Huddle Up!

Whether you are a political junkie, celebrity watcher or avid sports fan, the headlines these days seem to constantly trumpet mistakes and failure. In particular, the smoldering steroids scandal in professional sports creates some obvious teachable moments for the kids in our programs about the health risks of performance-enhancing drugs, the virtues of self discipline & perseverance over cutting corners, and a timely reminder to show respect for oneself, others and the spirit of sports through fair play. In addition, I find myself reflecting on a fundamental tenet of the Joy of Sports Coaching Philosophy – See Mistakes as Learning Opportunities.

On the court this concept is rather straightforward - a fault is a chance to improve your serve; a missed basket is an opportunity to adjust your jump shot. Whether dealing with these minor setbacks or confronting the tough challenges of life in impoverished communities, our Coaches help young people develop the perseverance and self confidence required to accept, learn from, and overcome mistakes. See, despite our high standards, we aren’t teaching children to try to be perfect; we are trying to develop strong character that will come into play when they are inevitably faced with adversity. Heroes, just like the kids in our programs, will stumble but it is their response to these challenges that is most important. Are they willing to accept responsibility for their actions? Can they describe what they would do differently next time? Do they initiate steps to make amends?

Rather than suggesting new heroes, you’ll find our Coaches encouraging kids to learn from the mistakes, as well as admire the accomplishments of their sports idols. Likewise, while I encourage you to share your successes because they are a great source of inspiration, I challenge you to also share your mistakes – big and small. Kids love it when a volunteer gets on the court and learns with them. In fact, a child may learn more by watching your reaction to a bad shot than by seeing you hit a perfect forehand winner. And that willingness to take risks makes you more approachable and the goal seem more attainable thus creating additional opportunities for mentoring and growth.

So as the weather warms and we make plans for an action-packed spring, we certainly welcome your participation in Joy of Sports programs. Whatever the venue, I hope you’ll take advantage of any opportunity you have to “share a mistake” with one of your children or a child in your neighborhood. And try not to worry too much about those fallen heroes. I’d suggest it’s not that we need better heroes, we simply need each other. Community service isn’t so much about the more fortunate helping the less fortunate; it is about recognizing our common struggle and our interconnectedness. It isn’t about saving others; it’s about sharing – sharing time, resources, successes and failures – because, after all, we are all still learning to play the game of life.

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Coach's Corner

The greatest gift a coach can give to young children is to believe in them. If you sincerely believe that every child can succeed, regardless of any limitations they may face, you can be of great service to them in their development. If your words, your tone of voice, your facial expression, and your posture all consistently reflect this belief, children will trust that you really mean it. This will help them to believe in themselves.

One of the joys of coaching young children to learn new physical activities is that your belief in a child can often help to produce an immediate breakthrough. When working with children who have difficulty learning to read, your belief in them and patience might produce results over a period of weeks or months. When teaching children to catch a ball, in a matter of minutes, they can go from total failure and frustration to consistent success.

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Fun Things to do to stay active

1. Dance to your favorite music while you are getting ready in the morning.

2. Take the stairs instead of the elevator.

3. Ride your bike with friends afterschool.

4. Skip to the bus stop or to your neighbors house.

5. Organize a pick-up basketball/soccer game at a local park.

Tips for Cooking with Kids:

Model healthy eating and food-safe cooking in front of your students. Doing this will leave an impression that may last a lifetime.

Always read the entire recipe with students before starting.

Make sure students wash their hands with soap and warm water before handling food.

Find out which students in your class have food allergies.

Instruct students to keep their fingers out of the food being prepared.

Always provide adequate adult supervision when students are handling blenders and knives.

Always start with clean work surfaces, utensils and cutting boards.

Turn off and unplug appliances after use.

Wash all fresh fruits and vegetables under running tap water for at least 30 seconds.

When using pre-washed foods, be sure to inform students that they have already been washed.

Use separate cutting boards for raw foods and cooked foods.

Refrigerate or discard unused portions of perishable food immediately.

If prepared food is left out for more than two hours, discard it.

Immediately mop up spills to prevent accidents.

Keep foods that require refrigeration at 40°F or less.

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In October 2007 the Joy of Sports Foundation launched the Healthy Kids program at Ferebee-Hope Elementary School in southeast Washington DC. Healthy Kids at Ferebee-Hope is an innovative 3-year partnership created by JSF that blends traditional sports instruction with health and wellness to form a dynamic and all-encompassing learning lab. By engaging children in sport-based activities customized to improve life skill acquisition, raise nutritional literacy, and build healthy eating habits, children are set on a path towards a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Healthy Kids at Ferebee-Hope provides children with a comprehensive program that inspires and facilitates a systemic change by offering training opportunities for teachers, staff, and parents to assist and reinforce children in their efforts.

After seeing his students struggle with making healthy food choices and not getting enough exercise, Principal C. Maurice Porter knew he had to find ways to improve the health of his school. The Healthy Kids program was the perfect fit. “The Joy of Sports Foundation has added so much to our school environment. They bring an energy and excitement that is contagious! I look forward to continuing our partnership so we can build a healthy school community that will get all our kids moving more, having fun, and eating better.”

JSF is currently offering an after school Healthy Kids Club for 3rd - 5th graders on Thursday afternoons. Each session incorporates sports/physical activity, nutrition education, and life skills training. JSF Coach Jumanne Jahi works to maximize the activity levels of children during the sessions by leading activities that incorporate nutrition and life skills while still being active. According to Ms. Mitchell, 2nd grade teacher and after school coordinator, “Joy of Sports has quickly become an integral part of our community here at Ferebee-Hope. The kids love Coach Jumanne and are always anxious for Thursday afternoons to arrive!”

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Based on our successful Healthy Kids model, JSF is currently partnering with a renown diabetes care and education program, Project Dulce, of the Whittier Institute for Diabetes, and Children’s Hospital of San Diego in a collaborative program called Horton Hawks Stay Healthy. This program targets a population of children and families at-risk for health problems due to diet and inactivity. In this unique collaboration, JSF is working closely with these organizations to provide a comprehensive physical activity program to children of Horton Elementary School.

Children and parents are being educated in the classroom, on the playing fields, and after school and JSF is responsible for a number of important elements of this program. We are currently training all the teachers at Horton Elementary School in our innovative Soccer Plus and Basketball Plus curricula and are also working with the preschool teachers in our Star Power curriculum. Students at Horton are receiving in-depth instruction by JSF coaches in these sports and in many other games. JSF coaches are also helping during lunchtime recess with new games and ideas for play – helping with behavior issues, engaging children in fun physical activities, and increasing activity levels on the playground.

Additionally, JSF will be helping to start an after school soccer program – the first after school sports program this school has seen in many years! Key to the success of this kind of program is choosing a school site with administration and teachers that are open to change and willing to prioritize health and wellness. Horton Elementary School is such a site – to illustrate: the school nurse is working with the teachers to change classroom party foods, the principal values physical activity and ensures that time is devoted to offering physical education, and the teachers recently voted to bring in a half-time physical education teacher after the Horton Hawks Stay Healthy Program ends.

This collaborative approach is already bearing visible fruit – children are practicing their new basketball and soccer skills during lunchtime recess, teachers are excited and engaged, and the school is working on its wellness policy to implement healthy guidelines. JSF is proud to be part of this successful program and looks forward to continued work with the children, teachers, and families of Horton Elementary School.

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Joy of Sports is doing special work in the San Francisco Bay Area with many amazing children, educators, and parents. Our success is, in part, due to the extraordinary sites with whom we interact, and none is more special than the Bay Area Hispano Institute for Advancement (BAHIA) in Berkeley. BAHIA was started in 1975, a response to the growing need for quality bilingual child care services for low-income Hispanic families. Thirty two years later, BAHIA has managed to expand on this vision while keeping true to their original ideals; BAHIA has become “a private non-profit corporation that continues to maintain its particular focus on offering services for low-income Hispanic families, while providing a warm and supportive learning environment for children of all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds”. This experience is appreciated daily by the 76 children who walk through their doors, and excels due to the countless hours of preparation by dedicated staff members. Executive Director, Beatriz Leyva-Cutler and Program Supervisor, Martha Cueva have been associated with BAHIA long before any of the current students were even born, a testimony to what makes BAHIA such an effective, nurturing environment. This is truly a family oriented program, where former students become teachers and children walk through the same doors that their own parents walked through.

BAHIA’s philosophy mirrors that of Joy of Sports by taking a holistic approach towards children’s development. BAHIA’s programs are designed to promote each child’s self-esteem, enhance his/her feelings for cultural diversity, and enrich bilingual language development. This is accomplished through a curriculum designed to nurture the child’s cognitive, physical, linguistic and socio-emotional development. By focusing on the developmental needs of the children they serve, BAHIA allows children to explore, learn, create and play in an environment that not only nurtures the child, but also supports the parents’ role as primary teachers of their children. Joy of Sports has been offering its Healthy Kids program to BAHIA since 2001. In that time, our concepts have been accepted and expanded upon by the BAHIA staff and administration. BAHIA continually promotes the importance of physical activity through their dance, basketball, soccer, tennis, and Healthy Kids activities. BAHIA has an equal focus on nutrition education by offering home made healthy snacks produced from their own garden and farmers market. As Joy of Sports looks to strengthen and sustain the San Francisco Region in 2007, we also relish the opportunity to enhance our relationship with such a fine organization as BAHIA.
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