old as 14.

For both opportunities, registration began Friday. Parents can sign up on the city’s website or pick up a registration form at the Parks & Recreation office at 207 Franklin St.

Mr. Williams said the leagues are always in need of more volunteers, regardless of the pandemic.

“I feel like they need volunteers all the time in these leagues,” he said. “If somebody did it for us, we need to do it for these other kids.”