Week one in Rowland Heights

Our second free community sports program opened on May 3 in Rowland Heights.

It has been loud. Children have turned up and thrown themselves at it, and parents have stayed to watch rather than dropping off and driving away — which is usually the sign that something is working. Several families have told us the same thing in different words: that their child is getting coaching they could not otherwise afford, and coming home with more than a skill.

The first weeks have been the ordinary stuff that a season is made of. Warm-ups on the grass. Cones. A coach crouching to eye level to explain something for the third time. Hands stacked in the middle of a circle before the group breaks.

Our thanks to the parents, the children, the coaches, the volunteers and the partners who got it on its feet. There is a lot of the season left.