By Emily Younker
eyounker@joplinglobe.com
Dakodah Hedrick, 7, wants to be a cheerleader.
“I think it’s a great opportunity, and you get exercise and you can have fun,” she said.
It’s music to her mother’s ears, given that Angela Hedrick had taken her three daughters to St. John’s Sign-Up Saturday to take stock of the athletic activities the Joplin area offers.
“I grew up in sports, and I just want them to know what’s available and to know there’s such a variety,” she said.
The Hedrick family was one of many attending St. John’s SportsCare’s Sign-Up Saturday at Missouri Southern State University’s Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
Organizers lined up 44 vendor booths and expected close to 3,000 people at the event, which promoted healthy lifestyles for children and gave families the chance to enroll in spring and summer sports activities, said Ryan Melton, manager of sports medicine at St. John’s.
“We want them to find something they can be part of,” Melton said. “Kids that are involved in groups are physically, socially and emotionally healthier.”
Nicole Mash, of Joplin, said her son, Jaden, 5, wanted to sign up for a basketball program. He also was intrigued by the martial arts demonstrations, she said.
“He got to punch the bag,” she said as Jaden jumped around her, kicking and punching the air.
In fact, Jaden seemed to want to try everything — and that was OK with Mash, she said.
“The high-energy kids need something to calm (them) down and keep them focused,” she said. “We live in an apartment, and it’s good that he can just get out and sign up for some stuff.”
Trey Kleeman is already an active 10-year-old, participating regularly in soccer, basketball, swimming and wrestling. He wants to add football to that list and has his eye on a quarterback position “because you get to have the ball most of the time,” he said.
Kleeman went to Sign-Up Saturday with his aunt, Renee Street, of Joplin, who said she wanted to give him “every opportunity that he wants to play sports. He loves sports.”
Roxann Elliott, of Joplin, took her 5-year-old granddaughter, Rylee Gourette, to the session so she could find some activities that might interest her.
“We wanted to get her into sports this summer so she can be active outside,” Elliott said. “She’s watched enough videos.”
Elliott said she had picked up information about tennis, swimming and martial arts programs, and she was leaning toward tennis.
“We just think it would be good for her,” she said. “She seemed to like that.”
Elliott said her children were outside a lot as they grew up, and she now wants her granddaughter to follow. Luckily for her, Rylee already enjoys outdoor activities.
“But (sometimes) she’ll just sit there and veg,” she said. “We want her outside.”
Barbi Amodeo, of Joplin, enrolled her son, Will, 7, in the Joplin Little League program. Though his activities change depending on the season, Amodeo said it’s important to her that Will find something he enjoys.
“I think it keeps him grounded, it keeps him active,” she said.
The games and interactive booths available to children were another draw of the event for her son, who was waiting in line for his turn on an inflatable jungle gym, Amodeo said.
“That’s why we come out here, so he can play in the inflatables,” she said. “It makes the sign-up a little more fun for him.”
