Winter sports on tap at SPRD

Snow falling in Sisters is a sure sign that winter is right around the corner. Keeping the community's youth active this winter, Sisters Park & Recreation District (SPRD) is offering a variety of indoor and outdoor activities from the pre-K ages through high school. Snow sports, basketball, and wrestling head the leader board for SPRD's winter lineup this year.

Winter sports enthusiasts around Central Oregon typically think of snow sports during the winter, and SPRD can assuage that winter recreation craving. SPRD is partnering with Hoodoo Ski and Recreation to bring alpine skiing and snowboarding to middle school and high school kids. The snow years have been tough these last two years, but this year storms have been lining up over the Cascades to bring in snow and Hoodoo is planning on being open for skiing this winter.

Beginning Friday nights on January 8, kids will be able to ride a bus up to Hoodoo after school. Lessons, lift tickets, rental equipment, transportation, and chaperones are all provided to students wishing to learn how to ski or snowboard. This is a legacy program that has been in Sisters for many years and has been kept alive in large part through the efforts of middle school teacher and avid skier Midge Rose. Be sure to express interest by contacting SPRD and attending the parent meeting on December 16, at 6:30 p.m. in the Sisters High School Lecture Drama room to get more information.

SPRD offers Nordic (cross-country) skiing to middle school students, too. Students can catch a bus after school on Tuesday and Thursday and learn the basics of classic skiing. Eurosports offers discounted pricing on rental gear for this program when you sign up at SPRD. Last year a group of seven skiers began Nordic skiing where they were typically treated to alpenglow sunsets and fantastic team camaraderie coming down from the mountain in the bus. New and experienced skiers are all welcome to join. Each year there are a number of skiing abilities present and all are welcome.

Basketball is another big hit with Sisters Country locals, and the youth basketball league for grades 1-4 starts soon after Thanksgiving break. This basketball program is focused on the kids having fun and coming away with basic skills. Grades 1-2 play 3-on-3 games that, according to SPRD Executive Director and former OSU basketball player Liam Hughes, "promote good fundamental court awareness by having kids line up in triangle spacing, and then without the clutter of 10 players bunched around the ball, they learn real fast how to make cuts to the basket and score." Grades 3-4 will play 5-on-5.

Skill assessments are required and they will be held on December 5 and 12 at 9 a.m. for grades 1-2 and 10:30 a.m. for grades 3-4. The registration deadline is December 5 for the league and the first practices start immediately after winter break on January 4. Volunteer coaches are needed for this program; state your interest with SPRD to make sure every kid has a good coach for the season.

A reminder for grades 5-6 girls interested in basketball is to register with Redmond Area Park and Recreation and tell them you want to be placed on a Sisters team. Practices will be held in Sisters and games will be held in Redmond. Julie Patton has volunteered to be the coach for this team. Julie has a wealth of basketball and coaching experience, having coached a number of youth sports, and has coached for the middle school 7th/8th-grade team for many years.

Any 7th/8th-grade girls playing basketball for Sisters Middle School will have their season starting in January. This team travels around Central Oregon playing area schools during the week. Registrations are being taken at SPRD, and all girls interested in playing are welcome to join. Practices are held at the middle school Monday-Friday after school. Any girls registered in middle school basketball are eligible to attend a free mini-camp in December, taught by the middle school basketball coach, Alan Von Stein. An emphasis will be placed on improving fundamentals and having fun.

Wrestling is another sport firing up in January and is being coached by returning head coach Jeff Smith. Randy Robinson and Tom Harris will be assisting the middle school wrestling program which is open for all 6th- through 8th-grade students. The team will focus on the fundamentals of wrestling and attend 6th- through 8th-grade meets during the course of the season. Practices are held directly after school at the middle school.

For more information visit www.sistersrecreation.com or call 541-549-2091.