In June of 2008, Rock Creek Park was the host site for the National Alliance of Youth Sports, Academy for Youth Sports Administrators. Two local recreation professionals participated in the training along with many other youth sports professionals from all over the Southeast and as far away as Japan.

Kristi Creegan, Dawson County Parks and Recreation Athletic Director, and Marshelle Savage, Athletic Assistant, participated in the three-day training event. Instructors from the National Alliance for Youth Sports headquarters in Florida were on hand to instruct and facilitate the training. The curriculum focused on many aspects of youth sports administration including standards for youth sports administration, safety and risk management, adolescent behavior and motivation, volunteer recruitment and management, tools for successful youth sports programming, conflict resolution and much more.

Once the onsite training was complete all of the participants were required to study and review the curriculum. Once prepared, the candidates were instructed to go online to complete the testing phase of the training. Both Creegan and Savage completed the online testing with great success and recently received their certification credentials registering them as Certified Youth Sports Administrators.

Recreation Director Lisa Henson said, “We were very fortunate to be a host site for the nationally recognized training. I am extremely proud of Kristi and Marshelle for putting in the extra hours necessary for the training and subsequent testing. Our local recreation department will continue to improve under their leadership as Certified Youth Sports Administrators.”