Junior Coaches Academy gives teens edge in summer job hunt
(4-14-06) Boston, Mass. - With growing crime rates and limited options for teens in Boston the Center for the Study of Sport in Society�s Urban Youth Sports (UYS) program has developed a welcome alternative in its Junior Coaches Academy (JCA).
The program, in its inaugural year, is run by a diverse staff of experienced instructors, who will train high school students on the necessary skills to be leaders and positive role models in their communities, specifically with youth programs. Upon completion all participants are guaranteed summer employment.
In the first of two training sessions, held during February school vacation, more than 30 high school students were trained in leadership, conflict resolution, violence prevention and diversity. In the second session on April 18-21 from 9:00am - 12:00pm at the Tobin Community Center, students will be trained in team building and sport specific skills and practice sessions.
�Ultimately the students are working toward developing necessary coaching skills that will create job possibilities, especially in the summer months,� said Tracey Britton, program assistant in UYS at Sport in Society and a former assistant coach of the Syracuse Women�s Soccer team. �With the help of the City of Boston, through offering service possibilities to trainees and loaning Sport in Society the Tobin Community Center for the training sessions, we are teaching urban youth values and life skills through sport.�
The academy is an innovative new program, which will provide an opportunity for high school aged youth to receive personal development and sport specific mentor training in order to be highly skilled and productive employees in their neighborhood youth programs. In preparation for employment, graduates of the academy are also required to complete supervised volunteer hours in mentor positions within their communities. UYS will place students in after school programs, camps and clinics that count as part of their volunteer requirement.
Instructors hail from Sport in Society�s Violence Prevention and Diversity programs, Athletes in Service, Children�s Hospital Boston, Outdoor Exploration, Ipswich Moving Company School of Dance and Northeastern University Athletics. Workshops will mirror the values of these programs by advocating life skills topics such as leadership, conflict resolution, diversity, violence prevention, team building, and sport specific skills and practice sessions.
�We want the students to take charge of the sport culture in their community,� said Britton.
About the Center for the Study of Sport in Society
The Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University is the world�s leading social justice organization that uses sport to create social change both nationally and internationally. The flagship organization located in the heart of Boston, Mass. was founded in 1984 by Dr. Richard Lapchick and touts branches in Baltimore, Md. and Phoenix, Ariz. Through research, education, and advocacy the center promotes physical activity, health, violence prevention, and diversity among young people and college and professional athletes. Sport in Society�s innovative programs are all staffed by former college or professional athletes and have been awarded America�s most successful violence prevention program by Lou Harris, the Peter F. Ducker Award as the most innovative non-profit program in the social sector, and have been cited as the National Crime Prevention Council�s 50 Best Strategies to Prevent Violent Domestic Crimes. For more information please visit http://www.sportinsociety.org.
