Beginners Edge Sports Training is once again partnering with the city of Sedona for its third season to offer multi-sport youth clinics on the basics of basketball, soccer, baseball and track and field for kids ages 2 to 10. The camp’s goal is to prepare kids to move into more organized play when they are ready. 

“It’s just a fun thing for the kids to get to do,” Sedona Parks and Recreation Manager Josh Frewin said. “It’s something for that age group where they don’t have a ton of other opportunities [locally] so they can get out every Saturday, learn some new sports and meet some new friends.”

The registration fee is $96. Weekly 45-minute training sessions will take place at Posse Grounds Park each Saturday from Sept. 9 through Oct. 14, at 9 a.m. for kids ages 2 to 4, at 9:50 a.m. for kids ages 4 to 7 and at 10:40 a.m. for kids ages 7 to 10.

“We teach beginners and try to give them the edge in sports by teaching them the skills of the sports, so when they join a team, they can accurately perform the skills of a sport,” BEST owner Mitch Goldberg said of his Scottsdale-based company. “Since the leagues concern themselves with the strategy of the game, we consider ourselves the precursor to all those leagues, by providing the kids the ability to have the skills to perform the sports.”

“We focus on a specific sport each week,” Goldberg continued. “For instance, [with] soccer, we’re always concentrating on dribbling and another skill, whether it be kicking or throwing, throwing hands or it could be goalie, goalie throws, it could be defense [or] movement.”

Goldberg compared the multi-sport program to Neapolitan ice cream because it offers an opportunity for youth to sample a variety of sports and develop their preferences before families spend time and money on helping them pursue their interest in a particular sport.

“For the [BEST] camps, participants are encouraged to bring their own equipment in order to also have the equipment at home to practice during the week,” the city of Sedona’s website says. “This is not required, and [BEST] will have equipment to use at the camp each Saturday if you do not have these pieces at home.”

BEST coaches bring about $1,000 worth of equipment with them in order to lead the camps and will supply basic equipment such as shotputs, balls and hitting tees.

“The most fun I have is when some [young] man or young lady comes up to me and says, ‘Hi, Coach Mitch,’ and introduce themselves and says ‘Remember me?’” Goldberg reflected. “And it was a child that I may have coached when they were maybe [five] years old. Now they’re 18 or 19 years old. Some of them have actually applied for jobs and are working for us. Also, parents stopped me in the malls, saying, ‘Hey, I don’t know if you remember but my kid, and now he or she’s on this team, and they’re doing great.’ Some of them don’t go on to sports. But the memories and experiences of running the company and seeing it grow is definitely [a] wonderful aspect of being the part owner of the company.”

BEST will return to Sedona in the winter and spring and will likely be offering the multisport program again.

For more information, visit thebestinaz.com or the city of Sedona Parks and Recreation website or call Beginners Edge Sports Training at (623) 748-9453.