Kevin LaMont is Whitmore Lake through and through. He went through the Whitmore Lake Public School system and currently serves as the Athletic and Recreation Coordinator for Whitmore Lake Community Recreation (WLCR). He even played rec baseball in the WLCR programs as a kid.
After a few years of rec sports, LaMont tried travel baseball but did not care for the environment.
“I think travel can be a lot, especially for the younger kids,” he said. “Most kids that play travel typically specialize in one sport at a young age which can actually lead to overuse injuries down the road. I love rec sports because it gives kids a variety of sports to try and see what they like.”
The rec leagues were nothing but positive for LaMont growing up and are still a fond memory as he finishes up a master’s degree in Sports Management from Adrian College, where he played baseball and ran track/cross country.
“I am hoping that I am able to pass my great experiences on to the younger generations,” he said.
Centered in a small town, WLCR has gotten creative to continue offering the community, and surrounding cities, positive programming.
“We work with surrounding communities such as Hamburg, Pinckney and Dexter to create organized programs for our kids,” LaMont said. “This allows us to not only have more teams to play against but also allows our kids to create new friends and connections with kids that they may not already know. It also brings in families from the surrounding areas to us and see the great things we have to offer as well as our great facilities.”
Whitmore Lake offers a variety of sports and activities to families with the lineup including baseball/softball, soccer, flag football, basketball, golf, volleyball, cheer, adult softball and even baton twirling. LaMont is constantly working on ways to introduce new elements to these programs and provide a more well-rounded experience to participants. And, as always, there is never any residency requirement for WLCR programs.
“I have some exciting things in the works for the future of soccer that I think people will be very excited about,” he said.
The emphasis in programming for WLCR is to give every kid a shot to try something new.
“As someone who loves sports, I want every kid to be able to experience the greatness of sports,” LaMont said. “There are a lot of things sports can teach you and I want every kid, no matter the situation, to be able to experience these things. We have scholarships that help cover some costs for families that can not afford to participate. We can make accommodations for rides to ensure that every kid can participate.”
Scheduling is always the million-dollar question for sports programming. WLCR is uniquely positioned because it uses the same outstanding facilities as the Whitmore Lake middle and high school teams. Most programs will run two or three days a week (typically M/W or T/TH) with some sports playing on Saturdays.
“Pricing goes back to allowing everyone to play,” LaMont said. “We keep all prices as low as possible so that we can allow all kids the ability to participate. Our goal is to make sure we break even. We have started this spring to get sponsorships and our goal for those is that, in the beginning, they will help cover some new equipment costs and as we go further, they will help lower some costs to participate.”
Working in the same community that raised him, LaMont gets the most out of the interactions and experiences that he is able to provide for the next young athletes to be proudly Whitmore Lake through and through.
“The excitement and joy on the kids' faces make all the hardships worth it,” he said. “As a coach, I love seeing kids start to understand and have that lightbulb moment and I am able to see it a lot in the position I am in.”
There is no better place or experience than in a community recreation program that is run by the most outstanding members of its community.
