Football, track and field, basketball, academic tutoring, and outreach/life skills programs highlight Della Lamb’s comprehensive and highly successful, year-round Youth Services available for urban Kansas City boys and girls.
From ages 5 to 17 years, hundreds of kids each year participate in a variety of youth programs. Middle school- and high school-aged youth are involved with the Changing Scenes curriculum-based Youth Leadership Development activities to teach and reinforce good decision-making skills. It offers activities and experiences to help kids develop vital life skills, discover individual identities and allow them to realize their full potential. The Changing Scenes curriculum, which mirrors our Della Lamb philosophy, also helps motivate teens, develop critical thinking and leadership skills, institute goal-setting practices and build self-confidence.
Part of youth programs’ success can be traced directly to Coach Tony’s “3-D” Requirements from all Della Lamb youth participants. The 3-D elements are:
Discipline, Determination and Dedication
Equally important to the 3-D impact are the “2-Rs:”
Respect – for God, for self, for others.
Responsibility – to God, to self, to others
Much credit for our successful Youth Services program goes to Director Tony Woods. Coach Tony works unending hours to deliver solid, quality after-school and evening / weekend programming. He is supported by a legion of dedicated volunteer coaches and team managers.
Are you a yoga or silver sneakers teacher in need of a big space to spread out and teach classes? Are you a private basketball coach in need of a quiet gymnasium? Are you a dance teacher or have a group of friends that like to ballroom dance? Do you lead a toddler music class in need of a spacious place to play? Want to rent the gym for a weekend retreat?
Our gym and community center classrooms are available! Reach out to our Engagement Director, Cori, at cwallace@dellalamb.org for more information about renting our gym or classrooms. We’re located in the Historic Northeast of Kansas City with ample parking!
Athletic scholarships are a benefit for some. However, all of our youth program participants benefit from their association with caring, adult mentors who teach accountable, value-driven expectations. This has allowed us to maintain a drug-free, alcohol-free, tobacco-free and pregnancy-free status environment, while requiring kids to remain in school. These are major accomplishments, given alternatives available to today’s youth. This leads to preparing our youth to graduate from high school, attend college or securing employment following high school.
Della Lamb Youth Services have historically utilized Jackson County Parks & Recreation Blue Valley Park (23rd & Topping, Kansas City) as the site for Della Youth baseball and football instruction, practices and games each year. This partnership, in existence since the early 1980s, provides appropriate (and the only accessible) youth athletic fields for Della kids.
We at Della Lamb Youth Services are excited about our future Youth Services endeavors and activities! For frequent updates, make sure you follow us on Facebook and subscribe to our monthly E-Newsletter.
We rely on volunteers to coach and/or manage our sports teams. If you’d like to get to involved in any way, send us a message on Facebook or click the volunteer button below!
Special recognition must be given to faithful volunteers: Stephanie Strong, Betty Bennett and David Bennett. Their help and support allows us to carry forth the Youth Services program.
Additionally, we thank volunteer coaches Elgin Thrower, Kevin Jackson and Douglas McArthur, who have returned year-after-year to develop the kids and their skill-sets. These volunteer coaches’ commitment and hours have produced outstanding teams, a winning culture and overall enrichment for our youth.
During his tenure, Coach Tony has successfully led multiple Della Lamb youth teams, most notably basketball, to championships or top finishes in prominent national tournaments.
As a result, more than 140 high school girls who have played with our Running Angels basketball teams have received NCAA Division I and Division II college scholarships or community college scholarships at schools throughout the country.
