Play For Sport is located within NTA Taekwondo & Sports in Coppell beginning January 2nd, 2010. We are relocating from our existing location within EveryBody Fits. We offer sports readiness classes for ages beginning at 18 months and sport specific classes for school aged children. In addition to classes and camps, we are now also offering organized & competitive teams in Basketball, Soccer, QuickStart Tennis, and Volleyball. For more information and classes and tuition or to enroll online, please select the “Indoor Facility” link on the menu to the left.
Play For Sport has helped over 2,000 children across north Texas get prepared to play organized sports!
Children enter organized sports at a very young age and need to be prepared for the differences of playing on a team vs. free play. Most children won’t know for certain if they will even enjoy a sport until halfway through their first season. Why take a chance? Let them try all of the sports before committing to just one! With Play For Sport, children get to learn skills to play baseball, basketball, soccer, football, tennis, hockey, and more! Each week they work with a different sport, but every week they learn how to be a productive member of a team. Sportsmanship and teamwork are an important part of each lesson plan. Enroll your child today and find out why Play For Sport kids are the happiest kids on the field!!
Play For Sport was founded and is directed by Michael and Ruthi Elliott of Flower Mound, Texas where they reside with their twin boys. The idea of Play For sport was born out of their experiences with their children entering organized sports.
Since children now begin sports at an age when they don’t really understand the concept of competition and commitment, this combination makes for a lot of opportunities for game day meltdowns when other players aren’t sharing or taking turns!
When the Elliott twins joined T-Ball and Soccer at an early age, Michael and Ruthi encountered many of such challenges including a lack of interest from one twin in soccer after just one week into the season while the other twin loved it! Three weeks into their first season of baseball, the twin that disliked soccer loved it while the other twin grew disinterested!
Thus was born the idea for Play For Sport, to give young children an opportunity to try sports before they commit to an entire season of just one. To give them the opportunity to learn the skills they need in a friendly, non-competitive environment where they can ask questions and not be embarrassed when they aren’t able to do a skill on first attempt.
Mike Elliott – President and Chief Executive Officer
Texas Tech University – B.A. in Education
3rd Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo
Mike has loved working with children all of his life. He started teaching jr. golf camps at the age of 16. He started, owned and operated his own Tae Kwon Do studio where the primary student base was below the age of 15. When Mike moved to Lubbock, Texas to attend Tech Tech University he taught children Tae Kwon Do for the next 4 years. Mike graduated from Texas Tech University in December 1993 where he obtained, and still maintains, his Texas’ Teacher certification to teach secondary education, and he has been involved in teaching ever since.
Ruthi Elliott – Vice President and Chief Operations Officer
Certified Personal Trainer
Certified Boot Camp Circuit Leader and Performance Nutrition
Ruthi owned and operated a children’s fitness program for 4 years prior to joining her husband in the development of Play For Sport. Her training and experience working with preschool aged children helped shape the approach of teaching young children in a non-competitive and encouraging environment. Play For Sport curriculums are highly structured to help children of this age feel safe and encouraged to do their best.
Ruthi is a former NPC figure competitor and brings a wealth of fitness and nutritional knowledge to the program as well. She knows the vital importance of teaching children at an early age to take care of their bodies and to understand how they work to instill healthy habits to last a lifetime. Relating healthy habits to performance on the field is a natural progression and a large part of Play For Sport’s preschool curriculum.
Martin Salinas – Director of Training & Program Development
University of Texas at Dallas – B.A. Business Management
Former Professional Basketball Player
Martin joined Play For Sport in 2007 and quickly became our most sought after coach. While coaching for Play For Sport, Martin attended UTD where he was an active 4-year student athlete and 3 year basketball Captain. When he graduated he finished his UTD basketball career holding 17 basketball records including UTD’s All-Time leading scorer.
After graduation, Martin left to play professional basketball in Mexico. He returned to DFW and to Play For Sport as our Program Director at the end of the season in 2008. In addition to working with Play For Sport, Martin founded Panther Pack Athletics which is now the fastest growing and most sought after basketball program in North Texas.
He is currently a mentor and personal basketball instructor to many promising athletes and still Play For Sport’s most requested coach! His passion for sports and to help others improve comes second to none.
