Up2Us Sports marks 15 years of empowering youth through sports and unveils a rebrand to expand its impact.
AmeriCorps announced that Up2Us Sports would once again receive critical funding for our national service coach program. Since 2009, AmeriCorps funding has allowed us to train and support over 3,900 coaches to significantly impact the lives of nearly 100,000 young people.
Welcome to a momentous occasion as we celebrate 14 incredible years of Up2Us Sports! Since our inception, we have been committed to empowering young people through the power of sports, national service and mentorship.
We hope you will read our latest Annual Report and we thank you for your support in helping us provide underserved youth with a coach who cares about them. This report covers our 2021-2022 program and fiscal year.
The Morgan Stanley Alliance for Children's Mental Health Innovation Awards—an initiative that aims to identify and fund mental healthcare solutions for children and young adults across the United States—honors a 2022 winner, Up2Us Sports.
As a volleyball coach in New York City, there are some things I always use to make the short amount of time I spend with my team each week as effective as possible. This combination of tools and practices allows me to improve the skills of my players on the court and develop meaningful relationships with them off the court.
Moving when you’re 12 years old is hard. Moving at any age is hard, but especially when you’re 12. Moving over 5,000 miles to a new country with a new language, to a town that most Americans can’t pinpoint on a map - that’s more than hard. That’s a 12 year-olds worst nightmare. Sally Nnamani did it when she was 12 and she survived. She overcame the nightmare. How, you ask? Basketball.
Ryan Herd’s love for golf and helping others started back in high school when he took part in the Southern California Golf Association’s youth program. Ryan was a participant in SCGA’s Golf Pass program, which gave local youth access to various golf courses around Southern California for an extremely discounted price.
On a warm, sunny day in October, I headed to Papa Playground in West Philadelphia to see the girls’ JV soccer match between Science Leadership Academy @ Beeber and Lincoln High School. I went to watch Saraa, a girl I mentored last year while I was serving as a Coach Across America coach at Starfinder Foundation.
. Geysel served as a Coach Across America (CAA) dance coach at Hope for Miami, a faith-based organization that provides programs for children, youth and families in the Miami area. Unraveling her story, Geysel shared that her involvement with Hope for Miami was a mistake that she welcomed with open arms.
Work with us to advance sports-based youth development! We offer Up2Us Sports member organizations the opportunity to host Coach Across America coaches or AmeriCorps VISTAs to work with youth and increase program capacity. In addition, we offer onsite training and program-level consulting for organizations. Up2Us Sports is pleased to announce its 2016-2017 Call For Partnerships (CFP)! Up2Us Sports is launching a new process for member organizations to designate ways they might like to interact with us from our growing menu of offerings, which include:
In past years, we have managed each of these initiatives separately; in 2016-17, we are streamlining the process!
The CFP is a short screening form where you will indicate your interest in any of these Up2Us Sports initiatives. Once you’ve submitted the form, a member of our staff will reach out to you about next steps.
The CFP can be submitted at any time. We will send out a call for submissions twice throughout each calendar year, though we encourage updates at any time.
Click here to complete the CFP
Not a member? Click here to sign up!
Have questions about the process? Watch the video below to walk through the CFP process.
Still have questions or want to know more? Click here to send an email to Adrienne!
With Chicago’s history of violence, a non-profit organization called Noah’s Arc Foundation, has taken a stance to help children by promoting peace and positivity in the community using arts and sports. Founded in 2010 by Joakim Noah, a center for the Chicago Bulls, and his artist mother, Cecilia Rodhe, this foundation promotes peace in Chicago by providing children in the downtown area a safe refuge to express themselves and channel their energy and emotions through arts and sports. Joakim’s vision for the program is to help the children improve themselves in positive ways rather than turn to the streets, start a fight, or join a gang.
Noah’s Arc Foundation started as a small organization, which ran its art and sports programs only a few times a year. Fast-forward five years, and the organization is now running several programs each week. Partnerships - like the one with Up2Us Sports - has made that growth possible. Shannon Pagels of Noah’s Arc recalls, “we received a call from someone at Up2Us Sports who was interested in getting to know Joakim and his work. As the conversation went on, we said hey, we have these great programs but we need coaches, talented and trained coaches, to be a part of these programs.”
Enter EJ Ollison, Noah’s Arc Foundation’s first and only full-time basketball coach. EJ coaches the youth at Noah’s Arc three times a week at Major Adams Community Center. Located on the near west side of Chicago near the United Center where the Bulls play, Major Adams Community Center serves youth and families with out-of-school programs. Shannon mentioned, “it’s an independent center, not your typical Boys and Girls Club or YMCA. They were in need of support and they welcomed us with open arms.”
Through the partnership, EJ has been able to create a team program that allows the children access to a safe place to come at night to hone their skills, become better players, and better community members. Noah’s Arc now hosts a Moonlight Basketball League two nights a week from June to August.
EJ was born and raised in the same area as the Community Center and understands the need to give back to his community. He attended Crane High School just three blocks from the Community Center, where he excelled at basketball. EJ candidly shared, “I was born and raised in the projects. After high school I stayed home for two to three years and tried to improve my grades so I would be up to par to get a Division-1 scholarship. I was blessed with the right coaches that got me out of Chicago and out to California.”
However, the road to his success was not always straight. EJ felt lost and aimless during his first year in Riverside City College, a community college in California. “I did not have any major or purpose so it ended up taking me three years to finish my Associates Degree in Liberal Arts,” shared EJ. “Then I was offered a full scholarship in Oklahoma.”
His switch to Oklahoma Panhandle State University, a Division-2 school, was a tumultuous one. “I had anger problems. We lost a game in Texas and I had an altercation with a teammate. We got into each other in the locker room. I got the bad end of the stick. My scholarship was not taken away from me but I was not signed for another year.”
Because no school wanted to take a chance with EJ, dejectedly, he came home and went to East-West University, small private NAIA school in downtown Chicago. He switched his major and went there on and off for one or two years. He said that he was not really focused and ended up stopping altogether with only two semesters left.
With no real purpose but with a burning hunger and determination to help others, EJ started volunteering everywhere he could. EJ divulged, “I started volunteering all over the place. I started doing what I love doing and doing it from my heart. I volunteered with summer programs and coached teams. We started a dance program at Crane High School. I was busy with no money but I loved what I was doing.”
Over the years, his love of volunteering paid off because he got involved with Noah’s Arc Foundation, where he was offered the coaching job through Up2Us Sports’ CAA program. Shannon said he was the perfect fit as their first full time basketball coach. As a local champion, EJ knew the kids and their families. Shannon shared, “He knows the politics and situation of the area. He knows the game. He knows the people and he knows a great way of mediating. He’s made Major Adams Community Center a safe place for these kids. He's been through a lot. He’s a great basketball player in his own right. He has gotten out and created something of his life. We saw his passion and it’s something that’s so great.”
Asked what kind of impact this program gives to the community, EJ enthusiastically shares that “the impact is very clear – you make it about the kids. The program allows for the children to be themselves but with structure and discipline. It also allows for them to express who they are and not to be ashamed. We understand the situation of most of these kids go through on a day to day basis.”
EJ said that the training he received as a CAA coach has made him realize that he needs to have the connection with the kids more than anything else. It gave him the ability to listen and understand what the kids need instead of what they are not doing or what they do not have. EJ shared that he was trained to “look for signs and to be there and be helpful and give the kids the one on one attention they need, which could not have been possible elsewhere.
EJ believes that the difference is the connection, because “these kids are a little rougher and they didn’t care at first that I was from here. I had to earn their respect and their trust like any other kid. What’s important to me is to create a safe environment, just like what Up2Us Sports emphasizes - the vital connection – getting to know the kids, not always talking, giving them more control and not telling them what to do.” He feels he has a responsibility to mentor these kids because the time spent with them makes a difference in their lives. He believes there is more work to do on his part, but he is getting there.
For the rest of the year, EJ will be coaching kids six to 17 years old, five days a week. He is also very enthusiastic about the future. Asked what he would love to do down the road, EJ readily replies that his vision would be to create a tournament, March Madness style. “Maybe a team of 32 girls and 32 boys if we can pull that off, that will be great! But we will need more than one facility to do something like that. It is just an idea for right now.”
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Thanks to Vian Wheatley, a volunteer through our partnership with Humana, for helping us compose this inspiring story.
Up2Us Sports, with the generous support of several partners, will be launching Operation Coach - our veteran coaching program - in Philadelphia in early 2016. On Monday it was announced that ESPN committed $100,000 to the program, half of which will support the placement of veteran coaches in Los Angeles and the other half to support veteran coaches in Philadelphia. Josh Harris, Co-Managing Owner of the Philadelphia 76ers and affiliate of The Josh and Marjorie Harris Family Foundation, has also pledged an additional $50,000 in support for veteran coaches. Furthermore, the Philadelphia 76ers, with support from Toyota, have pledged $25,000 to place one veteran coach to support 76ers local initiatives, bringing the total number of veteran coaching opportunities in Philadelphia to six. The Josh and Marjorie Harris Family Foundation has been crucial to funding programs in Philadelphia that support youth in some of the city’s highest-crime and lowest-income neighborhoods. In August of this year, they announced a $3.5 million grant to the Philadelphia Police Athletic League (PAL). The Philadelphia PAL, a multi-year member organization of Up2Us Sports, will serve as a host site for the newly hired veteran coaches.
Additionally, Drexel University Online will be providing support for Operation Coach and veterans in Philadelphia. Through their Yellow Ribbon program, Drexel Online will offer free tuition support for any veteran coaches serving in Operation Coach.
Watch our Operation Coach PSA, courtesy of ESPN, in English or Spanish.
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SPN has announced it will grant $100,000 to Up2Us Sports to hire and train veterans to serve as youth-sports coaches in underserved communities in Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Up2Us Sports' innovative coaching program provides returning, post-9/11 veterans the opportunity to transition to a career in sports while giving back to their community as a coach to as-risk youth. Veterans are hired and placed in youth sports programs that focus on using athletics to inspire life skills development among at risk youth.
"Active service members and veterans are an important part of the fabric that makes up ESPN—these incredible individuals are our employees, our family members, our fans," said Kevin Martinez, vice president of Corporate Citizenship. "We are honored to give back to those who have sacrificed so much for us."
Tune in to ESPN this week for special programming and tributes honoring active military and veteran heroes. On Veterans Day,SportsCenter will be telecast from the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and First Take will be live from Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, Mass. ESPN also will televise the annual Armed Force Classic college basketball game on Friday from a U.S. Marine Corps base in Okinawa, Japan. For more information, visit www.ESPN.com/Citizenship.
Back in April, we posted a blog that our Philadelphia-based Senior Regional Manager, Claire Perry, wrote on why she loves being an assistant coach for a local girl’s high school basketball team. She spoke of the connection she has to the girl’s on the team and how important those relationships have become to her. Today, we’re going to hear from one of those girls. Maddie Maio is a sophomore JV/Varsity swing player at Central Bucks West High School, where Claire is her assistant coach. This past summer, Maddie and another teammate of hers spent a day interning in our Philadelphia Up2Us Sports office. This is her story. -
I first learned about Up2Us Sports from my CB West basketball coach, Claire Perry. She and I had the opportunity to talk on a personal level when I was injured and standing on the sidelines watching my teammates play. Coach Claire mentioned to me about her work at Up2Us Sports, and I immediately became interested because of the program’s focus on the power of sport to support underserved youth. She told me and my teammate that we could visit her work site in Philadelphia to learn more about what Up2Us Sports was all about.
At the end of August, Coach Claire drove me and my teammate to her office in Philly. I had spoken with my parents about visiting as both of them grew up in Philadelphia and they were familiar with the area. They mentioned the area was different than the town we live; different schools, buildings, people, and parks. I had no idea what to expect.
Once we got into her office, we met some of the Up2Us Sports staff and had the opportunity to play squash with coaches from SquashSmarts, an organization that teaches squash and provides academic support to kids within North and West Philadelphia. As a member of the network of organizations that Up2Us Sports supports, SquashSmarts hosts two coaches through Up2Us Sports’ Coach Across America (CAA) program. I, fortunately, was taught and played with these two CAA coaches, Tempest and Rabbi. It was such a fun and amazing experience to learn how to play squash with the both of them. Even though my teammate and I weren’t very good at first, they were so encouraging, energetic, positive, and patient with us and they turned us into experts (well, almost) by the end. As I write this, we are dying to get back onto a squash court to play against each other because of Tempest and Rabbi.
After we were done playing, we had an opportunity to sit down with Tempest and Rabbi to talk to them about their lives and about how much squash has helped them turn their lives around in a positive direction. They value the importance and impact that squash had on their lives. They found it had helped them through tough times and positively affected their development psychologically, emotionally, and socially in ways they never thought possible. Without squash, they wouldn’t be where they are today, and they have the program SquashSmarts to thank for that. As CAA Coaches, they’ve received over 30 hours of sports-based, youth development coach training and are excited to receive more training to develop the skills necessary to provide a positive experience to the kids they coach and hope to serve as coach mentors, combining both sport and life skill coaching as they support the SquashSmarts kids both on and off the court.
As we drove back home with Coach Claire, we reflected on our time with Up2Us Sports and SquashSmarts. Hearing Tempest and Rabbi’s stories really opened my eyes and showed me the benefits and positive impact sports can have on someone’s life. I never thought playing a sport would be a way to help kids going through challenges in their lives, but Up2Us Sports showed me it can completely turn a child’s life around for the better. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to have spent the day learning about the great work Up2Us Sports does for youth and coaches in the Philadelphia area. It has truly changed my view of sports’ impact on my life. I can’t wait for this upcoming summer so I can go again!
The Lady Bucks kick off their 2015-16 season in November. They finished the 2014-15 season as PIAA State Runner-Up, D1 Champions, and SOL Champions with a 32-2 record. Follow along with Maddie and the team this season on Twitter at @CBWGBB.
By Coach Gerry ZatarainHollenbeck Police Activity League -
I hear a voice scream, “Coach Gerry!” I turn around and see a hand waiting for a high five.
I have to say that is the best feeling ever!
I am Coach Gerry out of the Boyle Heights Hollenbeck Police Activity League (PAL). Soccer has been in my life since I can remember, watching games at home with family, playing in the park and participating in soccer leagues all across Los Angeles.
I am truly blessed to be doing what I love to do and to have opportunities to give back to the community in such a positive, vibrant, and creative way. Up2Us Sports’ training helped me become a better coach and mentor—allowing me to witness my players discover how much they can grow as an athlete and a person.
Last Saturday, October 24, I attended a Service Day with the Up2Us Sports Los Angeles team at Heninger Elementary in Santa Ana. First, I want to say that I think it’s awesome that Up2Us Sports does helpful things like this for the community. My experience was amazing! From the beginning to the end, I felt there was love, happiness and companionship. It was obvious that everybody’s purpose that day was to help.
We started the day with a great orientation, which set the tone for the rest of the day. Being able to work next to good people and people that love what they are doing, made it feel comfortable. I could just feel the good vibes in the air. With everyone productive and committed we finished faster than we thought, which gave us time to talk and get to know each other a little better.
We were happy to be able to work on both the inside and outside of the school. While working outside, some of us were surprised at the type of plants that were chosen to be potted; they were water friendly plants. These gave the yard a welcoming feel and a meaningful message: don’t waste so much water. Inside, the colors chosen for the classroom were a combination of blues and grays. After it was finished, the room was left with a sense of calmness, comfort, and a sense of welcoming.
The end of this event was very significant to me because it gave me the opportunity to learn valuable leadership skills from some great people. I also got the chance to catch up with some coaches that I haven’t seen since our Chicago training [National Coach Training Institute]. The best thing about the day was the look in the Principal’s eyes when she saw the completed project. She was truly appreciative and excited to have this room ready for her teachers to enjoy on Monday morning.
I am glad I was part of this Service Day, and can’t wait for the next one. It feels good to work together and give a helping hand to the community as a team. It’s one step closer to making this world a better place.
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