For the past nine years, the Bucks County community has enjoyed seeing its children flourish

in No Athlete Behind (NAB). An organization dedicated to ensuring that every child has the opportunity to participate in various sports such as Cheerleading, Basketball, Volleyball, Mini-Stars, and Champions. 

NAB was founded in 2017 by Nick Reising, a Neshaminy High School girls’ basketball coach, and initially formed the program to get younger children interested in basketball and to create equal opportunities for girls in the sport.  

“It originally started as a youth basketball program that was for boys and girls, but we noticed that girls don’t really have a lot of the same opportunities that boys have,” Reising acknowledged.  

The program didn’t just offer chances for girls to get involved; it also impacted its founder and its volunteers. 

Basketball

Reising began NAB with the basketball program, providing a scope of opportunities for aspiring players to learn and grow. From 3-on-3 tournaments to clinics throughout the year, there are events for kids of any skill level and age to participate. 

This past December, they held a holiday 3-on-3 tournament over winter break. Students, from elementary through high school, could sign up for the competition and win the title ‘best team’. The grades participating ranged from as young as third grade up to twelfth grade.

They also turned school days off into opportunities for experience, in which NAB offers No-School Day Clinics that create a safe, lively, and positive environment for children to grow, learn, and play on a day out of class. 

 They split up these groups into ages five to eight and nine to 14 to ensure participants are within the same age range. NAB coaches offer mini-games, skill-building, challenges, and drills to ensure kids stay active and entertained on a day when school’s closed.

Volleyball

One of the most popular programs NAB offers is volleyball, which was offered due to the lack of representation for young kids through middle school. As the turnout grows each year, it’s a reminder to those at the NAB and the community that playing a sport can be accessible for every family. 

Avery Dunkely, the head volleyball coach at the NAB and a Maple Point Middle School girls volleyball coach, has been with the NAB since 2022. She has expressed her love and passion for watching more students get involved with volleyball.

“[Volleyball is] something that isn’t offered throughout the district, at the middle school level, compared to other districts around us,” Dunkley said. “We want to get kids involved in the sport at an earlier age.” 

Reising proposed the idea of starting a volleyball program to Dunkley after learning her history with the sport.

“So [Reising] asked me, knowing that I do volleyball at the high school, ‘Would you be willing to kind of jump in and do it here at the middle school?’ We talked all the time about getting it as a PIAA sport at the middle school. It’s really hard to get that process moving, so [said] absolutely,” Dunkley commented.

With around 15 to 20 students per session and a clinic every week, volleyball is an ever-growing sport at the NAB and continues to shine every year.

Cheerleading

Not only do they offer these sports, but NAB also provides cheerleading to ages seven to 14. They teach their students how to learn cheers, chants, dance, and have teamwork. 

The cheer program combines athletic fundamentals, rhythm, and spirit positively.  

The cheer sessions also focus on skill development, fitness, and fun. They will learn real cheer routines and chants, and kids will build teamwork and leadership skills. It is available to register for clinics on their websites, and they take place on Monday nights. These events give every child a chance to see if cheerleading could be their dream without the major experiences that may entail with the sport. 

Mini-Stars

With all of these programs also emerged Mini Stars, a multi-sport program offered to children one through five on Saturday mornings. Taking place from March through April at Newtown Friends, kids have the opportunity to immerse themselves in recreational activities in their early childhood years. 

One to two-year-olds are known as the ‘Guiding Stars’. With the comfort of family nearby, Mini Stars’ goal is to build confidence through music, movement, and beginner skills. NAB introduces these young children just beginning to take their first steps to a variety of sports.

Older children, ranging from three to five, are the ‘Multi-Sport’. These kids have the opportunity to shine independently, spotlighting their abilities to learn, play, and grow. Overall, these kids are gaining confidence, fine motor skills, and teamwork all within a fun and safe environment.  

Kaitlyn Wolf, a Neshaminy High School junior on the girls basketball team, has been close to Reising since the beginning of his NAB journey. Kaitlyn assists on the side at Mini-Stars, “giving them an extra push to try new activities, demonstrating what needs to be done and giving a proper example, being there to support them and give encouragement during the activities, and filming media.” 

Wolf explains how she’s seen the children grow throughout the time spent with them. 

“As I guide them through the lessons in our session, I can tell they are getting more loose and excited to ‘play’ the sport we taught them that day. They begin to be more cooperative, and we have less of the running back to their parents after every lesson.”  

Mini-Stars morphs independence and learning in an enticing way to engross children in activities throughout early developmental stages. 

Champions

Over the past ten years, the NAB has consistently shown its passion for introducing young students to sports. Due to overwhelming community support, the NAB can now return to its first initiative, the Champions program. 

“A big thing that we’re actually gonna be doing in a couple weeks, that’ll be coming out soon, is a special needs program called the Champions Program that’s gonna be free to participate,” Reising expressed. “And that was really the intention at first, how do you build enough programs to be able to fund something like that and tie the whole thing together?”

This program will specifically focus on the special needs community and introduce many new sports to the kids. Reising plans to launch baseball, golf, soccer, and flag football. These sports will be presented on a week-to-week basis and allow the students to shuffle through each respective sport. 

Due to No Athletes Left Behind (NAB), the Neshaminy community has seen an influx of participation in extracurricular activities and an overall increase in young student athletes. Whether it’s volleyball, cheerleading, or the Champions program, Neshaminy is dedicated to encouraging its students to be the best athletes they can be.  

“I think there’s just so many positives that can come from getting to play and try something new,” Reising voiced.