CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SPORT IN SOCIETY

Sports & Life Skills Clinics Provide Physical Activity Opportunities to Youth, Jobs to Young Adults

BOSTON, MA – In an effort to improve access to physical activity and to provide employment opportunities for young people from Boston, Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society has, with some key local partners, has created the Sports and Life Skills Clinics.

Running July 21-August 15, the Sports and Life Skills Clinics are bringing sports, games, life skills lessons and just plain fun to youngsters from Boston's housing developments. The clinics are also providing summer camp counselor jobs to young adults, many of whom are from these same Boston neighborhoods.

This week marks the final week of the clinics culminating with a special graduation ceremony on Friday, August 15, at 2:00 PM on the campus of Northeastern University. We invite you to join us!

The Sports and Life Skills Clinics are made possible due to the collaboration of partners such as the Boston Housing Authority (BHA), the Boston Public School System, Wentworth Institute for Technology, Northeastern University's Bouve School of Health Sciences and the Center for the Study of Sport in Society.

"Sport in Society and our Urban Youth Sports program is committed to providing Boston's urban youth with opportunities to reap the benefits of sports participation – physical activity, exercise and healthy development, as well as teamwork, sportsmanship and cooperation," said Peter Roby, Sport in Society Director. "When this opportunity presented itself we saw how closely this initiative fit our mission which is to increase the awareness of sport and its relation to society, and to develop programs that identify problems, offer solutions, and to promote the benefits of sport."

Basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, tennis, volleyball and kickball is organized into boys and girls groups at locations in and around the Northeastern and Wentworth campuses. For many of these youth, this was their first exposure to some of these organized sports. Operating simultaneously are sessions with art, group games and life skills instruction.

Greg Davis, Family Service Manager of the Boston Housing Authority (BHA), said, "The BHA is very happy to partner with Sport in Society because we perceive ourselves, in the family service department, as prospectors. We continue to find the gold that is in our young people who are living in our housing developments and throughout the city of Boston."

Said Wentworth Athletic Director Lee Conrad, "Wentworth takes great pride in being a member of the Boston community, We are proud to open our facilities to area youth whenever possible."

According to Woodley Auguste, a sports specialist with Sport in Society's Urban Youth Sports program, "We have seen, through our research in the Play Across Boston Report, that there are many kids in Boston who do not have access to recreational opportunities and organized sports, especially young girls. Also, this year there are very few summer jobs for our young adults. We saw that with these clinics we had a chance to address both of these problems."

CLICK HERE to Download the Media Advisory in PDF Format

Download Adobe Acrobat to read Sport in Society Press Releases in PDF format.