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Sports: Archery, Baseball, Basketball
 
Archery

Pro Line Archery Lanes
9511 101st Ave., near Woodhaven Blvd., Ozone Park
718-845-9280
archeryny.com
Built on the upper floor of a converted Catholic school, this twenty-yard adjustable lane is open to kids of all ages, accompanied by parents. Under-16s pay just $5 to shoot and $5 to rent equipment ($12 for anyone older). On Saturdays, they run a Junior Olympic Archery Development program ($10) with instruction from two U.S. archery-team members.

Queens Archery Supplies and Range
170-20 39th Ave., near 171st St., Flushing
718-461-1756
archery-nyc.com
Starting at the age of 4, kids accompanied by parents can use the regulation lane ($16 per hour, per person; bow provided). The two-hour Junior Olympic Archery Development program on Fridays costs $10 and includes training and scored tournament play (qualification required).

Baseball

The Baseball Center NYC
202 W. 74th St.
212-362-0344
thebaseballcenternyc.com
The city’s only indoor baseball center has state-of-the-art batting cages with machines that pitch anywhere from 20 to 100 miles per hour. The center offers private lessons (around $55 per half-hour) and an after-school program (around $525 for a fifteen-week session); bats and helmets are included, and they start teaching tots as young as 2. They also run an in-house league for 8-to-12-year-olds (around $380 per season).

Bicycles
 
Toys ’R’ Us
Call 800-869-7787 for store locations
toysrus.com
Setting local booster sentiment aside, Toys ’R’ Us has the biggest, cheapest, and most colorful selection of kids’ bikes in town, from the all-terrain Kiddio Supertrike 3 with chopper handlebars ($65.99) to the Island Breeze Bicycle by Dynacraft with purple frame, white wheels, and tassel ($54.99).


CYO Manhattan Youth Baseball
212-924-7001
cyomyb.com
Fielding 72 teams at Ward’s Island and Central Park, the CYO league stresses family participation: Every kid must have at least one parent present at every game, and parents must volunteer as coaches, division leaders, administrators, or in some other capacity. Coed play begins at the age of 6; girls have the option of joining a softball team in the sixth grade. Parents must attend the October registration meeting; $185.

Harlem RBI
1948 First Ave., near 101st St.
212-722-1608
harlemrbi.org
This East Harlem nonprofit features a year-round after-school program with practices, conflict-resolution workshops, and peer mentoring for kids 7 to 18. The summer Real Kids program combines literacy training with arts projects, coed baseball practice, and field trips. Everything is free.

Little League Baseball
Call 570-326-1921 for league information
littleleague.org
All Little Leagues for children 5 and up are volunteer-operated. The season usually runs mid-April to July 1, though many leagues have fall and winter programs, as well as tee ball and girls’ softball. Teams are organized by neighborhood; cost typically runs from $35 to $100 per season.

Yorkville Youth Athletic Association
323 E. 91st St.
212-360-0022
yyaa.org
Some 1,200 kids, grades K–11, participate in YYAA’s recreational baseball season (April to June); $130 per year. Sign-up is on a first-come, first-served basis, and play is fairly noncompetitive before fourth grade. Tryout-only traveling seasons for kids 8 and up run September through November and April through June; $300 per year.

Basketball

Basketball City
Pier 63, 23rd St. at West Side Hwy.
212-924-4040
basketballcity.com
Kids can come with a parent to the enormous Basketball City—six air-conditioned courts—for open play. Six-week youth-development leagues ($190) divide players by age and ability for instruction and games. The leagues also include special guest lecturers and a free jersey.

Central Park Conservancy
North Meadow Center, 97th St. at mid-park
212-348-4867
centralparknyc.org
Everything’s free at Central Park’s basketball clinics, which emphasize building skills like dribbling, passing, and blocking (Saturdays from April to November, for kids 3 and up). Teacher Lynda Bozier is especially adept at getting blacktop players ready for regulation tournaments.

Dribbl
200 E. 87th St.
212-717-7651
dribbl.com
Dribbl founder Teddy Frischling is also athletic director at the Dalton School, and this basketball camp takes place in Dalton’s gym. Frischling keeps the instructor-student ratios down around one to four; boys and girls learn the basics of dribbling, passing, and ballhandling. The winter season consists of thirteen Sunday sessions between November 14 and March 13 ($585 if enrolled by October 1; $635 thereafter).

 

 
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From the Fall 2004 edition of the New York Family Guide
   
   
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