Up2Us on the Radio!

Up2Us is bringing more and more attention to the sports-based youth development movement. We've been featured on a number of different radio stations across the country, speaking about the importance sports has on the lives of America's youth. Listen below to find out more about our organization and many of our special initiatives! Stay tuned for upcoming radio coverage.

january

bloomingOUT Radio:

bloomingOUT is a regional radiobroadcast in Indiana hosted by Helen Herald every Thursday evening which features talk about gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgender issues. bloomingOUT exists to educate, entertain and stimulate listeners to engage in dialogue about real issues and events relevant to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) population of south central Indiana.

Because bloomingOUT is the only such media program in Indiana, and one of the few in the Midwest and the nation, it includes issues, views and news that do not usually appear in mainstream media. The program provides a voice, both within and outside Indiana that is absent in local, state, national and international arenas by providing a forum for the exchange and discussion of ideas and the celebration of diversity.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN!

december

WBGO—SportsJam with Doug Doyle (88.3fm):

SportsJam with Doug Doyle, which began as a podcast and on-demand feature in 2008 is now an important part of WBGO’s regular programming lineup on Wednesday nights at 7:30pm. Hosted by WBGO’s News and Sports Director Doug Doyle, SportsJam has recently received national and state awards for PRNDI, NYABJ and the Associated Press for its revealing interviews. Many of Doug’s guests talk about the synergy between sports and jazz. Doug has been covering local sports in New Jersey for more than 30 years.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN!

 

october

ESPN Radio—New York Sports & Beyond (98.7fm):

WEPN-FM 98.7 is a commercial Sports News/Talk station in the New York, N.Y., area. It is owned by Emmis Communications Corp. WEPN-AM uses the slogan, "ESPN Radio."

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN!

september

ESPN Radio—New York Sports & Beyond (98.7fm):

WEPN-FM 98.7 is a commercial Sports News/Talk station in the New York, N.Y., area. It is owned by Emmis Communications Corp. WEPN-AM uses the slogan, "ESPN Radio."

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN!

 

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. 

[WATCH] Up2Us on NewsTalk with Bruce DePuyt

On January 31, 2014, James Kallusky, Director of Up2Us' Coach Across America program, was interviewed on NewsTalk with Bruce DePuyt to speak on the importance and value of mentors in the lives of youth.

NewsTalk with Bruce DePuyt is a one-hour, call-in talk show featuring discussions about hotly debated issues including current affairs, social issues effecting the region and local politics. The program features on-set guests including local lawmakers and newsmakers. Viewers are encouraged to call in to voice their opinion live, on the air.

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

[Click to Watch] Up2Us Coach Training Video

Up2Us conducts specialized trainings to teach the components of positive youth development through sports. We partner with a number of experts to educate our coaches, member organizations, and communities on the fundamentals of quality coaching, the components of positive youth development, and the challenges and opportunities of working in an urban environment.

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

Apply for a CAA Coach Today!

If you are interested in hosting coaches through our CAA program to help build capacity at your organization and serve more youth, please complete the application below.  Up2Us provides its member organizations with the resources and support to select and manage coaches through our CAA program to work with youth in our nation's most under-resourced communities.  CAA is a workforce development program that contracts with Up2Us members to act as host sites for CAA coaches.  Beyond financial assistance for coach wage/stipend, CAA supports member organizations to recruit, train, and supervise CAA coaches that serve in their respective programs. Apply here

If in Tampa, Miami, & New Orleans, click here!

Support Up2Us on Giving Tuesday

Tuesday...Whose Day? My guess is that someone in your life inspired you when you were very young to believe in yourself and to dream that you could make it one day.

Maybe it was a teacher or a coach or a music instructor or a mentor.

Now just imagine growing up in a situation in which there is no adult to believe in you.   Through no fault of your own, simply because of circumstances beyond your control, you live in a house with an absent parent.  You go to an overcrowded school with a teacher who doesn't have time for you.   Your peers are getting involved in gangs or becoming moms at age 13.  And there are not enough coaches or mentors in your community to show you a different way…a way out.

Today, people across the country are participating in Giving Tuesday.   It launches the holiday season asking us all to take a moment and support a charity whose mission means something to us.

I’m asking you to consider Up2Us to be that charity. Support Up2Us’ mission to use sports to bring about change in the lives of our nation’s at-risk youth.

Please do it in honor of an adult who inspired you when you were young—that  special "mentor” or “coach" who taught you life lessons that still ring true with you today.

In return, your support will be used to hire and train coach-mentors to be there for kids who desperately need positive role models in their lives.   And Up2Us has got the magic formula to do it—it's sports-based youth development programs PLUS highly trained coach mentors.  The fact is, while kids in the most traumatic circumstances may lose their connection to most adults, they will still look up to their coach.  I want to train a national workforce of coaches in America to foster this trust and inspire in kids, no matter how desperate their circumstances, the skills and life lessons that will get them through school, to college and onward to a successful life.

Tuesday…Whose Day?

I say this day belongs to that adult who once inspired you. Honor him or her by making a role model possible for a child who needs one. Click here to make a donation.

Want to do more? Promote the link to your friends and followers on Twitter & Facebook using #GivingTuesday and @Up2UsSports.

Thanks for your support and have a wonderful holiday season!

Paul Caccamo Executive Director

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

NY Jets & Up2Us

Back in August, Up2Us partnered with the NY Jets on a sports equipment drive to take place before every pre-season and regular season game at Metlife Stadium. The Jets Play 60 Sports Equipment Drive benefitting Up2Us gives fans the opportunity to donate new and gently used equipment three hours prior to the start of every home game. All equipment donated will be dispersed to our member organizations in the NY/NJ area. Up2Us has approximately 100 member organizations in the NY/NJ area, all using sports and youth development to improve the lives of youth in underserved communities.

So far Up2Us has seen great support from fans! We’ve collected a number of different sports equipment including baseball bats, helmets, tennis rackets, cleats, and much more!

Examples of accepted items include: Footballs, Soccer balls & goals, Baseball & softball gloves, Volleyballs, Basketballs, Water Coolers, Free weights, Jump ropes For the rest of the season, fans that donate will receive a signed NY Jets football or an official Breast Cancer Awareness Sideline Towel provided by the NY Jets. Items are limited so donate soon!

If you will be attending a Jets game at Metlife Stadium and want to donate equipment, you can find Up2Us between the Pepsi & Bud Light Gates three hours prior to the start of the game.

Remaining games of the 2013-2014 season:

12/1 Miami Dolphins @ 1pm 12/8 Oakland Raiders @ 1pm 12/22 Cleveland Browns @ 1pm *Up2Us will be collecting equipment starting at 10am

If you want to donate equipment but will not be attending a game this year, please email Christy Venable at cvenable@up2us.org to find out further details on our equipment donation locations. Thank you to the NY Jets for providing Up2Us with this incredible opportunity and a special thanks to A-1 First Class Moving and Storage.

Click here for more information on our equipment drive.