The Up2Us Sports Training Team recently launched a 9-month-long training partnership with Volo Kids Foundation in Baltimore to remove barriers to athletic participation such as financial resources, gender, and safety by creating safe, youth-centered spaces, mentorship, and supplanting barriers with equity and community.
Held across four cohorts between June 2023 and January 2024, the goal of the trainings is to increase the number of coaches in Baltimore City who are certified coaches and are trained in trauma-informed practices.
“We are thrilled about this opportunity to partner with Volo Kids Foundation and bring our SBYD training to more coaches across Baltimore,” says Training Manager Samantha Griffin, who is leading the partnership trainings. “Our Baltimore team has helped provide coaches within and around Baltimore support since 2018 and this partnership is a great building block to help us expand our reach and continue accomplishing our goal of helping coaches transform the lives of youth within the city.
“We are thrilled about this opportunity to partner with Volo Kids Foundation and bring our SBYD training to more coaches across Baltimore.”
The core sessions for all four cohorts will include:
Vital Connections [90 minutes]: 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 [90-minutes]: 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.
The Power of Competence [90 minutes]: Sports coaching is about skill-building. Understanding the power of skill-building is also foundational to linking the skills that kids are learning on the court or field to other parts of their lives. Participants in this session explore strategies for deepening and accelerating the skill-building process.
Positive Coaching Skills Workshop [90 minutes]: Trauma-sensitive coaches believe in a growth mindset: that all people can improve and grow throughout their lives and are not set in their abilities. This session introduces core skills that make it possible for coaches to operationalize this knowledge with young people. This session also includes a time of reflection with personalized takeaways to implement into programming.
Upon completing all four sessions, coaches will earn a certificate of completion on Foundations of Sports-Based Youth Development.
The Volo Kids Foundation uses the power of play to build communities of active, resilient, and confident kids. Volo Kids accomplishes this by creating safe, youth-centered programming that provides a platform for youth mentorship, familial health and wellness, and communal wellbeing. Our program removes barriers to athletic participation, such as limited financial resources and transportation, and is open to children of all races, genders, and experience levels. Learn more at VoloKids.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.
