Motor skills and coordination are important skills for a child to develop, both as a way to enjoy sports and avoid injury.
In July, the Playball and Briks 4 Kids summer camps will put those theories to good use as they come to Cranbrook.
Anne-Marie Genis, from Playball Calgary, said the two programs work on gross motor skills and fine motor skills for young children aged three to eight.
Genis said she decided to bring the programs to Cranbrook because of two employees she worked with for a year in Calgary that were from Cranbrook.
Dane Reis and James Stechly worked with Genis at the program in Calgary.
"It was actually their initiative when they went back (to Cranbrook) to say that they loved Playball so much that they decided to do a summer camp there," Genis said. "I was very pleased with them, so I can really trust putting these two guys into a field where I'm not. They have experience already with the kids."
Genis said her whole philosophy is to use sports as a means to make a child into an all-rounded athlete.
"I use sports skills to improve life skills," she said, "all the life skills that a child that age needs to learn."
Genis has been doing the program for four years in Calgary. It is a South African franchise. She noted it's the first in Alberta, so it's a very new franchise in the area.
"It's in Toronto, but not on the west side of the country," she said. "I moved here 10 years ago. I was a teacher myself, but I wanted to do something that I don't have to be in a school situation again."
Playball allows her to continue to use coaching techniques and teaching techniques, but on a more entertaining and fun level.
The franchise has been running 30 years and is in several countries, like the U.K., the U.S., Australia and Hong Kong.
"We hope to put a franchise in Cranbrook," she said. "If this summer camp is successful then it will run in the fall."
The summer camps will be hosted by the City of Cranbrook and run in July. For more information on the program visit www.playballcalgary.net or www.briks4kidz.com. To register for the camps visit Western Financial Place or call Leisure Services at 250-489-0220/0221.