This Native American Heritage Month, we are shining a light on Inter Tribal Sports. The Up2Us Sports Training Team recently finished a series of training sessions with the San Diego-based organization, which provides athletic opportunities and values education in conjunction with cultural, physical, mental, and spiritual development. They furnish youth and communities with occasions to build self esteem, respect, acceptance, and sportsmanship through fun and positive activities, while developing athletic skill and forming friendships, guided by appropriate role models in a sound, structured program that is non-profit, volunteer-oriented, and open to all tribal youth.

Across three sessions in June, August and September, Up2Us Sports trainers Marysol, Sean, Nancy and Frank trained small groups of coaches and staff from Inter Tribal Sports who come from various sport and coaching backgrounds in the fundamentals of SBYD. The goal was to introduce coaches to the fundamentals of Sports-Based Youth Development and to have them walk away from the training with techniques, phrases, and skills they can begin implementing right away.

“Supporting Inter Tribal Sports and their coaches has been a special experience,” said Training Manager Marysol Flores. ”In a time where Pay-to-Play programs are the dominant model for youth sports leagues, Inter Tribal Sports is committed to doing things differently by offering free, zero fee, sports programming to young people across tribes. Working with an organization like that, whose vision is so aligned with ours, really energized our team to bring all we could to this partnership.”

Flores continued, “We hosted three of our most fundamental and foundational trainings for Inter Tribal Sports and our hope was to inspire immediate action and to give that boost of support so many dedicated coaches need during their season. It was a great series and we look forward to working with them in the years to come.”

The three sessions included:

Change your coaching in Seven Words:

This interactive session teaches participants a collection of strategies built around phrases, each being 7 words or less, that we can say to kids to help build meaningful relationships and provide powerful support in and out of the sports context.  If you’ve never attended an Up2Us Training, this is a great starting point for coaches, teachers, program-level staff, and all other youth development professionals

Vital Connections:

This session is about forming relationships with youth participants during active play. It provides coaches with ways to deepen connections with students while youth are participating in sports or other activities. 

Building Positive Program Culture:

Teams with a strong, positive culture help youth feel connected and safe. There are four things coaches can do to build this culture: follow a strict behavior code; practice positive traditions; provide opportunities to matter; and help kids make friends. This session explores how coaches can create a strong culture that supports their other programming efforts.

Inter Tribal Sports’ mission is to unify tribal youth and communities through structured athletic programs while providing necessary resources and developing a strong foundation in culture, leadership and wellness. Since its inception, Inter Tribal Sports has served an estimated 16,500+ registered youth from 26 tribes and organizations and currently serves over 1,200 youth per year.  In addition to the three initial sports (flag football, basketball and softball), ITS has added soccer (2011), all-star travel basketball (2011), cheerleading (2016), cross country (2019), and golf (2021). For a time, ITS also had volleyball (2012-2014), soft lacrosse (2014-2015), and marathon kids (2017). Learn more at InterTribalSports.org.

Click here learn more about Up2Us Training. If you’re interested in bringing our SBYD training to your organization, fill out our interest form here. Please allow 6-8 weeks of planning time.