When children play sports, they get exercise, develop their motor skills, and learn skills like teamwork, discipline, and communication. Your kids can play sports casually with their friends or as part of a local league with kids their age, making sports a great opportunity for your children to strengthen friendships and develop new ones. Here are some spots in Gilbert where your kids can play sports competitively and for fun.

Local Organizations

Living in Gilbert, your children have plenty of places to practice for the big game or play a few rounds with friends and family. What’s more, there are multiple organizations that run youth sports leagues in Gilbert and Greater Phoenix:

  • Gilbert Youth Sports: This local sports organization manages multiple sports leagues each season. Sign your kids up for seasonal leagues in baseball or softball, basketball, flag football, volleyball, and soccer. In the summer, be sure to enroll your children in Gilbert Youth Sports clinics where they can improve their skills in the sports they love to play.
  • i9 Sports: This national youth sports management organization has a regional chapter in the Greater Phoenix area, with multiple leagues in Gilbert and surrounding towns. i9 Sports hosts leagues at local elementary, junior high, and high schools as well as at a few local parks.
  • Gilbert Parks and Recreation Youth Sports: The local parks department runs adult and youth sports leagues, and your kids can participate in sports like baseball and softball, volleyball, and soccer. 

Desert Sky Park

Kids play soccer at a local sports facility in Gilbert, Arizona

Soccer – Army Youth Sports and Fitness” licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Flickr by USAG-Humphreys

At Desert Sky Park, your kids will enjoy playing any sport they like on one of the four multi-use fields. These fields are perfect for pickup games of soccer, baseball, football, and more. It’s also good for running drills and practicing their skills to become better players for their school or local league games. What’s more, the Gilbert Parks and Recreation Department is currently planning major additions to the park, including adding more multi-use fields to make it 16 fields in total as well as a Championship Field with seating so families can cheer on their little athletes.

If your kids want to play competitively at Desert Sky Park, they can join one of the i9 Sports leagues hosted here. The organization runs Sunday leagues for flag football boys and girls in pre-K up to 7th grade and soccer for kids in pre-K to 4th grade.

Cactus Yards

Cactus Yards is Gilbert’s own sports megaplex, complete with professional-grade fields modeled after real-life major league fields. While these fields are frequently used by local schools and youth sports leagues, your kids can also practice running to home base, sliding, and pitching when there’s a free field. Or, they can hit the batting cages to practice their swing. Depending on the league they play for, they may even get a chance to play a real game with their team on the field, too.

Crossroads District Park

Located right off South Santan Village Parkway is Crossroads District Park, one of Gilbert’s best hidden-gem parks for playing sports. Though it doesn’t offer as much as other local parks, it’s still home to four lighted ball fields (including two youth fields), a few multi-use fields, a sand volleyball court, a few soccer fields, and a half-court for playing basketball. Last but not least, Crossroads District Park also plays host to AZ Ice Gilbert, the area’s premier destination for ice skating and youth hockey leagues, which your kids can join.

Discovery District Park

Discovery District Park offers a little bit of everything for the sporty kids of Gilbert. Here your kids can practice their spikes and serves on the sand volleyball courts, shoot hoops at one of two full-sized basketball courts, and play football, baseball, soccer, and more on one of the five multi-use fields. Plus, this 48-acre park also has a few miles of multi-purpose trails, the perfect place for kids in track & field or cross country running to practice, too.

Freestone Park

Freestone Park offers your kids plenty of opportunities to play and practice all of their favorite sports. The park has two multi-use fields, two lighted sand volleyball pits, four lighted basketball courts, and four lighted tennis courts. Kids who need to practice their swing can hit the batting cages, and those wanting to become a pro skateboarder can tear up the on-site skate park.

McQueen Park

McQueen Park is another local spot that has a little bit of everything. There are eight lighted ball fields, including one that’s a combination youth and adult ball field, four youth baseball fields, and three youth softball fields. Your kids may find themselves playing games in their local or school leagues at these fields or just practicing for the next big game. The park also features two lighted tennis courts, two lighted sand volleyball pits, and two lighted basketball courts. McQueen Park also has a multi-use trail where little runners can stretch their legs.

Tumbleweed Park

In nearby Chandler, i9 Sports manages flag football, baseball, and soccer leagues on Sundays at Tumbleweed Park. Each sport has a league of teams for kids of various age groups, from pre-K to 7th grade, depending on the sport. For instance, pre-K kids can join any sports league offered at Tumbleweed Park, but the soccer league only has teams for kids up to 4th grade.

PITT Fitness

PITT Fitness is a local fitness center and gym located in nearby Chandler, just down the road from Tumbleweed Park. i9 Sports has partnered with the PITT Fitness facility to host a few youth sports programs for kids of various age groups. With i9 Sports, your kids can play basketball and volleyball at PITT Fitness’s indoor courts.

Boys and girls can join a volleyball league that takes place on Sundays, with practice occurring right before the game. Kids are split into a group of ages 7 to 10 years old and ages 11 to 14 years old. If your children are interested in basketball, they can join the basketball league that’s split into three age groups: 1st and 2nd grades, 3rd and 4th grades, and 5th through 7th grades. Practices take place on weeknights.So there you have it, a breakdown of the local organizations that run youth sports leagues in and around Gilbert and some places your kids can go to play and practice their favorite sports. Did we miss any of your family’s favorite spots to play sports? Contact us to let us know, and we’ll be sure to add it to our list!