The Dwight Patterson Sports Academy (DPSA) is a non-profit organization committed to promoting youth, education, and sports in Arizona. The academy was developed to honor the life of Dwight Patterson. Mr. Patterson is not only credited for bringing the Chicago Cubs and the Cactus League to Arizona, he coached Little League for 10 years and refereed amateur sporting events for a quarter of a century. Although he was a highly successful farmer, rancher, and businessman, Mr. Patterson devoted much of his time to public education serving his community in a variety of leadership positions.
The Academy is housed in the Department of Sports Health Care at the Arizona School of Health Sciences in Mesa, Arizona. The goals of the DPSA are to promote sports participation for Arizona youth, to sponsor the P.L.A.Y.S. coaching program, support research in the area of youth sports with respect to injury prevention, coaches training, and youth sports participation.
The foundation of the Dwight Patterson Sports Academy's Educational Programs is the Preparing Leaders for America's Youth Sports (P.L.A.Y.S.) Curriculum. The P.L.A.Y.S. Curriculum is a formal educational curriculum that serves as the hallmark of the Academy. The P.L.A.Y.S. Curriculum was developed by health care providers with expertise in youth sports to enhance the quality of America's youth sports by educating coaches and parents about health, safety, and wellness. The National Athletic Trainers' Association (www.nata.org) is recommending that youth sports leagues take preventative measures to insure a safe, injury-free experience for our youth. The P.L.A.Y.S. Curriculum will address these issues through specific modules focused on health, safety, and wellness in youth sports and quality coaching. The Curriculum can be delivered through various educational mediums including the P.L.A.Y.S. Coaches Handbook (print version) with an accompanying CD-ROM, as well as a web-based version with information contained in both slideshow and narrative formats. The P.L.A.Y.S. Curriculum consists of the following four instructional units: Legal Issues, Training and Conditioning, Recognition of Injury and Illness, and Safe Playing Conditions. Each unit consists of several modules of information. Following each of the 13 modules in the P.L.A.Y.S. Curriculum there is a brief post-test to ensure that the key points have been learned. Following successful completion of each of the P.L.A.Y.S. Curriculum modules participants will receive a DPSA P.L.A.Y.S. Curriculum Certificate of Completion.
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