Forest Park

The Daily Plant : Wednesday, August 9, 2006

Sports Clinics Are In Session

Submitted by Jonathan Matt

The 2006 Forest Park Sports Clinics began on July 10, bringing in a new class of basketball, skateboarding and karate students.  In addition to these clinics that are sponsored by City Council Member Joseph Addabbo Jr., Bike NY is offering a free bicycle clinic.  All of the clinics will be held twice a week until August 16 and focuses on teaching children ages 7-14 about these fun, exciting and healthy activities.

The Forest Park Sports Clinics began in 2005 with only skateboarding and basketball.  The idea behind the clinics, which still holds true today, was to provide free programming for children, letting them explore new ways of having fun and staying active.  The response in 2005 was phenomenal.  In fact, since the 2005 clinics were such a success, we added karate and biking to this year’s line-up.

Basketball is being coached by Karolis Maciulskis, who is teaching children how to dribble, shoot lay-ups and pass.  Later in the clinics, the children will work on more advanced skills such as positioning, jump-shots and defense.  The skateboard clinic, led by Peter Giang and Michael Stewart, is also getting kids moving by showing them the proper way to stand on the board, balance and, very importantly, how to stop. Impressively, the children in the skateboard clinic have already started using the three-foot ramps.  Karate, one of the new additions to the clinics, is being taught by Myron M. Lubitsch.  The children in the karate clinics not only learn technique and form, they have also been learning Dojo etiquette, obedience and discipline.  Rich Conroy, from BIKE NY, is teaching the bike class, the second addition to this year’s clinics. The bike clinic teaches kids how to properly ride a bike, street safety and the mechanics of a bike, such as changing a flat tire and the brakes.

In total, we have over 115 kids participating in the Forest Park Sport Clinics.  We are elated by this season’s continued success and look forward to continuing the clinics in the future.  We would especially like to thank Council Member Joseph Addabbo Jr. and BIKE NY for making the clinics possible.

Written by Jonathan Matt

NATURE NOTES

Parks’ Natural Resources Group (NRG) is pleased to share its inaugural issue of Nature Notes, a new electronic newsletter.  Our Emerald Empire includes 12,000 acres of natural area.  Each acre features a myriad of fascinating stories about birds, bugs, fish, frogs, plants, people, minerals, mammals, and more.  All of these elements interact to form dynamic and diverse ecosystems.  Most of us do not have the opportunity to witness this natural drama first-hand.  In future issues of our e-newsletter, NRG staff will bring these stories back from the field and relate them to you season by season.  Please navigate to Nature Notes on the NRG page at the Parks website at: http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_about/parks_divisions/nrg/nrg_stats.html
 
To armchair naturalists everywhere, enjoy!

Written by Bill Tai and Michael Feller

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

“Most of the change we think we see in life
is due to truths being in and out of favor.”

Robert Frost
(1874 – 1963)

Know Before You Go

Forest Park Visitor Center