About Us

Our program operates each weekend for boys and girls in grades K - 12. We have over 1,000 children participating in basketball at 10 local schools (P.S. 6, P.S. 198, P.S. 155, P.S 169, St. Joseph School, Julia Richman E.C., St David Sports Complex, Madison Presbyterian School and new this coming season St Jean the Baptiste High School and Loyola School. We also use St. Bernard's School as our back-up if there is a problem at any of our other locations.

Yorkville Youth Athletic Association is one of the few organizations in the area that has five all girl divisions. We have supported the schools we are in with scoreboards, protective gym mats, better lighting, repaired gym floors and general upkeep of the schools.

Teenagers in Yorkville have the opportunity to give back to the community and earn some money by participating in refereeing and umpiring games for our younger players. Interested teenagers attend clinics and workshops to prepare them to officiate at basketball, baseball and football games. Yorkville hires professional referees for our older players games. There are also opportunities for teenagers to do this work as community service or participate in our theatre internships.

BASKETBALL

Our basketball program has Fall and Winter sessions with over 1,500 participants. Our teams are competitive and our coaches are passionate and skilled. We have an open gym on Sundays for everyone to practice in at P.S. 198 which is provided at no additional cost to all our participants. Also we recently added four additional hours of practice time in the winter on Saturday mornings at P.S. 198. Sign-up for basketball begin September for the winter session and in April for the Fall session.

Yorkville also boasts a successful travel basketball program. We currently have teams competing at for 8U -- 14U at the Island Garden Sports Facility in Garden City, New York.

FLAG FOOTBALL

We are now in our fifth year of competition in Flag Football. Our program has 700 participants in our fall, winter and spring sessions. We play official NFL Flag Football. The NFL provides us with uniforms, equipment, and official NFL Flag rules for a nominal fee. Yorkville provides the space to play, the insurance and our wonderful directors and coaches. We also participate in the NFL Regional Tournament each Fall. Our season runs from September - November, December - March and March - June (Fall, Winter and Spring) sign up in September for the winter and spring sessions and in April for our Fall session.

ROLLER HOCKEY

Yorkville boasts a beautiful rink in Stanley Isaacs Park at East 96th Street and First Avenue, complete with boards, goals, benches, penalty box, scorers area with working electronic score board. New pucks that make control easier than years ago have also improved the game of roller hockey. Resurfacing of the rink has also been promised by the New York City Parks and Recreation Department.

We will have 4 teams competing in the Spring 2008 season and also in Fall 2008. We play on Saturday afternoons and can practice on Friday's right after school until dusk. Our director, Greg Tsinker does a fabulous job teaching hockey and this season we will have coaches joining him to coach each team. All players receive a hockey jersey and a trophy.

BASEBALL

Our baseball program has 1,500 participants in the Fall and Spring seasons. It is second to none in our area for competition, learning the game and fun for all. We accommodate boys in grades K - 12 and girls in grades K-3. In Spring 2009 we plan on expanding our girls program to include the upper grades. We operate our programs from Asphalt Green, Great Lawn, Heckscher Fields, Randall's Island, North Meadow Ballfields, Queensboro Oval and Whitey Ford Field. Our goals are to teach baseball in a fun filled atmosphere concluding with competitive games.

Our program runs from March - June and September - November. We also have Winter Clinics and Summer Camp to improve skills for the season play.

Yorkville also participates in Spring and Fall Travel Baseball. We enter our teams with groups like the NCYAA, FABL and Diamond Pros. Our 8U - 14U teams also compete in tournaments in many other places like Sports at the Beach, Cooperstown and the Cal Ripken Tournament. Sign-up for baseball is in mid October for the spring and beginning in April for the Fall session.

BEGINNER / INTERMEDIATE TENNIS

Yorkville Tennis is the best bargain in NYC. Thanks to the generosity of Dr. Tony Skolnick, operator of Sutton East Tennis, children from our program learn tennis from the best pros in town. Beginning with the Fall 2008 Session Yorkville will continue to offer Beginner Tennis from 7-8 p.m. on Saturday evenings, but will add intermediate tennis in the 8 – 9 p.m. slot. This will continue for the winter 2009 session.

THEATRE ARTS

The Yorkville Theatre Ensemble began four years ago.  The Majestic Company is coed for grades 2 - 5 and the Gershwin Company is coed for grades 6 - 10.  The companies give a student the opportunity to explore all aspects of theatre performance.  Through class work, rehearsals and performance the members of each company develop skills in acting, singing and dancing.  At each meeting we have a director, musical director and choreographer. 

Yorkville has put on performances of  Grease, Guys and Dolls and Oliver, to name a few.  We began our theatre program for those who were not only interested in a sports experience, but also in another arena that adds the same benefits we gain from sports -- being a member of a team which will work together on a common goal.  Sign-up for theatre is in September.

AFTER SCHOOL

The Yorkville After School Program is now in its second year at P.S. 183! Returning is our director Hector Mercado, a fun loving athlete, who is wonderful with children. Jennifer Scalesi, full time Yorkville employee, is also back. She will work with your children on their homework assignments and make sure that every child is dismissed to the appropriate adult. Gregory Tsinker, Greg Feldman, Jesus Martinez has also joined our staff.

All sports are covered in each of two semesters, which run from September-January and February-June. There are skills and drills taught and games played. Sports include Basketball, Flag Football, Soccer, kickball, whiffleball, badminton, hockey, lead-up games, tag games and games without winners. Additional sports are covered as well.

Children spend 45 minutes on homework, 45 minutes in the gym and 45 minutes doing outdoor activities, and finish with board games and free play in the gym until parent pick-up.