San Domenico coach leading a free play initiative

Tyler Gaffaney is trying to inspire the youth of Marin County to get outside and … just play.

Gaffaney, the boys basketball head coach at San Domenico, moved around Marin County growing up, but there was always a pickup game of kickball at the playground in Novato, a game of toss behind the ballfield at Boyle Park in Mill Valley, or just fun with friends in the cul-de-sac.

“Tyler grew up playing Little League and other sports, we moved around,” said his father, Pat Gaffaney. “He’d go to the park at 10 a.m. on weekends and play ball behind the fields at Boyle Park all day and come home in time for dinner. He always had fun.”

That’s the kind of childhood fun Gaffaney, now a young parent, would like to see his children and their friends enjoy as they grow up.

Gaffaney is launching “Bring Back Play”, a grass-roots push to keep pickup games and unstructured play a part of children’s lives.

“The goal is to bring back the childhood that parents had and that maybe is now missing from their children’s lives,” said Tyler Gaffaney. “You look at the average day of a child in Marin County and you see adult-led activities from the moment a child wakes up. It’s great that kids are active, but that overstructured planning has led to depression and anxiety. I want to bring back the fun and the play, the unstructured fun that we enjoyed.”

Gaffaney aims to launch Free Play Fridays in San Anselmo and Free Play Sundays in Novato in the spring, hoping to offer unstructured activities for children in grades 4-8. Children who sign up at www.bringbackplay.org arrive for a 3-hour session of free play where they “run the show.”

“Probably 89 percent of the kids in Marin would rather be outside with their friends than go on the computer,” Gaffaney said. “The kids want this, but they don’t always have the option, between classes, sports leagues, homework and everything else piled on their schedules.”

Balls and play equipment are available and a volunteer “lifeguard” is on duty while parents can hang out. Gaffaney is also planning a Marin Middle School Pickup Sports League, where the children choose the sport, the teams and how to keep to score, if at all. Parents are asked to pay a fee of $9 to help with costs. Gaffaney is accepting donations for the project, but has said he is willing to fund it out of his own pocket, if necessary, because he believes so strongly it is a healthy option for the children.

“There is no right thing, no one thing they have to do,” Gaffaney said. “Some of them might never have had so much freedom. Sure, they might find there is some boredom, but they’ll learn to navigate it and create fun. They make new friends and maybe learn a new sport.”

Gaffaney is hoping to have around 35 children show up to play leapfrog, frisbee, catch, or whatever games they invent.

“Play is a major means by which children learn to regulate emotions, and it helps them mature as well,” Gaffaney said.