Total Sports Development (TSD), an athletic skill and ability development organization that recently launched in Yelm, aims to enrich the legacy of athletics in the region with more opportunities for athletes.
TSD began operations in mid-May and began to offer classes to athletes earlier this week. The organization aims to provide numerous opportunities to athletes in the South Sound and surrounding areas. Located in Yelm, TSD’s athletic training programs will take place at Yelm High School.
TSD will initially provide training opportunities for football, basketball, track and field, and cheerleading athletes. With the recent Yelm Community Schools levy failure and uncertainty regarding sports in the district, TSD President and co-founder Phil Ogle and organization board members believe TSD’s launch will be crucial for YCS students.
Ogle’s wife, Amber Ogle, and Jared Mathis also serve as TSD co-founders.
“We’re here for the kids. We’re trying to better the community as a whole,” Phil Ogle said. “Some people have said it’s a money grab. Do you have to pay to play a sport? The answer is yes. We have to pay for facilities, we have to pay for coaches — and even then, some coaches are volunteers. We can’t do it completely for free, but if you were to compare just the initial pricing that we’ve put to the public, it is very attractive and competitive because we’re not in it for the money.”
Ogle said there’s always been a plan to open and launch TSD, even before it received its name.
“We wanted to be our own 501(c)(3). We wanted to become a year-round solution for the youth. Honestly, there’s not a lot down here in Thurston County for us,” Ogle said. “We’re really trying to bring the whole performance-based training into the community as a whole. It’s not just for Yelm, either. We have more athletes signed up for 7-on-7 football tryouts from outside of Yelm than we do inside of Yelm. We’ve seen a lot from Thurston County. We have a lot of T-Birds, a lot of Bears.”
He added that over 30 athletes from outside of Yelm have signed up to try out for TSD’s 7-on-7 football team. It’s important to note that TSD’s athletic teams are not associated with Yelm High School or Yelm Community Schools, which allows athletes from outside the school district to train at and compete with the organization.
TSD also recently hired longtime Yelm Twisters youth wrestling coach Ben Hawk to be the program’s head wrestling coach. Hawk brings 20 years of experience at both club and high school levels.
Prior to the launch of TSD, athletes had select locations to go and train, with Ogle naming Heir, in Puyallup, Rise, Puyallup, and Ford Sports Performance, Bellevue, as other facilities located in western Washington.
“But we really don’t have that level (of training) here in the South Sound. As we’re sitting here thinking about what we want to do and how we’ll do it, with the levy failure, we put it into hyperdrive. If we didn’t bring TSD, I don’t know how long sports would last in Yelm with that levy failure,” Ogle said. “There’s all these classes and all these camps you can go to, but there’s not a lot down here. There’s not a lot for us to do down here as far as taking care of our youth. We have to go to Tacoma, Puyallup or Bellevue to do some of these other classes. They haven’t been available down here.”
Ogle added that TSD is currently in negotiations with “five-plus” properties to potentially house an eventual training facility. This would include a “fully enclosed” football field, four additional basketball courts, an indoor track and field facility, and an indoor cheer and wrestling room.
“The idea is to bring a next-level facility into the community. We’re working with a lot of outside investment money coming into us. We are a licensed 501(c)(3) with the state, with the feds and with Yelm. We are also insured,” Ogle said. “We have endorsements from the mayor and the planning department. We’re being heavily endorsed because people are seeing that need. We’re not in it for the money either. There are very strict laws on how people can earn money in 501(c)(3)s, but being a 501(c)(3) allows us to go and ask for money we couldn’t do if we were a foundation or a for-profit business.”
TSD will have more updates to come on a facility announcement very soon, Ogle said.
“As early as [this] week, we’ll start some cheer classes. We’ll go into football training classes the following month — offensive and defensive. Eventually, we’ll get into position based classes,” Ogle said. “We’ll go right into 7s, and as we grow, we’ll introduce different sports. We’ve been asked for almost every sport under the sun already. Someone even asked us if we could bring a lacrosse team to the area.”
Football
TSD will host two different football clinic series this summer, including an offensive session and a defensive session. Third through eighth graders can participate.
Offensive linemen, quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers can participate in the offensive skill clinics on Tuesdays, July 9 through July 30. Third through fifth graders will train from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., while sixth through eighth graders will participate from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Defensive linemen, linebackers and defensive backs will train this summer on Thursdays, July 11 through Aug. 1 at YHS. Third through sixth graders will train from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., while sixth through eighth graders will participate from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Cheer
TSD began offering a plethora of cheer courses that started this week and continue from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays, June 12 through June 26. Grades second to 12th are welcome.
Bring It On cheer skills is set for 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Thursdays, June 6 through June 27 at YHS. Grades second to 12th are welcomed.
Cheer fit will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays, June 6 through June 27 at YHS. Grades second through 12th are welcome. Level Up Cheer will take place from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. also on Thursdays, June 6 through June 27, and welcomes second through 12th graders.
Flyer and flexibility classes are every other Monday in June and July, including June 17 through July 29 at YHS. Second through 12 graders are welcome.
Jumps and flexibility classes are offered from 6:40 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, June 12 through June 26 at YHS. Grades second through 12 are welcome.
TSD will also host its Slay All Day cheer camp from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 23, at YHS. The camp welcomes grades second through 12.
Girls flag football
TSD will offer two girls flag football skills camps this summer, on July 29 and 31. High school girls will participate in the camp from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., while grades fourth through eighth will participate in the camp from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Both clinics will be held on YHS turf two.
Girls basketball
TSD’s summer girls basketball clinics are set for Wednesdays, July 10 through July 31, with three different age groups set to participate. The youth clinics on those scheduled dates will last from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., while middle school girls clinics will take place from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
High school girls basketball clinics will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on those dates.
Boys basketball
TSD will host four separate clinics for high school boys basketball athletes and middle school boys basketball athletes on Mondays, July 8 through July 29. Middle school athletes will train inside the YHS gym from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., while high school athletes will train from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Track and field
TSD will host its speed, jumps and endurance training for ages 9 through 18 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, from July 1 through Aug. 14.
High school endurance training will also take place from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays from July 1 through Aug. 14 at Yelm High School.
For more information about TSD’s summer clinics and training and session costs, visit TotalSD.org.
