YMCA Yi Belong
Kelly Perez
By Matt Browning
In 2021, Kelly Perez’s son was interested in playing basketball for the YMCA, but his team had no coach.
The rest, as they say, is history.
“When I found out that my son’s team had no coach I was approached about the idea and although I have never coached basketball in my life, I was eager to learn the sport and teach the young group of children I had,” Perez said.
Now three years later, Perez is still coaching at the YMCA; currently flag football.
“As of right now I only coach flag football,” Perez said. “I have two teams that I coach. I have a 2nd/3rd grade team as well as a 4th/5th grade team. My weekly routine during season is that I work my day job and on Wednesdays I coach both teams with back-to-back practices. My older team runs an extra off site practice on Thursday.”
There was no doubt that Perez’s best memory from coaching came from his son.
“The greatest memory I have is when my son scored his first touchdown,” Perez said. “I mean it’s hard to forget when that’s all he talked about for a week.”
The influence and change Perez has had in kid’s lives is what makes coaching so gratifying and he would encourage others to volunteer for that very reason.
“Take a leap of faith and go for it even if you don’t have a kid that plays sports at the YMCA,” Perez said. “You can always be the change in someone’s life that they are looking for.”
