Best Picks for Your Athlete

The young athlete on your holiday gift list would probably love a new baseball glove or the latest self-pumping basketball. But why not use the opportunity to combine your child’s interest in sports with some quality bonding time?

Whether your budding athlete is just learning to throw a ball or is an accomplished Little League player, she’s sure to enjoy reading a sports-themed picture book, early-reader or teen novel with you. Or try a biography or autobiography of her favorite sports hero.

• Surprise your budding sports fan with tickets to a local professional or college game. Or better yet, plan a weekend trip around tickets to an out-of-town game. It’s easy to plan your own trip to a nearby venue like Philadelphia or Baltimore. Purchase game tickets by calling the box office or visiting the team Web site, which will usually provide links to nearby hotels. Or let a professional plan the whole adventure for you. Try www.innovasporttours.com.

• Family game night will take on a whole new meaning for your little sports fan with one of the many sportsthemed board games like Sports Illustrated Trivia board game, which features 1,000 questions about the greatest teams, players and moments in sports. Baseball Frenzy covers everything from Little League to the majors, and strategies to statistics. Or try one of the many Monopoly Sports Edition games — from the NY Yankees Edition to the Snowboarding
Edition — and everything in between.

• Turn game night up a notch with the Scene It? ESPN Sports DVD board game. Adult and child sports buffs alike will love the real-game footage, sports-related movie clips and on-screen challenges. All are available where games are sold or on www.amazon.com. Julie Vecchione DeSimone is a freelance writer. She lives in Centerport with her husband and two children.

Julie Vecchione DeSimone is a freelance writer. She lives in Centerport with her husband and two children.