TEMECULA — Ryan and Estrelle Beard designed Sports Saints to introduce families to sports where they might not have otherwise had the opportunity. The organization currently offers classes in soccer, tennis, golf, baseball and basketball in the greater Temecula Valley area including Lake Elsinore and Fallbrook.
The couple has been coaching children’s soccer for decades and started out as Soccer Saints in 2019 to bridge the gap between education and athletics through STEAM infused education. Teaching children from 3-12 years of age incorporates three different age group curricula. Each class highlights a STEAM element that is recapped at the end along with a character-building word of the day. What is learned in class is implemented into the final 10-minute scrimmage that ends each session.
Ryan said during the height of the pandemic, Soccer Saints had to shut down for about 10 months but used the time to focus on branching out and developing more curriculum so there is nothing repeated during a typical 10-week session.
This led the coaches to expansion into teaching other sports where they saw the need and changing their name to reflect that change. They have recently ventured into the special needs side of sports which has been incredibly rewarding for them on a personal level. “The laughs and cheers and moments of realization from the students have all been brilliant highlights for us,” Ryan said.
Ryan said his players have affectionately dubbed him “Coach Potato” as a play on couch potato, and Estrelle has become known as Coach Broccoli, a popular complement to a potato.
The City of Temecula has given the Beards an opportunity to help the special needs community. The city has dedicated field space and advertising dollars through their catalogs for all the classes they offer and although soccer for those with special needs is offered for both children and adults, some of the classes haven’t seen spectacular enrollment.
“Our adult class has had low enrollment,” Ryan said. “Usually, the cities we work with cancel our classes if enrollment is low, but we’ve been pleading with them to keep the classes open and we’re hoping to continue to grow them.”
He added that children with special needs and their families travel from as far north as Lake Elsinore, as far east as Anza and as far south as Escondido for the soccer classes but the adult class only has four enrolled for the current season. Ryan and Estrelle have witnessed the tremendous benefits for players of all ages and look forward to teaching them all.
“Many families choose to register for the multi-sports classes offered at various locations which cover the five aforementioned sports in a 10-week session. Families then tend to re-register for multiple sports or select one sport for a more in-depth coaching experience,” he said.
With classes available at many locations, Sports Saints uses a flexible way of bringing sports to as many as possible. Golf classes can be brought to local parks using practice hitting mats, almost golf balls, tall flags and small cones for greens in regulation accuracy as well as practice putting areas with a plethora of games stemming from short putts, long putts or combinations.
“Each sport is thought out with great detail and once the players become club level, they tend to move on to club organizations, if that is their goal,” Estrelle said.
Ryan has taught sports through several different companies including TGA Sports where he was selected to train coaches and new franchise owners how to manage and coach coaches. He also taught soccer, golf and tennis privately. Growing up in Southampton, England, he played soccer in the United Kingdom for many years but his main sports were rugby and squash, where he was a County squash player. He was also a big fan of the Southampton Football Club, nicknamed The Saints, hence his naming of Sports Saints.
“We are so passionate about what we do,” Ryan said.
The coaches have been hoping by word of mouth and conducting such great service for the community that the programs will grow so they will be able to introduce more athletes with and without special needs to Sports Saints.
For more information, please visit www.SportsSaints.org or @SportsSaintsOfficial, or contact Ryan at 323-326-2316 or Ryan@SportsSaints.org. Article contributions made by Ryan Beard.
Diane Rhodes can be reached by email at dianerhodes.writer@gmail.com. JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia.com.
