Next Level Athletics offering youth flag football, volleyball and cross country this fall

Rip Ripley, who coaches volleyball, boys basketball and track at Wilson Hall, is passionate about the development of youth sports in Sumter.

That's why he founded Next Level Athletics, an AAU organization designed to serve the greater Sumter area across a wide variety of sports. They recently finished a great summer of track and basketball, and Ripley's group is gearing up for an exciting fall. The organization will offer flag football, cross country and volleyball opportunities for anyone looking to break into the sport at an entry or even more advanced level.

"There are great programs for kids who want to get super serious about a sport and really dedicated. What we're trying to do is to expose these kids to the sport, and the exposure level of it doesn't need to be five days a week for three hours a day. It needs to be learning the game," Ripley said. "Our vision is to grow these sports when the kids are in elementary school, so when they get to middle school and play for their school teams, they're a little more prepared and ready to play."

While Ripley coaches at Wilson Hall, he's always quick to stress that Next Level is not a Wilson Hall organization. He wants to build athletics across all of Sumter so he can enrich the community he's become a part of since joining the Barons.

"I know being someone who coaches at Wilson Hall, people will say, 'Is that the Wilson Hall team?' No. We have participation with Wilson Hall, sure, but we want to raise everybody in the community," Ripley said. "Our family, the Ripleys, we live here, we're becoming Sumterites. We're raising our kids here, and we want to be able to provide opportunities for all the kids in this area. My personality is that if I see there's a need for something, I want to jump in and help."

FLAG FOOTBALL

Flag football is a growing sport at Next Level that Ripley would love to see continue to expand. NLA is focused on having a great family environment. With that in mind, Ripley built a schedule that makes it easier for parents to get involved with the league. They practice just once a week and play games on Saturdays. Ripley wants to focus on teaching the fundamentals of the sport, and the league has an opportunity to get more competitive as kids continue to age up into different divisions.

"It was a hit last year; we had a huge jump in participation numbers last year. I think the way that we structure the season really resonated with the parents," Ripley said. "Our goal with that is going back kinda old school, playing those games on a Saturday morning like a lot of us did growing up.

"And really trying to emphasize one practice per week. This is not a high-level travel ball situation; we want to introduce kids to the sport at a young age, give them a safe opportunity to play, learn the game but not be overbearing at the same time."

While the structure is more laid back, Ripley stressed the league comes to play on Saturday mornings. The league is split into three divisions based on grades in school, K-1, 2-3 and 4-5.

"We're competing at the same time," he said. "When the kids get out there on Saturday, they get after it. They want to win, but it's really about exposing them to the sport at a young age."

The signups for football technically close as this publishes, but games won't start for a couple of weeks. Practices begin on Saturday, Aug. 17, and games begin on Sept. 7. If you're interested in hopping into the league, reach out to Ripley at coachripripley@gmail.com or contact Next Level Athletics SC on social media, where they have pages on Facebook, X and Instagram.

VOLLEYBALL

While the flag football teams compete once a week, the volleyball offerings at Next Level are more practice-based. The Sumter Spikers are in two age groups, 3-7 and 7-12. Both groups will practice every Wednesday at Wilson Hall starting on Aug. 21. Those sessions will run through Sept. 25 and are entirely instructional.

Ripley credits other local

programs, like Heath Griffin's Sumter Volleyball Club, as opportunities for club play, but NLA opportunities are more focused about teaching the basics for newcomers, especially at the youngest age group.

"Volleyball is tough at a young age," Ripley said. "What we've seen in three years with Little Spikers (is massive improvement). I had a camp over the summer, and we had some girls in the third and fourth grade who have been exposed to volleyball for a few years now with Little Spikers, and they're already playing at a higher level than girls were three or four years ago. It's getting exposure to a sport where you're not like, 'Hey, let's go pick up 10 guys and play volleyball.' It's not quite that easy like you can for other sports."

Ripley gets volunteers from several places to help with instruction. He naturally uses his own volleyball players at Wilson Hall, but that's not all. Griffin also coaches at USC Sumter and brings the Fire Ants in to lend a hand.

"It's a great thing to have college athletes giving back and supporting the kids," Ripley said.

With the younger groups, they use a lighter ball to help teach the fundamentals without the stress of a full-sized volleyball. As athletes move into the older age group, they do more game-formatted action.

"It's a great opportunity for those kids in the super young age group to get some athletic activities in their bodies," Ripley said.

CROSS COUNTRY

Ripley offers opportunities for athletes interested in running sports year 'round with their after-school program. That program is already in place at Wilson Hall, Alice Drive Elementary School and Liberty STEAM Charter School, along with a community program that meets twice weekly. The format is simple; any school that's interested just needs to reach out to Ripley, and he'll provide their eight-week curriculum, which includes character-building elements along with workouts. That group would then meet at their own school and train together. In the fall, things are a little more streamlined, simply because the track program includes field events.

"I have a lot of parents that have reached out and asked how to get an after-school program in their kids' school," Ripley said. "Just talk to the administrators at the school and then we look for a contact person at each school, it can be a parent, it can be a faculty member, and we actually give a stipend to that person to help get it going at that school. Then we provide everything for you.

"In the fall, it's just having a space to run and then coordinate with us. We were in three schools last year and we already have a couple that are excited about getting involved, hopefully this year."

The program formally starts in September to give schools a chance to find their footing as the year kicks off. On Nov. 2, Next Level will host a meet to celebrate the end of the eight-week program. After that, interested participants can potentially compete in the USATF State and Region Meets, which run on Nov. 9 and 16.

For more information about any of the fall offerings, you can follow Next Level SC on social media or head to https://nextlevelathleticssc.com.