Sports, Learning and Plenty of Fun

  • More than 50 kids participated in the second All Sports Day, where they learned skills in different sports from CSUN student-athletes. Photo by Luis Garcia.

  • All Sports Day soccer.

    After a good shot, this youngster gets a low-five. Photo by Luis Garcia.

  • All Sports Day tennis.

    Keeping her eye on the ball. Photo by Luis Garcia.

  • All Sports Day kid heads the soccer ball.

    Kids learned how to use their heads on the soccer field. Photo by Luis Garcia.

  • All Sports Day opening cheer.

    CSUN Baseball Head Coach Greg Moore fired up the kids before All Sports Day began. Photo by Luis Garcia.

  • All Sports Day basketball.

    Inside the Matadome, these young basketball players learned from the Big West-champion CSUN Women's Basketball Team. Photo by Luis Garcia.

  • All Sports Day volleyball.

    Kids learned proper form in bumping a volleyball, among other skills.

There are few things as festive and inspiring as dozens of happy children running across a grass field. Add a group of student-athletes teaching those children about their collegiate sports, along with some important life lessons, and you have All Sports Day — presented by CSUN Athletics on April 26.

More than 50 youngsters from the area were led through baseball, soccer, tennis and volleyball clinics by CSUN student-athletes while learning the tenets of legendary former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success. The event was started by CSUN Baseball Head Coach Greg Moore, who also kicked off the day’s events, and his ballplayers joined in before taking on UC Riverside that afternoon.

Moore met with the local kids and finished his talk by leading them through a rousing cheer, “Matadors, Boom, Boom, Hey!” After the event, the children received complimentary admission to the Matadors’ baseball matchup — which ended in a wild, 10-9 walk-off victory.

“All Sports Day is fun for a lot of reasons,” Moore said. “The parents who come understand what’s going on here today. They know it’s about sports, but it’s also about learning. I’m really proud that our players jump in the way they do. They love being here, and I mean that genuinely. They mean that genuinely. They’re smiling when they arrive. This is not punching a clock for them. They know it’s a chance to make a difference.”

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