Champions Sports Academy

Former NFL Coach Tom Bass and the San Diego Hall of Champions present an annual youth Football Coaching Education Series, and an NFL/CSA Coaching Academy Clinic co-hosted by the San Diego Chargers at the Chargers Facility. Each clinic features specific lecture topics by San Diego State University and University of San Diego coaches, successful high school and Chargers’ coaches and former NFL players. The clinics will help participants become better coaches and instruct them with on-the-field, hands-on coaching. Sessions on life skills, leadership and building player’s self-esteem are included. Clinics are specifically designed for youth coaches and are highly recommended by San Diego American Youth Football, San Diego Pop Warner and Palomar Pop Warner for all coaches to attend as their required annual education hours.

The National Football League’s youth football clinic series is specifically designed for at-risk and underserved boys and girls ages 12-14 years old that are not otherwise presented with the opportunities to play in recreational football leagues like Pop Warner or American Youth Football. This six week program, administered through Champions Sports Academy, brings junior high school students, faculty & administration, high school coaches, local park & recreation, and district administration together as a community to deliver a highly successful football program for these boys and girls. The participants learn each on-field position, with weekly leadership and life skill lessons.

Champions Sports Academy’s youth awards program acknowledges and recognizes young athletes for their character, effort, leadership and athletic skills. An overall leadership award is presented to an athlete who exemplifies exceptional leadership skills both in and out of the athletic arena. Each athlete is nominated by the coaches and ultimately chosen by CSA.

Additionally, Breitbard Stars of the Month awards are presented on-site at various locations in San Diego by the San Diego Hall of Champions staff. Presentation locations have included: San Diego Padres games, Poinsettia Bowl, SDSU, USD and CIF Championship games.

A youth basketball summer day camp designed for junior high and high school boys and girls presented by NBA players Luke Walton & Richard Jefferson. All coaches have had at least Division I basketball playing experience and Walton & Jefferson are both on the court with campers all week. In addition to basketball drills and a competitive tournament, health and nutrition are emphasized. CSA distributed 25 scholarships to at-risk kids throughout the County. CSA also assists the Paul Silas Father-Son Fantasy Camp. CSA distributed four scholarships to underserved kids to attend the weeklong camp.

CSA administers free youth baseball Clinics catered to boys and girls ages 8 – 12 years old in the San Diego area for the San Diego Padres. San Diego area high school and college baseball coaches and their teams of assistant coaches lead stations that include hitting drills, fielding stations, base running and core strength exercises. Participants also learn leadership and life skills from coaches and speakers, receive materials from the Padres including t-shirts, a Padres baseball cap and a pair of tickets to a Padres home game. The focus of each clinic is to provide baseball opportunities to the underserved minority and military markets throughout the County.

These clinics take place year-round and are specialized coaching clinics designed for baseball coaches at all levels. Clinics emphasize practice schedule, parent-coach communication, practice essentials, and youth athlete communication, to name a few topics. Breakout stations include hitting, throwing, bunting, running and pitching. All Clinics are specifically designed for youth coaches and can be altered to fit a group’s specific requirements.

Tickets for Kids & Military is a discounted ticket program for San Diego area sporting events. All proceeds from Tickets for Kids & Military are used for CSA to expand programs, develop new clinics & camps and sponsor youth, parents or guardians and coaches to attend camps, clinic or seminars in the San Diego area. Tickets are also regularly donated to youth groups and children who may not otherwise have the means to attend to a game.

Tickets to San Diego State and the University of San Diego football games are available through this program, as well as seats at the Aflac All-American High School Baseball Classic held at Tony Gwynn Stadium.

A two-hour symposium aimed at parents and high school student-athletes features speakers from local San Diego college athletic departments. The speakers include athletic directors, NCAA compliance officers and NCAA Division I athletes. Parents and students are provided information on the recruiting process, rules, recruiting trips, scholarship types and rules, letters of intent, and also college club teams. The content provided by this symposium is critical and often overlooked by high school athletes and their parents. In addition, each university athletic director talks about the different sports offered at his or her respective school, the scholarship numbers for each of those sports, and common means of recruitment used at each school for those sports. These symposiums have been extremely popular since its inception two years ago.