Growing up, Charlie McDavid always had a love for sports.  His father taught him a lot about them.  Both of his parents were very involved and supported him when he was playing all different kinds of sports as a kid.  He really loved baseball, tennis and soccer when he was young.  His parents “never missed a game” and went as far as Texas to attend one of his games. 

Charlie grew up in Mobile until the age of twelve.  At the same age, his all-star baseball team went to the little league world series.  That is what really got him excited about baseball in particular.  His family ended up moving to Baldwin County where he then attended Fairhope High School and played baseball for the school.  After high school, he was accepted to the University of Mobile on a baseball scholarship.

While in college, Charlie took a part time position as assistant to the athletic director for the city of Daphne.  After college, he became the Athletic Coordinator for Daphne Sports in the Parks and Recreation Department of the city.  He has been there twelve years this September and has loved it from the beginning. 

Daphne Sports offers a lot of opportunities for kids to play sports and get involved in summer camps.  They have everything from youth soccer, baseball, football, even cheerleading.  Most of the sports are offered to kids in age from five to fourteen.  This spring is the first in which they have offered spring soccer, and they already have about 250 kids registered to play.  They have had up to 600 kids registered for fall soccer, the largest of all the sports programs they run.

Daphne Sports also has adult softball leagues.  Older teenagers who would like to participate in those are welcome, but do not have a league of their own age group because most of the older teenagers play high school sports already.  They have many summer camps offered to kids.  The most successful program offered by Daphne Sports is the Challenger Sports British Soccer Camp.  They bring in European coaches that travel around doing soccer camps.  The kids learn not only about soccer from them but also about the differences in cultures, and they really enjoy it. 

Charlie coordinates and organizes everything for these programs.  He finds the volunteer coaches to teach these kids and work with them on the sport of their choosing.  “The volunteer coaches are the backbone of everything we do,” says Charlie.  Charlie stays in close contact with them.  They are always in need of volunteer coaches especially for soccer.  Charlie also keeps the website current and mails out flyers to past participants about upcoming opportunities, but he says that the volunteer coaches “are instrumental in getting the word out to parents.” 

Because of his love for the outdoors, sports and being around kids, Charlie has coached some as well.  He really enjoys coaching older kids because they can understand the details of the sport more in depth, but he currently enjoys being a coach for a tee ball team in which his five-year-old son Brock is playing.  He also has a two-year-old son Brody that will most likely be playing the game when he is old enough too.

Last year Charlie went to Gulf Shores for about a month to do the same job but it turned out to be too far from home and his family, so he came back to Daphne.  He continues to do what he loves and he has so much support from his wife Kara.  They have been married six years.  He says she is great about it and very understanding of the hours in which Charlie must work.  “My wife has had to put up with a lot…The job has its requirements, but it is flexible,” says Charlie. 

Charlie must work some odd hours including late nights, sometimes until midnight when there is a tournament.  He does have the flexibility in his schedule however, to be home with his boys during the day sometimes.  He learns a lot from his kids as well as the kids he works with.  He says it’s fun to watch the kids and teach them about the sports he loves.  He says there are challenges with any age group he coaches, and the main thing he’s learned is patience.  Charlie, like any good coach and father, continues to be patient and encourage the kids, and tells them to keep their eye on the ball!

The leagues at Daphne Sports started the first week in April.  League schedules, registration forms, and any other information can be found on Daphne Sports’ website at www.daphnesports.com.