Up2Us Newsletter
Uniting Sports-Based Youth
Development Programs
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Change Through Youth Sports
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August 2008
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Updates from Up2Us!
Since our last newsletter, the Up2Us taskforces have been hard at work executing the goals of the Coalition. Some exciting recent developments include:
- Reaching the final stage of developing a logo and tagline for Up2Us
- Creating a series of youth development factsheets, the first three of which focus on the definition of sports-based youth development, key components of quality sports-based youth development, and best practices in volunteer training
- Starting construction of a custom-built volunteer database to connect thousands of adult volunteers to sports-based youth development programs
- Securing SME Branding to help design the Up2Us website
- Launching the Up2Us Advocacy Taskforce, which is currently focusing on creating a position statement and developing an advocacy platform
- Growing to 86 member organizations!
If you are interested in participating in any Up2Us taskforces, please contact Nick Beckman at nbeckman@americascores.org.
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We NEED Your Input to Build a National Advocacy Campaign
In preparation for advocacy on behalf of all sports-based youth development programs nationwide, the Up2Us Advocacy Taskforce has released a survey to help shape Up2Us' Advocacy strategy with an end-goal of bringing more resources into our field. As a sports-based youth development provider, what kind of advocacy would be most useful to you? What are your most pressing needs and tallest obstacles? Let us know by following the link below and completing the short survey. All sports-based youth development programs, not just Up2Us members, are invited to participate. Thank you!
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Support the Nation's First Undergraduate Studies Program in Sports-Based Youth Development
Up2Us member Wheelock College, located in Boston, is seeking to launch the nation's first sports-based youth development collegiate-level degree program. This program would give Wheelock's graduates another medium--sports--to positively affect the lives of children and families and would pave the way for more academic institutions to develop sports-based youth development degree programs. As a member of Up2Us, please feel free to support the effort by emailing your name, title, organization name, and letter of support (or one sentence!) to Diana Cutaia at the email address below. If we can show that there is a career market in organizations such as ours for college graduates who pursue this field, we may be successful!
To show your support for this program or for more information, email SBYD@wheelock.edu.
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 Help Advance Gender Equity in Sports
The Women's Sports Foundation, the leading authority on the participation of girls and women in sports, has just launched an exciting new campaign called EQUAL PLAY. This campaign aims to take girls, their parents, coaches, and program directors from observers of inequity to real activists. Workshops available through the campaign will teach individuals about Title IX and are tailored to each program's unique needs, from simple overviews to in-depth investigations of gender equity issues.
For more information, contact Phyllis Lerner of the Women's Sports Foundation's new DC Public Policy Office at plerner@WomensSportsFoundation.org.
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 Job Opportunities at Up2Us Member Organizations
When the Up2Us website launches, it will feature a sports-based youth development job bank. This resource center will allow Up2Us members to post open positions in a high-traffic area for those interested in sports-based youth development.
Currently, Up2Us member Right to Play USA is searching for a Director of Development for the West coast based in San Francisco and a Grantwriter based in New York City. Right to Play uses specially-designed sport and play programs to improve health, build life skills, and foster peace for children and communities affected by war, poverty, and disease and takes an active role in driving Sport for Development and Peace research and policy.
If you are interested in applying for this position, or for more information, visit the following link:
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Sports-Based Youth Development: Did You Know?
- A 2007 study focusing on long-term benefits of sports showed that playing on a high-school sports team increased a young woman's chances of graduating from college by 41 percent
- 80 percent of female executives at Fortune 500 companies identified themselves as former "tomboys" having played sports growing up
- The Sport for Development and Peace International Working Group will present a comprehensive set of policy recommendations on the integration of sports for development and peace in conjunction with the 2008 Beijing Olympics
For more information about these facts, visit the following links:
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Up2Us: Strength in Numbers
Please spread the word about the important work of Up2Us and the positive impact organized sports can have on improving the lives of this nation's youth. It's time to bring more resources to our field and redefine the role of sports in this country, and the only way to get there is through strength in numbers. Feel free to forward this e-newsletter to peers and colleagues in the field and encourage them to join the Coalition. All members will receive a complimentary copy of the journal New Directions for Youth Development: Sports-Based Youth Development, edited by Steering Committee member Daniel Perkins and Coalition member Suzanne Le Menestrel. To register, visit:
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Up2Us Member Organizations
4-H
(DC), A World Fit for Kids! (CA), After-School All-Stars (CA), All
Stars Helping Kids (CA), America
SCORES (NY), Asphalt Green (NY), Atlanta Youth Project (GA), Bay Area
Women's Sports Initiative
(CA), Boston Celtics Shamrock Fdtn (MA), Boston Youth Sports Initiative
(MA), Charlestown Lacrosse & Learning Ctr. (MA), CityKicks (MA),
cityWILD (CO), Coast 2 Coast (NY), Compton United Soccer Club (CA), CYO
Athletics (CA), DC Children and
Youth Investment Trust Corporation (DC), Downtown United Soccer Club
(NY), Edgework Consulting (MA), Falconsedge Male Taskforce (DC),
G-Row Boston (MA), GetPsychedSports (MA), Girls in the Game (IL), Girls
on
the Run (CA), GoGirlGo! Boston (MA), Good Sports (MA), Harlem RBI (NY),
Hoops And Leaders
(NY), Husky Sport (CT), Indiana State University (IN), Inst. For
Athletic Coach Education (MA), Inst. for Sport Coaching
(MA), Jack London Aquatic Center (CA), Jamestown Community Ctr. (CA),
Kansas State (KS), Know Greater Heroes (UT), Lacrosse for Life (CA),
Lamoille County Court Diversion (VT), Loyola University
(IL), Mass. Youth Committed to Winning (MA), Mass.
Youth Soccer Assoc. (MA), Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota (MN),
MetroSoccer (NY), Minneapolis Public School Community (MN), Mobile
AcroSports Training
(CA), National Association for Girls & Women in Sport (VA),
National Association for Sports & Physical Education (DC), New
Heights (NY), North Branch Community Education (MN), Old Lion Karate
Academy (NY), PEAR Project/Harvard Univ.
(MA), Pennsylvania State University (PA), Piers Park Sailing (MA),
Positive Coaching Alliance (NY), Project Coach (MA), Project Joy (MA),
Quicksilver Track Club, Inc. (GA), Real Options for City Kids (CA),
Right to Play (NY), SSA Academy (GA),
Soccer in the Streets (GA), SOS Outreach (CO), South Dakota State
University (SD),
Sport in Society (MA), Sports4Kids (CA), Team-Up for Youth (CA),
Tenacity (MA), The Giving
Back Fund (LA), The Youth Foundation (CO), Trips for Kids Denver (CO),
Tucker Center/University of Minnesota (MN), University of Illinois
(IL),
Urban Dove (NY), Waynesville R-VI School District (MO), West Virginia
State University (WV), Wheelock College Coaches Training Initiative
(MA), YES! (ME), Youth Enrichment Services (MA)
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