Originally posted on SportsAsAJob.com on July 16, 2020 under the main title, “Up2Us Sports Harnesses the Power of Sports to Make a Change.”

"Only 51% of students currently attend at least one PE class a week while the other 49% of students receive less frequent or no PE." It is a disturbing stat and just one of the things that the Up2Us Sports foundation is trying to change. They are harnessing the power of sports to address real problems. They are the nation's leaders in youth sport development. From their website, they state it is their mission to engage, train, and support sports coaches to transform youth, programs and communities. 

It is important to Sports As A Job that we use our platform to shine the light on the organizations in the sports space trying to make a positive impact. We are fortunate to to be joined by Jerita Mitchell who is the New Orleans program manager. She explains how she got her start with the foundation and the impact that they make. 

First off, how did you end up becoming a coach with Up2Us Sports?

I actually joined the organization as a coach. At the time, they were recruiting coaches for their program as they do every year. Here in New Orleans most of the coaches in Up2Us Sports serve at schools. I was interested in PE programs because of my background of having two degrees in kinesiology. I coached for a year and a half. Then I came into the role of program manager. Now, I get to coach the coaches. It is all about putting my effort and knowledge now into developing coaches so they can provide a better opportunity for a child. 

Could you explain more about the mission of Up2Us Sports?

Up2Us Sports train and engage sport coaches to transform youth through the power of sports. Our coaches go through a four level training. They learn about sport space youth development techniques and kind of take a trauma sensitive lenses.They learn how they can intentionally teach different life skills through the sport they choose to teach or some cases PE classes. It is all about intentionally teaching kids life lessons through sport or physical activity.  

How do coaches intentionally teach kids life lessons through sports? Do they just straight out tell them the lessons or how do they do what Up2Us Sports is trying to accomplish?

Coaches that go through our program learn a handful of techniques. Things such as looking and listening. We believe that behavior tells a story. A kid is not coming into your program to intentionally give you a bad day. Their behavior is telling you something. It is about having informal time with the kids and building a relationship. The most important thing is that caring adult relationship. Some kids don't have that. We found that some kids don't need anything else, just someone to attach to. Coaches learn how to intentionally work into their program "team time" or just informal time to have a conversation. Each practice is outlined and the lesson of that practice is planned beforehand. Such as in basketball, keeping your head up and aware of your surrounding. Coaches will ask, 'Where else does this apply?' Well, some kids walk late home at night and they should use that same skill walking home too. 

Ever since you been with Up2Us Sports Jerita, what are some of the impact that you have seen personally?
After I took the program manager job, I still continued to be a coach. Some of these kids I have been with since the 4th grade and they are graduating 8th grade now. The biggest thing for me is representation. When I started coaching, I was in the middle of my masters program. The school was a hour away and many of the kids wondered why I would miss practices. When I told them I was in college, it was a big shock to them. At that point, "I explained to them that you know you can go to college, you can do whatever you put your mind to." That was a teaching point to me and I think because I was someone they could resonate more with that it stuck more. 

After my first day of being a coach, many of the kids would ask if I was coming back tomorrow. I told them yeah and they responded their first teacher said the same thing and left after a week. After the first two weeks that they saw I was there, I realized these kids just need someone to be there for them. 

Even coaches develop through helping these kids. They don't realize till after the program but we do this reflection for the coaches at the end of the program. We always get coaches saying that the kids have taught them patience or help them realize more about their self. Some of the coaches even get hired by their program sites. 

Jerita Mitchell serves at the New Orleans Program Manager for Up2Us Sports. Jerita is also an Up2Us Sports coach alum, having served at Dryades YMCA in New Orleans, Louisiana from July 2017 - February 2019. thanks to support from AmeriCorps.