Up2Us Sports Publishes Report That Provides Solutions for Improving Youth Sports

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Marketing Maven Public Relations

Apr 28, 2015, 09:00 ET


(PRWEB) April 28, 2015 -- Nonprofit Up2Us Sports announces the release of a report titled, “We Need Our Children to Play Again: The SBYD Movement in America,” written by Founder and CEO, Paul Caccamo.

The report discusses deficiencies in current youth sports programs and provides 12 recommendations for integrating Sports-Based Youth Development (SBYD) into communities to strengthen youth sports programs across the U.S. SBYD programs offer youth an opportunity to significantly increase their physical activity while learning and mastering sports skills along with life and leadership skills in a safe, fun, supportive, and challenging environment. SBYD programs also incorporate trained coaches who understand the impact of trauma on youth and are able to form lasting, productive relationships with the youth they coach.

“The youth sports setting presents a tremendous opportunity to positively impact the lives of youth and strengthen communities,” said Caccamo. “SBYD is also a proven solution to some of the most critical issues facing youth in America today, like violence, academic failure and childhood obesity. My hope is that this report helps those who are unfamiliar with SBYD to see its value as a uniquely powerful intervention in the lives of our youth and that it encourages increased investment in youth sports programs and well-trained coaches.”

The recommendations in the report include strategies for increasing access to non-traditional sports programs, training and certifying coaches in youth development, accrediting programs to create standards of quality, and reclaiming spaces to play. Up2Us Sports will use the report to further its efforts to provide training and resources for the integration of Sports-Based Youth Development concepts in youth sports programs across the nation.

Caccamo said, “We hope that this report will catalyze a national movement to increase access and improve quality of youth sports programs around the country.”

To download the report and learn more about Up2Us Sports, please visit http://www.Up2Us.org.

About Up2Us Sports

Established in 2010, Up2Us Sports (Up2Us.org) is leading a national movement to advance sports as a solution to the critical challenges facing today's youth, including childhood obesity, academic failure and youth violence. Up2Us Sports accomplishes its mission by uniting more than 1,000 sports programs that provide life skills development to this nation's most vulnerable youth. In 2010, Up2Us Sports launched Coach Across America (CAA) to provide its member organizations with well-trained, highly effective coaches. CAA is the first national service program that challenges young adults to give back to their communities through a year of service as coach-mentors. To date, Up2Us Sports has placed more than 1,700 CAA coach-mentors nationwide, reaching over 235,000 children. Up2Us Sports is supported by Mercedes-Benz USA, the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation USA, Nike Inc., the Corporation for National and Community Service and the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Mari Escamilla, Marketing Maven Public Relations, http://www.marketingmavenpr.com, +1 3103417352, [email protected]