Up2Us Conducts Inaugural Conference to Unite Sports Organizations to Address Critical Issues Facing America’s Youth
NEW YORK- December 10, 2008 – The inaugural Up2Us NYC Regional Conference was held on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 and featured a Keynote Address by Kathy Behrens, Senior Vice President, Community and Player Programs, National Basketball Association.
Behrens emphasized the importance of using sports as a vehicle for positive youth development and addressed the crucial role of sports based youth development non-profits in our underserved communities. “Now more than ever, we need sports based youth development non-profits to help strengthen our schools and communities in need,” she said.
Up2Us Executive Director Paul Caccamo echoed that sentiment. “If you ask anyone in this country to name a positive sports related memory from their youth, people immediately have something to talk about,” he said. “This shows the positive and long lasting impact that sports can play in the lives of our youth, which is why the Up2Us movement is so relevant right now.”
The conference included breakout classroom sessions with existing member organizations to review topics such as positive coaching tools, teaching life lessons through sports, how to recruit and train volunteers, program evaluations, and more.
A Resource Panel of experts in the field of sports based youth development spoke about generating revenue streams. The Resource Panel included Sonni Holland, Senior Program Officer, Charles Hayden Foundation; Dan Gladstone, Director, Field Marketing & Community Relations, New York Knicks; and Ed Center of Team Up for Youth.
The Up2Us NYC Regional Conference was the first in a series of regional conferences. Future Up2Us conferences will be held in Boston, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago and Washington DC. The goal of the Up2Us conference is to educate existing Up2Us member organizations and potential new members on the Up2Us movement and provide a platform for training and organizational development.
About Up2Us:
Up2Us is a national coalition of sports-based youth development programs. The goals of Up2Us are to leverage resources to engage millions of children in organized sports based youth development programs that promote health, nutrition and fitness, as well as other youth development outcomes.
The Up2Us coalition seeks to engage sports based youth development programs in order to develop a common platform to share best practices and to advocate for greater resources that will increase impact across the country.
For more information, please visit www.Up2Us.org