Urban Youth Sports gets teens into the game

(2-15-06) Boston, Mass.�The Center for the Study of Sport in Society�s Urban Youth Sports (UYS) program has created the first Junior Coaches Academy. A diverse staff of experienced instructors will train high school students on the necessary skills to be leaders and positive role models in their communities, specifically with youth programs.

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.

�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 Physical Activity and Health 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 hope to teach urban youth values and life skills through sport.�

Instructors hail from Sport in Society�s Violence Prevention and Diversity programs, Athletes in Service, 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.