Mission Continues & Up2Us host an SBYD Fair!

Mission Continues Platoon Members, Coach Across America coaches and the youth of Henry Street Settlement all converged on Saturday, February 8th for an afternoon of fitness activities, nutrition sessions and fun. CAA coaches and platoon members worked together to educate youth on a variety of topics related to sports-based youth development, including the science of physical activity, nutrition and life skills.

At one station, participants made Compliment Boards for each other, where they wrote a nice thing about each person in the group.

Coach Across America coaches and Mission Continues Veteran Fellows talk to youth about the importance of physical fitness.

At the nutrition station, youth were running towards the cones that represented healthy foods while avoiding the cones that represented junk food.

Nancy shows off her compliment board.

Coming Soon: Up2Us Gala 2014!

Up2Us is having its second annual gala on Wednesday, May 14, 2014 at Mercedes-Benz Manhattan. This promises to be an inspiring evening, as we bring together our friends and supporters, as well as celebrities and athletes, to celebrate our achievements and the profound impact our coach-mentors have made on the lives of children across the country.

At this year’s event, we are proud to honor two committed supporters of Up2Us, Paul Tagliabue, former Commissioner of the National Football League, and Stephen Cannon, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA.  With Paul’s help, Up2Us became a registered 501(c)(3) in 2010 and through Covington & Burling LLP, he continues to support Up2Us by providing pro-bono legal services.  Stephen, in his role as board chair for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation USA, financially supports our groundbreaking Coach Across America program, which impacts more than 50,000 youth across the country.  Up2Us is excited and pleased to be honoring them both at our second annual gala.

Up2Us hopes that you will join us for this very special evening.  We encourage you to join us by purchasing a table or tickets to see for yourself the great work we do.  If you have any questions, please call the Up2Us Benefit Office at 212.763.8599 or email up2us@cmevents.net.

We look forward to seeing you on May 14^th.  Together, we can change the lives of youth across the country through the power of sports!

New Funding Opportunity for Teams

Sports Matter.  Decades of research show sports and physical activity are the solution to the critical challenges facing youth.  The hard data shows sports are good for youths’ brains, bodies, and futures.  Yet, frequently slashed school budgets result in disappearing or financially inaccessible opportunities.   The youth who need sports the most are the least likely to have access to high-quality opportunities they can afford.    At Up2Us, our mission is to turn this tide. We are excited to partner with the DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation on an innovative new campaign, Sports Matter. The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation believes Sports Matter. To act on this, DICK’S came to two conclusions about what the company can do to turn that belief into impact:

• Focus resources on one of the worst outcomes of this crisis—entire teams disappearing or never competing at all due to severe financial challenges.
• Strengthen and expand communities of support that already step up to make high-quality youth sports available for young people around the country.

The Sports Matter initiative will raise awareness of the youth sports funding crisis and match community donations up to $2 million on a new crowdfunding platform to save or start teams facing financial challenges. Participating teams will commit to raising ½ of the total funding they need, and those that reach their funding goal will receive a matching grant from the DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation. Youth (K-12) sports teams affiliated with a school or non-profit are eligible to apply IF they fall into one of three categories:

• Team is no longer able to play because of funding challenges.
• Team is on the brink of not being able to play because of funding challenges.
• Youth interest in a sports team exists, but funding challenges have prohibited the creation of a team.

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, click here to learn more and/or sign up for one of our technical assistance webinars covering the Sports Matter application process on February 13, February 19, or March 11. Even if this opportunity isn’t right for you, please help us spread the word to any teams or coaches that you think could benefit from this incredible opportunity. Applications will be accepted until March 21, or until 575 applications are submitted, whichever comes first. 

Sports as a Promise

President Obama announced a bold new initiative to re-inspire the war against poverty in this country called Promise Zones.  These zones will target resources to some of the most underserved areas in the nation. But what exactly is our promise to the youth in these communities?

I'd like to promise them a coach who can guide them through the challenges they face and who can point them to toward a successful future despite the obstacles posed by poverty.

After all, we know that most adults who succeed in this country are able to point to role models who helped them make the decisions in childhood and adolescence that resulted in their future success.

Children in Promise Zones should be the focus of the Promise Zones.  And they should each have access to the same adult "guides" that kids in every affluent community often take for granted.

The best and most affordable way to do this is to promise each child a trained Coach Across America coach in partnership with local sports-based youth development programs.

By delivering these youth safe after school sports activities that appeal to boys, girls and children of different abilities, we introduce these youth to adult role models, their coaches, who can help them envision a life beyond poverty.  By providing them positive peer groups through sports, we provide them insulation from the violence, substance abuse and teen pregnancy that is pervasive in their neighborhoods.  And by giving them the joy of physical activity, we build their bodies and their brains.  Numerous studies are demonstrating that kids who are physically active do better in school, overcome stress more easily, and develop social skills that help them make better decisions in life.  What's more, we can even create jobs in Promise Zones by hiring and training the young adults in these neighborhoods to be the change agents I just described.  After all, young adults from these communities with a passion for coaching make the best role models and their participation can lead to a more sustainable impact.

President Obama made a promise to create Promise Zones to end poverty.

I encourage him to make a further promise to the kids in those communities—a promise to provide them a coach so that the hope and potential of this effort is immediately visible in the parks, schools, fields, and playgrounds throughout these zones.  That defines the kind of community change that is at the root of ending poverty once and for all….

I promise.

Paul Caccamo Founder & Executive Director

Sasha DiGiulian...Up2Us' Rockstar

If you haven’t heard of Sasha DiGiulian by now, you should probably crawl out from underneath the rock you’ve been living under. Actually don’t…because that’s where you’ll be able to find Sasha, the world’s number one female rock climber.

At the age of seven, Sasha began her career in rock climbing at a local gym in her home state of Virginia. Recognizing her potential, they asked Sasha to join their junior’s team. One day, she walked into the gym during a regional championship and asked to participate. Sasha competed, won her category and since then, hasn’t looked back.

Now, 21, Sasha has been climbing for 14 years and has set a number of national and world records. She’s traveled to over 32 countries to pursue rock climbing for both training and competitions.

Sasha strives to push herself to go above and beyond her limits—attempting some of the worlds most difficult rock climbs. Back in 2011, she did just that. Sasha traveled to the Red River Gorge of Kentucky where she was determined to ascend one of America’s most difficult rock climbs. Rated 9a, it would be the most difficult female ascent in American rock climbing history. Not much to our surprise, Sasha completed the ascent, being the first and only North American woman to achieve 9a.

Every day, Sasha is attracting more and more attention to the sport of rock climbing. She's appeared on the cover of 16 magazines, was a featured guest at the US Embassy in Switzerland and serves as an athlete representative on the board of the International Federation of Sport Climbing.

Last year, Sasha became Up2Us’ first Ambassador and we couldn’t be more excited and proud to have her support. Because of her passion and love for rock climbing, she supports Up2Us in providing opportunities for every child to experience the transformative power of sports, no matter what that sport is.

Up2Us’ rockstar…literally.

Fast Facts about Sasha: Age: October 23, 1992 (21) Height: 5’1" Weight: 97lbs Years Rock Climbing: 14 (since 1999) College: Columbia University Favorite Color: Pink

Current Rankings: Female Overall World Champion World Ranking Leader: Female Outdoor Sport Climbing Pan American Champion Reigning U.S. National Champion

Cutting Sports, Cutting Values

I'm often receiving links to stories about the power of sports. Recently, I saw a story of a high school football team in Michigan who made a secret pact that they would forfeit every scoring opportunity when they got to their opponent’s one-yard line.   They wanted to set up one of their teammates—a child who was labeled as “not cool” because he suffered from a developmental disability—to be in a position where he could successfully carry the football into the end zone and score his first touchdown.  By the end of that game, his teammates had succeeded.  They blocked the opposing team and cleared the way for this “uncool” kid to score a touchdown and be cheered on by the entire community. Afterwards, one of the other high school football players said in tears that he learned lessons from the whole experience that he would take with him for the rest of his life.  He explained that up until that moment he had never thought of anyone but himself.  But that touchdown helped him to realize that life is really not about “you,” it’s about the actions you take for others.

This story about the power of sports led me to ponder…what if every child in this country learned this lesson at a young enough age to guide their entire future?  What kind of impact would that have on our schools, communities, businesses and governments?   Then, I pondered an even more fundamental question…where do children go to even learn these kinds of lessons today?   Unfortunately, the answer to the last question is fewer and fewer places.

Too many children grow up in homes with parents who are overly focused on their own economic and personal problems to worry about their kids.  And too many of our schools are so focused on the test score that the concept of teaching values and ethics is almost nonexistent.

That leaves after-school activities like sports.  Sports programs, like that football program in Michigan, remain the one arena where kids learn to work together with values like teamwork, leadership and compassion.  When they are led in accordance with the Up2Us standards of sports-based youth development, sports impart on young people a sense of community and belonging that does shape their futures.

Which leads me to warn communities, parks, schools and other government officials as they create their 2014 budgets. The elimination of sports programs is the elimination of values.  And these are budget cuts which none of us can afford.

Paul Caccamo Executive Director

Sticks and Stones…

What if “someone” wanted to hate you? You did nothing wrong to this “someone.”  In fact, you don’t even know why this “someone” doesn’t like you.  It might be someone from work—someone from your community—someone you met at a social gathering—someone you hardly know.

Now, what if you get an odd feeling that this “someone” really is destroying you.   They are spreading rumors that are ugly and untrue.  The rumors are about your personal life.  They are not only untrue but they are embarrassing.  And now you suddenly have this sense that these rumors have gotten to your family, your neighbors, and your co-workers.  In fact, people are now talking about you behind your back.  Stories you don’t even know about.  And there’s no way to defend yourself because you don’t even know how this is happening.

But it doesn’t stop there.  Now you hear something vicious about you on the Internet, on Twitter, on Facebook, on YouTube, and even on Instagram.

This can’t be happening.  You did nothing wrong.  You don’t even know what caused this person to hate you.  But it keeps coming.  In fact, other people are doing it too.  You’re life really is getting destroyed.

What would you do?

Now, what if you’re only 14 years old?

Welcome to “Bullying 2013.”

This month across the country, several children have taken their lives because they couldn’t take the bullying.  And yet, we have made little progress on educating those responsible for our youth—our school leaders, our teachers, our coaches—on what to do about it.  In part, because many adults confuse “Bullying 2013” with “Bullying When They Grew Up.”  It’s not the same—it’s more vicious because there are more means to communicate it.

Starting this fall, Up2Us will partner with Ben Cohen’s StandUp Foundation to create a toolkit to help coaches use the power of sports as a solution to bullying.  While many youth may associate sports as an arena that fosters bullying, it in fact can be a powerful platform for preventing it.  Coaches naturally receive the respect of their athletes.  They are in a unique position to address diversity and inclusion among their teams and steer would-be bullies into pro-social behavior.  They can also be intentional about engaging those youth who are bullied into participating in sports and facing athletic challenges that can provide them a new sense of dignity and self-worth.  And, yes, all of this can take place in the context of “positive peer pressure.”  After all, that’s what a trained coach fosters, and that’s what sports are all about.

“Stick and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.”  That was once true before those names ended up all over the Internet.  It’s no longer true today.  Up2Us is proud to lead a national effort to end bullying through the power of youth sports in America.  Let’s get our community leaders and schools to do the same.

Paul Caccamo Executive Director

I would like to acknowledge Diana Cutaia for her work in this area and her support of this Up2Us effort.

Not Just Any Coach….A Trained Coach

Today, nearly every parent must leave their child in the custody and care of another adult during a good part of the workday.  During after school hours, this adult is often a coach. Yet, coaches across the country receive very little training, if any at all, on how to work with children. They may know their sport, but do they know how to address teaching sports in the context of a teenager struggling in school, or a girl coping with self-image issues, or a child who's being bullied?  Coaches should be equipped with basic tools to use sports to teach teamwork and leadership to every child during their practices.  Without this kind of training, many of the life lessons that a coach can impart are lost.  And, in some cases, this lack of training can result in coaches who are modeling the wrong behavior.  The result: an increasing number of American children drop out of sports because they feel more encouraged by the flashing victory lights of their carefully designed video games than the yelling of their untrained coaches.  And that needs to change.

I say we reverse this trend by requiring a minimum training in youth development for every coach in this country.   All coaches should undergo basic coursework on child development--emotional, physical and social---and how to maximize the sports experience to impart life skills.   This week, Up2Us completed its second National Coach Training Institute this year in New Orleans where coaches became certified in sports-based youth development.   The Up2Us Center is conducting four national coach training institutes this year, including upcoming trainings in Boston and Los Angeles.  Now just imagine if every one of the estimated 2-3 million coaches in this country, paid and volunteer, were required to attend such an institute or take courses online before taking the field?

Let’s stop imagining and start requiring.  Up2Us is leading the nation in developing professional standards around sports-based youth development.   We believe the future of youth sports is at stake.  Only when we prove the potential of our coaches to contribute to the success of the next generation of Americans will we ensure that schools and communities stop slashing their sports budgets.   And most importantly, by requiring this training in youth development, we send a reassuring message to all parents who drop their kids off at practice:  the coach who will oversee your child for these next few hours has been trained to help your child succeed in life.

Paul Caccamo

Executive Director

"Giving Tuesday"…on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday...

So I'm all for marketing concepts and since every store from Best Buy to the Gap had "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday", why shouldn't we have our day too?  But unlike flat-screen TVs, toaster ovens, and wool V-neck sweaters, our work is so critical that we need support every single day of the year. By "we" I am speaking of the entire nonprofit sector. But I am also talking about the more than 600 organizations in the Up2Us network.  These programs use 67 sports to teach more than 25,000,000 kids the kinds of skills that they will use throughout their lifetime.  Whether it's self-esteem, self-control, courage, confidence or tenacity, sports inspire young people with character traits that build their potential for success as students, employees and citizens.

This year, Up2Us hired, trained and supervised nearly 325 coach-mentors to help our member organizations reach 40,000 at-risk youth, mostly in urban areas of poverty. Coaches and programs in the Up2Us network received more than 7,750 hours in training on how to fight childhood obesity, prevent crime, and promote academics. Up2Us recruited and placed 30 AmeriCorps*VISTA staff who raised an additional $1,600,000 for youth sports programming.  Up2Us provided more than $500,000 in costs savings through discounted supplies and uniforms.  Up2Us also launched the first national data tool for measuring the Social Return on Investment of sports-based youth development on health.

Most importantly, Up2Us has defined a field that merges youth sports with youth development to be the most effective solution to the physical, mental and social challenges facing American young people today.

Like all nonprofits, our work continues tomorrow and the next day, whether they are marketed as "Cyber" or not.  So during this holiday season and throughout the year ahead, we need you to remember that there is no better purchase than helping a child live a better life.

To donate to Up2Us, please visit www.up2us.org.

Paul Caccamo Executive Director

20 Questions. Coach Holly. Title IX.

Last year, I was at a training where a dozen adults in attendance were each secretly given the name of an accomplished male athlete.   They were then instructed to walk around the room and play 20 Questions with one another and see how many of these athletes they could identify from amongst their peers.  At the end of ten minutes, a tally was taken to see how the group did.  Every secret athlete had been identified multiple times by multiple participants in the room. Next, the same attendants were then asked to repeat the game.  But this time, each participant was secretly given the name of a female athlete.  The female athletes were equally accomplished as the male athletes in terms of Olympic medals or championships won.  The game of 20 Questions ensued.  At the end of 10 minutes, only two of the female athletes were identified by the entire group.

Now, let's hold that thought, as I tell you about Coach Holly.

This past Friday, Coach Holly spoke to a room filled with the employees of Mercedes-Benz USA.  It was all part of a celebration of the commitment of Mercedes-Benz and the Laureus Sport For Good Foundation to support Coach Across America in cities across the nation.  Holly told the employees of how girls at the school where she coaches were being tormented by boys.  They said, "you girls shouldn't play sports.  Don't you know that girls don't make good athletes".  But her girls quickly snapped back: "That's not true.  Look at Coach Holly.  She's a great athlete."

20 Questions.  Coach Holly.   Title IX.  40 Years Later...

In case you don't know, Title IX was the landmark legislation passed 40 years ago this week that was supposed to level the playing field for girls to participate in school sports.   Despite its provisions, this past year was the first year in decades in which the number of girls playing sports has actually decreased, not increased. It's no surprise when you consider how little recognition we give to female athletes and how few schools actually benefit from a Coach Holly.  We still have a long way to go.

In the meantime, one thing we should insist upon for all coaches, male and female, is TRAINING.  That’s right, training on gender in sports.  Girls socialize, learn and acquire confidence in ways that are different than boys.  But with most coaches being male, "STOP TALKING" is often the acceptable M.O. at soccer or basketball practice.  And while that might work to control a rambunctious group of 10 year-old boys, for girls trying a new sport for the first time it might translate as "STOP PLAYING".  At Up2Us, we believe every coach needs to be trained to engage girls in developmentally appropriate manners that respect their different learning styles and increase their passion for sports.  This is not just because every girl should experience the joy of sports, it is because every girl should experience the benefits of sport.  These benefits are self-confidence, leadership skills, discipline, conflict resolution and determination.  Without them, girls may be at a disadvantage not just as athletes but as future businesspersons and world leaders.

The Up2Us Center for Sports-Based Youth Development is developing training to reach thousands of coaches in the next few years.  Our Coach Across America program is hiring and placing hundreds of women as coach-mentors to girls in urban communities.  It's just a few steps we are taking to make a more equal nation, 40 years later.  We believe in a nation in which gender simply doesn't matter on the field, on the court, or in the stadium…and it shouldn't matter the next time you play 20 Questions either.

Paul Caccamo Executive Director

Treating Trauma Through Sports

Last week, Up2Us and Edgework Consulting delivered a training on the power of sport to help traumatized kids heal.  It was part of a partnership between the US Attorney’s office and local SBYD leaders in Philadelphia to use sport to address the difficult challenge of working with youth in the juvenile justice system. Most initiatives aiming to keep court-involved youth out of trouble fail to recognize one critical characteristic of the population.  Youth who have been exposed to a lifetime of poverty, violence, or both, are traumatized.   Trauma impairs the normal development of their brains and bodies and keeps them from functioning in social situations.

Traumatized youth don’t develop the tools to regulate their emotions or control their impulses.  Sometimes, they are aggressive and self-destructive; sometimes they isolate themselves.   Either way, the behavior is not consistent with social norms and youth are punished for it…even though they can’t control it.  Instead of punishment, what traumatized youth really need is a chance to reconnect with their bodies and redevelop social and emotional skills.

They need to play sports.

Within the lines of a lacrosse field or basketball court, youth have the chance to be in control of their bodies and overcome the paralyzing fear of their past.  They are encouraged to take risks in a safe and supportive environment where the consequences are not a matter of life or death.  They develop a relationship with a caring adult who offers the consistency and predictability that helps them feel in control.   They have the chance to heal.

The potential for using sport in the process of healing traumatized youth is boundless.  And the need is great.  In Philadelphia, they have proposed a simple solution- for probation officers and coaches to work together to provide youth a place where they not only get respite from the chronic trauma of their everyday lives, but also the chance to reverse its effects.  We think they are on to something brilliant.  And we’ll be supporting them in every way we can.

Megan Bartlett Director, Up2Us Center