The Winning Team: Meet Coach Marc

Marc started working as a Coach Across America coach at the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy in January 2015. His supervisor, Chris Reed, is the Program Manager at the Academy. They first met nine years ago through Progressive Sports and Entertainment Alliance, which is a nonprofit that teaches at-risk DC high school students the business of sport. According to Marc, "they helped me turn my life around and keep going on a straight path...I can basically say that’s my family.”

Marc, 23, grew up in the Ward 7 neighborhood with two siblings and his mother, who didn’t work. He picked up baseball at a young age because "it was a little different and easy to play.” Through baseball he learned vital life skills such as patience and focus, and it gave him the drive to want to be successful in life. He went on to graduate high school and play two years of baseball at Garrett County Community College in Maryland, before returning home to serve as a volunteer assistant coach with his high school’s baseball team for two seasons.

According to Chris, it’s hard to find quality baseball coaches in DC that not only know the game, but know the neighborhood and the challenges that the children face. So when it came to hiring Coach Across America coaches for the Academy, Chris says "it was a no-brainer” to hire Marc. "I’ve known him since he was 14 years old and he is one of the very few kids that I’ve worked with in my career that actually have a passion and a knack for playing the sport of baseball.” Equally important, Marc grew up in the same neighborhood and under the same circumstances that many of these youth face today. Sharing similar interests, and being relatable on and off the field, is what transforms a coach into a mentor, and helps him make a much bigger impact on these children that is bigger than baseball.

This past February, Marc attended an Up2Us Sports National Coach Training Institute in Chicago. The Institute teaches a session on trauma-sensitive coaching, with techniques on how to diffuse a situation once a child who has experienced trauma is triggered. Within a week, Marc was able to apply this training and calm down a child who had been triggered. He was proud to have a positive and immediate impact on this young person. Marc can now see the bigger picture of what his role as a coach can be. "It’s a whole lot easier now because I understand what we’re trying to do with the kids and their development. It’s given me a lot of help.”

Marc says coaching comes easily, almost as easy as playing baseball. He enjoys being able to help the kids grow, while keeping them out of trouble and off the streets. "Baseball is my passion and to teach it to the kids from the inner city of my home is a true blessing.”

A Must Read From the Up2Us Sports Founder: We Need Our Children to Play Again

The report discusses flaws in current youth sports programs and provides 12 recommendations for integrating sports-based youth development (SBYD) into communities and youth sports programs across the U.S. SBYD is based on the premise that sports are a critical venue for supporting and encouraging the positive development of youth participants. Download the report here.

“At Up2Us Sports, we’re leading the development, training, and integration of sports-based youth development in youth sports programs across the nation,” said Caccamo. “This report is a substantial starting point for programs, schools, and parents to review and consider integrating key components of SBYD into children’s lives specifically through their involvement in sports.”

A few of the recommendations include:

• Increase diversity of youth sports

• Train all coaches in SBYD

• Reclaim places to play

• Accredit programs in SBYD

Sports-based youth development incorporates highly trained, trauma-sensitive coaches and intentional skill building activities into sports to provide youth with a place where they feel physically and emotionally safe, can get the recommended amount of physical activity, and learn high impact attributes such as resiliency, determination, and self-confidence.

Up2Us Sports works with a coalition of member organizations to build a national movement through sports in order to defeat the most pressing issues affecting today’s children, such as bullying, gang violence, family problems, lack of support, self-esteem and more.

Sport System Redesign

Maren RojasEdgework Consulting -

Every sport has certain truths we all accept. You can’t touch the ball with your hands in soccer. A touchdown is worth six points. You can’t walk (or run) with the ball in basketball. But what if these rules weren't fixed? When you were a kid, did you ever reinvent part of a game due to obstacles or necessity? Maybe the power lines on your street kept knocking down passes so you re-did the down. Maybe your mom told you that you had to let your little brother play with your friends, so you made him play offense the entire game (even if you were not going to pass to him).

That enterprising little you was participating in Sports System Redesign (SSrD), taking what we know to be true about sports (baseball is played with nine players on each team) and questioning those assumptions (What if the teams had twelve players each? What if there were three teams?).

Your mother’s insisting your brother play forced you to change your game. While you had to be creative with a new, unexpected player, your brother got a chance to get outside, play, and hopefully learn from some older kids. Your mom, with you as her unwitting collaborator, introduced an element to your game to achieve a desired outcome. And it worked — your brother got to play and you had to be creative.

For the past several years, the team at Edgework Consulting has collaborated with Boston University’s Institute for Athletic Coach Education and Up2Us Sports to study the concept of SSrD and youth sports on a broader scale. How can we take these sports we know and love and tweak them for certain outcomes? Is there a way to make baseball more active? Basketball more inclusive? Soccer more rewarding of fair play? If you stripped these sports down to their core and rebuilt them with one of these outcomes in mind, how would you do it?

Change the Game

In April 2012, the trifecta joined forces to present the first annual "Change the Game" conference in Boston which introduced Sports System Redesign as a new model for youth sports coaches and administrators to address issues they’ve been finding — and affect change. Subsequent events were held in Los Angeles and New York City in the years following.

Historically, practitioners in the field have looked to coach education and/or curriculum to change the dynamics of youth sports. While there is a lot of value in these practices, we believe Sport System Redesign is just as important a factor and can be a catalyst for real change. Change the Game is an opportunity to discuss this approach and proffer ideas on how to make that change happen. When considering SSrD there are five different domains of the sport system we look at:

1. Playing space — the field, court, pitch
2. Equipment — helmets, gloves, the ball
3. Rules of the game — offsides, handballs, strikes zones
4. Roles of the referee/coach/supporters — what are each of their roles? What are their responsibilities?
5. Structure of the game or league — what does “winning” really mean?

By reimagining any of these elements, practitioners can create a formula to achieve a specific outcome. If you want to get scoring up in ice hockey, for example, you might consider making the net bigger — or even go as far as getting rid of the goalie.

As we dive more into SSrD we’ll share some of our findings from the Change the Game events and some of the changes that leaders in in the field are instituting — from small sided basketball games to good sportsmanship helping soccer teams to victory.

Have you had any experience with SSrD? What sports, or parts of sports do you feel could be redesigned and for which outcomes?

-

Up2Us Sports partners with Edgework Consulting to develop training and content to advance sports-based youth development.  This is part of Edgework Consulting’s Sports Based Youth Development series. Each Sports Based Youth Development post is designed to enlighten and inspire new thoughts in the youth sports world. For more entries in the series click here.

Why I Love Being an Assistant Coach

Claire PerrySenior Program Manager, Philadelphia Up2Us Sports

I love being an assistant coach.  And not even first assistant coach - second assistant coach.  You’re not constantly thinking about macro, strategic offensive play calls or defensive switches.  You’re not worried about the next subbing rotation or, potentially, which parent is sending daggers because their daughter is not yet in the game.  No, second assistant coach is all about connecting with the players; developing a relationship with an individual to help elevate their specific game which, in turn, will better their overall team play.  Teaching basketball skills coincides with another goal, to teach lessons on the court that can be translated and applied to life.  As a past collegiate player, employee of Up2Us Sports and current second assistant coach of Central Bucks High School West girl’s basketball team, this coaching position allows me to impart - rather, unleash - all my experiences and knowledge to the many girls I coach.

Last week, our team earned their way to the PIAA Class AAAA State Championship game.  Five of the six seniors had been playing together since fourth grade, had won only a handful of games as freshmen, then fought to a 31-2 record in their final season. They fell just short of a state title with a 25% shooting percentage for the night. Hustle, heart, and determination were never factors; the ball just liked the rim better than the net.  Watching the girls bury their heads in their uniforms—crouching on the very spot they stood when the final buzzer sounded, watching the other team sprint to center court to celebrate.  I cried.  Easily, too.

More than just the moment of having lost the game, it was the loss of 20 hours a week of playing and being a family. The one minute conversation we’d have on the bench, having just asked, “what do you see out there?” The two minutes spent talking about school, family, and prom dresses while rebounding free throws at practice. The 30 minutes after practice where we would just shoot around, dance and play with my two year old son.  What really pushed me to tears was the realization that whether we won or not, these sometimes-basketball, sometimes-life moments with this group of girls would cease.

Here at Up2Us Sports, we call these moments of unstructured play Informal Time; the time where, as a coach, you’re able to develop better, deeper relationships with the player through technical and non-technical conversation.  I believe I would have still developed good relationships with the team, but through attending over 20 Up2Us Sports coach trainings I’ve learned that as sports-based youth development (SBYD) coaches, we need to do MORE than just what is expected to develop GREAT relationships.  We need to Demo, Show, Demo when we instruct our players to fine tune skills.  We need to ask, “how did you do that?” to actually have the players think through the process of completing the said task so that the process is understood and can be readily repeated.   It’s easy to just tell our players what to do; but if they are able to break down why and how they’re doing something, we can get them to think, understand and improve.  What makes coaching such an incredible opportunity is the moment where a player realizes they worked hard and accomplished a goal or really improved a skill.  Through this process they develop characteristics, such as discipline, social confidence, and situational awareness - that are transferrable to school and life.

I’m sure the players didn't realize how often I was using skills and techniques learned at the Up2Us Sports coach training—which was all the time.  As second assistant coach, I had numerous moments to address players individually and develop the relationships I learned about at Up2Us Sports Trainings.  It gave a new meaning to holding conversations on the sidelines with the players about practice and life, and hanging out afterwards while my two year old son was “dribbling” the ball alongside our star point guard.

I’m also positive the players don't know how much they gave me this past season.  I know they don't realize how much I miss them, even just one week out from losing the state championship.  They were the twenty big sisters for my son, the twenty younger sisters for me: a true family.  Hard to say goodbye to a family.

Good thing, then, that post-season starts back up next week.

People Said Boxing Was For Men, But That Didn't Stop Me

  Claressa Shields Up2Us Sports Ambassador

As the month of March comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting on National Women’s History Month. There are many inspirational women in this world, and as a female athlete, I’m glad I can inspire others to learn, grow and become the best they can be. When I became the first American female to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing at the 2012 London Olympic Games, I achieved a dream that I had been working toward for many years.

On my path to the Olympics I met many strong women who greatly impacted my life. Learning about their journeys showed me that with hard work and dedication, my goals were achievable. Now as a member of the USA boxing team, I know that I can advocate for women encountering barriers that may hold them back. No matter your background or previous experiences, females have the power to inspire and impact each other.

When I first started boxing at the age of 11, I was the only girl in the gym. Some judged me, others made comments here and there, but I always considered myself one of the best. When people said “boxing is a man’s sport,” it didn’t bother me because I was confident in myself and my passion for boxing. To me it didn’t matter that I was a girl; in my eyes, God chose me to show others that boxing isn’t a sport just for men.

There were times when I wanted to hang out with friends or do fun things, but I made sacrifices because I knew I wanted to be better. My real friends stuck by my side, and I realized that people who made me feel bad for being different weren’t the people I wanted in my life. For girls trying to pursue their dreams, it’s important to stay motivated, no matter the environment or criticism. I always tell myself to ignore what others say and to keep moving forward, because it is up to each of us to place a higher standard for ourselves and live up to it.

I used to have anger problems, but with the help of my coach I learned how to carry myself, speak to others, and channel my anger through boxing. My coach trained me step-by-step and I wouldn’t have learned had I not been willing to listen.

He was critical to my development and provided the support and inspiration needed during my hardest moments; without my coach I may have gone down another path. Seeing his dedication motivated me to get involved with Up2Us Sports, a nonprofit dedicated to training coaches nationwide in Sports-Based Youth Development (SBYD). Knowing firsthand the power of a coach, I feel that every child deserves a quality sports coach.

Through sports, youth are able to develop goal-oriented, high-impact attributes such as resiliency and grit. Even if they don’t win the game or beat the opponent, they are still motivated to do better the next time around. My dedication and years of training not only led me to the gold medal but also taught me that women shouldn’t fear obstacles standing in the way of their goals. As I focus on training for the Rio Olympics, I hope that sports will become a platform of equal opportunity for women and girls. If a man can do it, why can’t a woman?

-

Original article published on EmpowHER.com by Up2Us Sports Ambassador Claressa Shields

NYC Youth Get Fit With Ambassador Adam Rosante

To celebrate National Nutrition Month, Up2Us Sports hosted Get Fit with Adam Rosante this past Saturday for the youth of Henry Street Settlement, an Up2Us Sports member organization. Celebrity fitness trainer, author and Up2Us Sports Ambassador Adam Rosante guided the youth through a host of fun activities and spoke to them about the importance of establishing healthy eating habits early in life. The kids were led through three rounds of various, equipment-free exercises where they were challenged to beat their own score from the previous round. By the end, nearly 100% of the kids had improved their scores in each category, proving that hard work and persistence does pay off. With less than half of the nation’s children engaging in the recommended 60 minutes of moderate physical activity per day, Adam showed this group of children how simple, fun and rewarding it can be to get off the couch and get active. Adam’s first book was released on March 17, and currently sits atop Amazon’s Hot New Releases. Get your own copy of The 30 Second Body: Eat Clean, Train Dirty & Live Hard on AmazonSmile, while also supporting Up2Us Sports.

Boston Training: Trauma Sensitive Coaching & Sports-Based Youth Development

Lou BergholzEdgework Consulting - Edgework has worked on the frontlines of sports-based youth development and trauma-sensitive curriculum and program design for more than 15 years. We specifically engage in projects and communities where access to clinical care can be limited, and so our work has taken us across the United States and to parts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Through our research, project work, and collaborations with other experts, we built a comprehensive approach to using sports to help children heal from traumatic experiences. Trauma-Sensitive Coaching is designed for frontline sports-based youth development coaches to build the kind of athletic programs that help young people develop vital skills that can buffer them from the ongoing effects of an adverse experience.

There is overwhelming research on the positive role that a caring adult plays in the lives of all children.  Too often, for children affected by trauma, their “caring adult system” is disrupted and disorganized and so the role of a trusted, caring adult becomes exponentially more important.

To share what we have learned and created, we are very excited for our next collaboration: in partnership with Up2Us, we will present a special spring learning series on Trauma-Sensitive Coaching called the "Boston Trauma Series". The workshops will provide sports-based youth development coaches, program directors and leadership with foundational knowledge about the impact of trauma on young people, as well as introduce a proven set of tools and approaches to increase support for young people affected by trauma. We hope you will join us for an engaging, informative and practical workshop experience. Network with like-minded individuals and organizations who are invested in using sport to promote positive youth development, and leave with tools and skills you can apply immediately to your coaching practice.

Up2Us Salutes The Operation Coach Alpha Class For a Job Well Done

Edwin S. Vasco GonzálezProgram Manager, Operation Coach United States Marine Corps - In the summer of 2014, Up2Us launched Operation Coach, an innovative program that provides returning, post-9/11 veterans the opportunity to not only gain employment as coach-mentors, but to continue to serve as every day heroes to thousands of youth in Miami-Dade County.  The eight men and women who made up the inaugural Operation Coach class just completed their coaching term and I’d like to thank each and every one of them for their extraordinary service.  These men and women  were selected out of over one hundred applicants because they showed the motivation to better the lives of others and the determination to make a positive impact in their communities.  We asked these eight Veterans to “serve” once again. Only this time, we asked them to step out of their comfort zone—this time they would be  serving  youth in some of the poorest neighborhoods in America, using the power of sports and coaching.

From the first day of training,  the coaches showed constant progress.  Alvaro, Jay, Kleiton, Michael, Miguel, Randy, Roya, and Tanya grew exponentially over the course of their coaching term; not only as coaches, but also as valuable members of their communities. It was really rewarding to see them  realize the power they had to create a positive impact on their communities—they came together as a unit and showed themselves to be what I already knew they were--the cream of the crop.

I am extremely proud of the difference they have made. Not only in the lives of the children they worked with, but also the communities they served . They made people take notice, demonstrating that veterans are not the PTSD crew, but talented and caring professionals willing and able to effect positive change. The Operation Coach team showed that we veterans are committed, that we are fighters, and that any task we set out to do will be completed at the  highest level—because at the end of the day, nothing but our best effort is acceptable.

I could write a thousand words thanking each coach and describing how special  every single one of them  is, but I will keep it short.

Alvaro: You were profoundly involved in the lives of your fighters.

Jay: You showed a great ability to connect with your youth and prepare them for real-life situations, which immediately affected your kids because they are already young adults facing tough situations.

Kleiton: Happiness, happiness, happiness. You put smiles on kids’ faces everyday just by being there.

Michael: Your powerful relationships caused a positive turnaround in your community and your kids.

Miguel: Every day, you were doing something in your community to affect people in a positive way.

Randy: You helped a young Marine-to-be find himself as a good young man.

Roya: You were adaptable. You learned on the fly and your organization loved you for it.

Tanya: You had a powerful desire to show your girls a better path.

I hope  you all know how much I care for each and every one of you. I am honored to consider you my friends, and I hope you know that no matter what, you will always have me here to help you in whatever way I can.

Operation Coach Alpha Class, I, and everyone on the Up2Us team, commend you for a job well done.

On behalf of Operation Coach Alpha Class I would like to finish by saying “Mission Accomplished. Awaiting further orders”

Up2Us Training in Memphis: Using SBYD as a vehicle for success

Casey HollidayMemphis Grizzlies Foundation

-

In the hit NBC series Friday Night Lights, Coach Taylor was the quintessential coach-mentor: strict and moral, but fair and dedicated, a strong and level-headed mentor figure for his kids, many of whom lacked guidelines. Parents have probably longed for someone like Coach Taylor, someone who wasn’t just a coach, but a teacher, mentor and leader.

The Memphis Grizzlies Foundation partnership with Up2Us, the leading organization promoting and training coaches in sports-based youth development (SBYD), is advancing sports as a tool to address the critical social issues facing our youth. SBYD focuses on using sports as a solution to youth and community problems by providing coaches with the necessary training and support to coach kids not only in sports skill building, but also in character skill building. Coaches learn how to congratulate successes while encouraging constant growth, create safe spaces that teach emotional and physical safety, and foster the social support of a team.

Starting this year, all GrizzFIT coaches will be required to complete SBYD training through Up2Us. The coach’s role is to leverage sports to build strong and meaningful relationships with young people, helping to prepare them for success in college, career and life, and the training will further their commitment and development to mentor effectively. GrizzFIT promotes the benefits of a healthy lifestyle by encouraging people to make nutritious food choices, to exercise regularly and to have fun doing it. Within the GrizzFIT platform lies the TEAM UP Youth Sports Partnership, a coalition of community organizations that use sport as a catalyst for youth development. Fully embodying the coach’s changing role, partnership organizations Memphis Athletic Ministries (MAM), Streets Ministries and Grizzlies Prep are a part of a dedicated force committed to making SBYD training mandatory for coaches.

“They (Up2Us) treat character and leadership and resilience and all the different components that go into life and personality as much a skill as they do the sport,” said Joel Katz, manager of the TEAM UP Youth Sports Partnership. “Winning is important, and the training will not say it isn’t, because it is. But it’s understanding how to win, it’s understanding what it takes to win, it’s getting kids to believe in the process.”

Katz sees the required training as a way to redefine the coach’s typical role, and his enthusiasm for the possibilities is infectious. GrizzFIT is deep in many communities, and the training is seen as a way to bridge youth sports and mentoring. Many times, recreational coaches are volunteers and don’t have any formal training or professional development. The SBYD training helps demonstrate how coaches can also be mentors, utilizing the special relationship between coaches and kids to reach past sports skills and into life skills. In a program like GrizzFIT, where many participants may not have access to positive role models, the training helps coaches fill a void.

Coaches often come out of training with a new energy and appreciation of coaching. By learning new coaching techniques that can be directly applied to their teams, they become more confident in their own abilities, a confidence that is then directed to the kids. Sports can be a catalyst for driving leadership development, and with SBYD training, coaches will understand how to draw out, expand and ultimately create future community leaders.

-

This piece was originally published on the Memphis Grizzlies Foundation blog on 1/29/15 under the title, The Coach's Changing Role: Using sports-based youth development as a vehicle for success.

U.S. Department of Justice Funds Up2Us Sports Coaches for Another Year of Decreased Youth Violence

Up2Us Sports was awarded, for the second time, a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). The funds will be used to launch the Multi-State Coach Mentoring Initiative, which will place 65 coach-mentors in 12 major cities to support sports-based youth development programs that are designed to prevent youth violence.

The first $1 million grant from OJJDP was awarded to help reduce youth violence in low-income, disadvantaged neighborhoods. Up2Us used these funds to place coach-mentors in 12 cities at 25 host sites from March 2013 through March 2014.

In one year the coach-mentors made a big impact:

• 66 coach-mentors served over 4,800 youth;
• Less than 1% of program youth committed a delinquent offense;
• 40% of youth reported an increase in physical activity;
• 86% of coaches reported that their programs provided more opportunities for youth to be physically active than they would otherwise have had.

Additionally, these youth were measured on a set of eight attributes, called High Impact Attributes (HIAs), such as discipline and positive identity, which are developed through sport and have been linked with various positive life outcomes. At the end of the program, 88% of youth reported competency on the HIAs, with 43% of youth increasing this competency during program participation.

The new cohort of OJJDP-funded coach-mentors will be trained at Up2Us Sports’ four-day National Coach Training Institute in Chicago from Feb. 28 through March 3.

What Youth Sports Can Do For the Mentoring Movement

Did you know, sports could triple the number of mentors in this country? That’s because coaches are the largest untapped source of mentoring in the nation. For one reason, many coaches still see themselves as just that, “coaches” and not as “mentors”. They view their primary goal as teaching their players athletic skills and strategies for winning their game; however, the better coaches embrace their role as mentors. They incorporate techniques for building positive team cultures, strong relationships among players, and life skills counseling into their practices and games. It’s time that we demand this “mentoring" from all coaches. The results will not only be more successful athletes but better students as well.

Literature is increasingly pointing to the lack of character development education among youth as a contributing factor to school dropout rates, youth violence and other negative social behaviors. Coaches are in a unique position to fill the gap in character education. This is because coaches are uniquely able to engender trust among youth, even those youth who have learned not to readily trust adults and authority figures. Coach-mentors can use this trust to provide young people guidance and advice, tackling the difficult decisions of adolescence. Coach-mentors can make their practices an alternative “space", outside of the school and the home, where young people feel more confident testing themselves mentally and physically without fear of judgment or failure. Coach-mentors help their teams develop values like leadership, teamwork, discipline, stick-to-itiveness, and resiliency. These values directly translate to success in the classroom and the community.

But this transition from “coach” to “mentor” will not happen naturally. It will take training to achieve the fullest potential of the estimated 2-3 million coaches in this country.   Up2Us Sports is beginning a national effort to provide this training and certify coaches in sports-based youth development (SBYD).

SBYD is the merging of athletics and mentoring into an intentional methodology for fostering positive child development. As parents wake up to the examples of poor coaching and the negative impact it has on their sons and daughters, parents should demand SBYD training be integrated into all coach licensing. Schools should require that athletic directors and coaches be SBYD certified so that their coaching reinforces their overall drive for educational excellence.

One day, all coaches should be able to say, “I am a coach, and I am a mentor”. That will be the day several million more adults have joined the mentoring movement to ensure that all American youth have safe and successful pathways to adulthood.

Paul Caccamo Founder & CEO Up2Us Sports