On Monday, June 29, Up2Us Sports officially welcomed 180 Summer VISTAs to the 2020 Up2Us Sports Summer VISTA Program. 180 VISTAs started their nine-week service term at 100 nonprofit organizations nationwide. Their term will end on Friday, August 28th.

15 of the 180 VISTAs have been serving internally at Up2Us Sports in various capacities. We are excited to have this group of ambitious service members help our team across the nation, which will in turn help us better serve our 1,700+ member organizations, 470+ host sites and 250+ coaches in the days and months ahead.

We wanted you to get to know the 15 VISTAs who have spent their summer helping grow the capacity of Up2Us Sports from within.

Name: Matthew LaFond

Age: 23

What city are you located in?
Port Orange, Florida

What department within Up2Us Sports are you serving in?
Summer VISTA Cohort Leader

What led you to want to do a service term, particularly right now?
Before Up2Us Sports, I was in the eight month of a two-year Peace Corps deployment to Ukraine. I really enjoyed the youth development work I was doing there, and formed some great relationships with my coworkers and the youth I taught. However, my deployment was cut short due to COVID-19, when all Peace Corps volunteers were evacuated back to America. I still wanted to find a way to do service and help others, and if I could not serve abroad then I wanted to find a way to serve locally. This led me to finding this opportunity with Up2Us Sports through AmeriCorps VISTA. I was really excited to be able to join a team that did youth development even during such a chaotic time.

What does national service mean to you?
To me, national service is devoting my time and skills to helping others in my community and country, with the goal of improving my country as a whole.

What is one thing you hope to take away from your 9 weeks of service?
I'm really hoping to develop deeper skills in management and youth development that I can apply to future positions, including possibly bringing those skills back to my Peace Corps position in Ukraine if I have the ability to reinstate.

Did you play sports and did It have an impact on why you decided to serve at a youth sports organization?From elementary school to high school, I was very involved in Kenpo karate, eventually earning my black belt. While it did not impact my decision to serve with Up2Us Sports, I'm able to look back at my time in karate and understand that strong positive impact that sports-based youth development has on youth.