Kingfield Neighborhood Association

Tree Pruning for Fruit Production

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A hands-on workshop with the U of M Department of Urban & Community Forestry and the MPLS Park & Rec Forestry Department

October 10, 1-4 PM

Space is limited to 15 attendees. A commitment to caring for and maintaining our urban community orchard in MLK Park throughout 2022 is required and this work is expected to take about 20 hours per person.

Register here!

Spend an afternoon with Eric North, Assistant Professor of Urban and Community Forestry at the U of M and in partnership with the Minneapolis Park Board Forestry Department, learning how to prune a variety of fruit trees to increase production. The goal of this workshop is to form and educate a team of Kingfield neighbors in the planting, maintenance, harvesting, and decisions involved in caring for and nurturing our urban orchard which currently includes 4 pear, 3 sour cherry, 3 plum, 6 apple, and a handful of service berry trees (and more planned to be added next spring!) [Read more…]

Kingfield’s Little Kickers Wrap up another season!

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Tonight was the final session of another huge season (120 young players!) for the Kingfield Little Kickers. Thank you to all the volunteer coaches and to our club organizer, Michael Vanderford, for being role models, recruiters, teachers, and cheer leaders for our youth in this 20th season of partnership between MLK Park and KFNA!

 

 

Most Minneapolis Rec Centers Reopening!

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38 recreation centers are open for scheduled programming; all recreation centers expected to reopen in the fall

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) has been following a phased approach to reopening recreation centers this year after closing due to the pandemic. Five more recreation centers reopened this month: Morris, Painter, Peavey, Pershing, Van Cleve.

In total, there are currently 38 recreation centers are open with the following conditions:

  • Recreation centers are only open for scheduled programs.
  • Drop in visits are not allowed.
  • Registration is required for all programs so that the MPRB can perform contact tracing in the case of a COVID-19 outbreak.
  • Onsite registration may be available on a limited basis, but preregistration is advised.
  • Masks are required for unvaccinated visitors and staff.
  • Masks are encouraged for vaccinated visitors and staff.

All recreation centers are expected to return to regular hours and operation this fall. Use the link below or minneapolisparks.org/register to browse and register for scheduled programs:

Recreation Center Programs

The following recreation centers are currently open for scheduled programs:

Armatage, Bottineau, Central Gym, Creekview, East Phillips, Elliot, Farview, Folwell, Fuller, Harrison, Hiawatha School, Keewaydin, Kenwood, Lake Hiawatha, Lake Nokomis, Linden Hills, Luxton, Lyndale Farmstead, Lynnhurst, Matthews, McRae, Morris, North Commons, Northeast, Painter, Pearl, Peavey, Pershing, Phillips, Powderhorn, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Sibley, Stewart, Van Cleve, Waite, Webber, Whittier, Windom Northeast.

The following recreation centers remain closed, but are expected to return to normal hours and operation this fall:

Audubon, Brackett, Bryant Square, Corcoran, Kenny, Logan, Longfellow, Loring, Windom South.

Little Kickers Kids Soccer Program

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Fun Soccer Games Program for Young Children – Ages 4-8

Located at MLK Park, in the field near Nicollet Ave. & 42nd Street
Wednesdays: starting June 23 and continuing through August 18, 6:15-7:30 PM

$20 a season for Minneapolis residents

Register here!

Contact  or call 612-370-4908 for assistance.

The Little Kickers Program uses “teaching-games” led by 2-3 trained, volunteer parent-coaches to small groups of kids divided by age: 4-year-olds, 5-6 year-olds, and 7-8 year-olds. The games are about teaching skills and behaviors core to soccer, but the games are generally not soccer games. We also don’t do “drills”, we don’t form organized teams for the summer, and parents don’t commit to being team soccer coaches for the entire summer. Parent coaches don’t need to be athletes, nor need to have experience playing organized soccer. The program is designed around soccer basics and soccer balls, and lots of action. The highest priority of the program, however, is that the kids have fun and want to come back the next week, enthusiastically, to play the games with soccer balls again.

Besides registering your children, we are also seeking additional “official” parent coaches. We will provide training in June at a two-hour workshop from a college-level soccer coach who actually uses these games in their professional roles.

Interested? Send an email to Michael Vanderford, at .

 

Little Kickers Soccer Program: summer 2021

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Located at MLK Park, in the field near Nicollet Ave. & 42nd Street
Fun Soccer Games Program for Young Children – Ages 4-8
Wednesdays: starting June 23 and continuing through August 18, 6:15-7:30 PM
$20 a season for Minneapolis residents

This summer, on Wednesday evenings from 6:15 to 7:30 PM, on the grass of ML King field #1, the Minneapolis Park Board and the Kingfield Neighborhood Association will again host a program for 4- through 8-year old boys and girls, of all nationalities and backgrounds. The program is designed around soccer basics and soccer balls, and lots of action. But the highest priority of the program is that the kids have fun; have fun playing games with soccer balls, and want to come back the next week, enthusiastically, to play the games with soccer balls again.

If you can imagine; dads, moms, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, (you!); joining in to play the games with your 6-year-old son, your 4-year-old daughter, and the the other 15-20 kids in their age-group, on the field. The adults are regularly invited to join in games kicking the soccer balls, and pretending with the kids for: “Ouch!”, “Allegators”, “Go Get It”, “Islands”, “Bandits”, and “Buffalo Hunter”.  There is the occasional soccer scrimmage for the older groups at the end of session, but mostly it’s about teaching soccer through these other, “silly”, games.

The Little Kickers Program uses these little-kid teaching-games, led by 2 or 3 parent-coaches trained in a bunch of the games, to groups of a dozen to 20, or so, 4-year-olds, 5-6 year-olds, and 7-8 year-olds. The games are about teaching skills and behaviors core to soccer, but the games are generally not soccer games, and we don’t do “drills”, we don’t form organized teams for the summer, and parents don’t commit to being team soccer coaches for the summer. Parent coaches don’t need to be athletes, nor need to have experience playing organized soccer.

If you want to be one of the “Official” parent coaches, we will provide training in June at a two-hour games-learning session from a one of several college-level soccer coaches who actually use these games in their professional roles, working with their upper level youth programs and their college varsity soccer teams. But they are fun, kid games. Not serious soccer drills.

Interested? Send and email to Michael Vanderford, at .