Please join us in welcoming the AmeriCorps VISTAs who will be serving in Up2Us Sports and its member organizations for the 2016-2017 program year. VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America) is a national service program that utilizes the skills, talents and passion of more than 7,000 Americans annually to support community efforts to overcome poverty. We have 15 new VISTA members starting during the month of August under our New York grant, three of which are re-enrolling for a second year and one of which will be the new VISTA Leader (who also served in the 2015-2016 cohort). Ten members will be serving in New York City and five are serving nationally in Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC. They are serving at:

Organizations in New York City

Academics in Motion America SCORES NYFencing in the SchoolsGallop NYCHarlem Lacrosse & Leadership Turn 2 Us Up2Us Sports (NYC, Chicago and LA) Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens

Other Organizations

Soccer Without Borders (Boston) Algonquin Sports for Kids (Buffalo) Teens Run DC

Last week for the first time ever, Up2Us Sports hosted its entire cohort of new VISTAs at the Boston Coach Training Institute. This training gave our VISTAs  the opportunity to learn the core concepts in sports-based youth development (SBYD), lay the foundation for building their community of professionals doing similar work, and network with the coaches performing direct service "on the ground" engaging youth in SBYD programming. We had three breakout sessions where the VISTAs had the chance to connect just with each other in a small group setting to discuss capacity-building, sustainability, and the linkage between VISTA core principles and SBYD. It was amazing to have them in attendance and to hear their unique perspectives. It was a very successful experience and we are very excited to see all that they accomplish during their year of service.

In addition to the 15 members starting under the New York grant, we have 5 members starting during the month of August in New Orleans. This is the first year we have had a Louisiana VISTA grant, which is very exciting for expanding the impact of the Up2Us Sports VISTA program to a new region.

Organizations in New Orleans

Youth Run NOLA, Collegiate Academies, New Orleans College Prep, Excite All-Stars

Finally, selected host sites are in the process of recruiting and nominating candidates for VISTA positions for our November cohort in New York and New Orleans. We look forward to continuing the momentum with this next round of members!