Blayne Wilson of Olney says his 7-year-old son, Beckett, makes use of multiple programs offered by the Olney Boys & Girls Club, playing baseball and flag football after school and in the summer at the club’s 118-acre park on Olney-Laytonsville Road.
“They have everything you need, you don’t have to go anywhere,” Wilson told Bethesda Today, referring to the club and the activities it offers.
Beckett was one of almost 3,000 children who competed in the nonprofit club’s spring sports activities, helping to set a record for the number of participants, according to Athletic Director Brad Scott.
The club, a staple of Montgomery County sports and recreation since 1970, offers a variety of sports leagues at the recreational and travel levels for children ages 3 to 18. It serves more than 7,000 children annually, according to its website.
Around 300 of those young athletes annually rely on scholarships offered by the club to be able to participate, according to Scott. The scholarships are funded by community events such as the club’s annual Field of Screams, a Halloween-themed event, and Winter City Lights, an annual holiday light display, both held on the club’s campus.
“Any kid, player, [or] family that is unable to participate financially, we make it so they’re able to do so,” Scott said. “It’s always great to never turn a kid away and ensure that anybody that comes from within our community can play.”
Scott noted that the annual events, in addition to helping fund club scholarships, also help boost Olney’s economy, drawing people from around the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area who patronize local restaurants and businesses.
Recently, though, the club has been dealing with issues concerning county permits for its key fundraising events. Scott said he feels confident the club can work through the issues and avoid cancellation of the events.
“The biggest thing right now is we’re working with the county on some zoning issues,” he said.
As of Thursday afternoon, Montgomery County’s Department of Permitting Services had not responded to Bethesda Today’s request for comment about possible permitting issues.
Life lessons through sports
Olney resident Pedro Rivera, a full-time personal trainer, is one of the club’s many coaches, and is in charge of his 8-year-old son’s travel baseball team for boys age 8 and younger.
Rivera says the experience has been great for him and his son, presenting an opportunity to educate his son about commitment and teamwork.
“He understands, when my hat is forward, I’m coach, when my hat is backwards, I’m Dad,” Rivera said. “It’s definitely a hard balance, but it’s a lot of fun. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
An ongoing controversy in the youth sports community locally and nationwide is the impact on children who choose to specialize in just one sport at an early age, leading to burnout from constant travel and training. The boys and girls club, however, encourages kids to play different sports throughout the year and allows them to do it all at the same place, according to parents and coaches.
“It’s not like pick your sport at 6 years old and figure it out,” Wilson said.
The club’s campus is also home to the Olney Cropdusters of the Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League. The team competes against eight local teams including the Bethesda Big Train and the Takoma-Silver Spring Thunderbolts. The games, played on the largest field on the club’s campus, draw many of the club’s young participants and their families, giving the kids something to aspire to, Rivera said.
“Hey, you can start here and then maybe at some point down the road you’ll be with the ‘big team,’ right?” he said. “Because in their eyes, a lot of those kids believe that [the Cropdusters players] are like major leaguers, so I think it’s really cool.”
