On Friday March 5th at Banquet on the Beach, the Countryside Junior Cougars and Clearwater Lady Bombers were presented the Karen Aungst Inspiration Award for Youth Coaching & Mentoring.
Each year, Clearwater For Youth offers an opportunity for special funding to our partner organizations through the Karen Aungst Inspiration Award for Youth Coaching/Mentoring. This program was founded in memorium of Karen Aungst, who passed away in May 2018 after a brave battle with brain cancer. In her lifetime, Karen was a leader in the Clearwater community who believed in providing coaches and mentors the skills and support they need to make a positive impact on the youth in our area. Her legacy lives on through this award, which was this year presented to the Clearwater Lady Bombers and Countryside Junior Cougars.
The Clearwater Lady Bombers, led by president Jerry King, is a youth softball program comprised of 12 teams, around 150 girls, and 40 coaches. This is the third year the Bombers have been awarded this grant; in the past, putting it to use through coaching seminars at USF with USA Olympic Head Coach Ken Erikson, as well as rules clinics with the UIC for USA and PGF softball where they have been able to gain important skills that make them even better assets to their players in practices and games.
The Countryside Junior Cougars, led by president Jessica Anderson, is a football and cheerleading program for boys and girls ages 4 through 15. There are 74 Cougars coaches for 276 young athletes, each tasked with creating a family of their teams by leading by example and prioritizing good sportsmanship and community involvement. Through this grant, CJC will further their goal of pushing coaches to grow with the players – a vision that extends beyond the techniques to embodying positive role models.
On behalf of the Aungst family and CFY Board of Trustees, we would like to congratulate these organizations and applaud their dedication to dynamic and impactful youth sports programs. We look forward to working together on the implementation of these grants!
This post was included in our February 2021 newsletter, FYI on CFY. Enter your email below to get first access to great content like this and all other important news from the CFY huddle!