Soccer for Success National Training
On the field, coaches play an important role in a child’s development. From teaching game fundamentals to life lessons, children look to their coaches for guidance. At the same time, coaching a healthy and active lifestyle goes beyond the field. It takes the support of families to get active and inspire healthy living. With resources from the Together Counts™ program, you can support your children as they grow, learn and play their way into a lifetime of good health!
Empowering children in healthy living is a team effort. The U.S. Soccer Foundation taps into the power of caring parents and coach-mentors to teach more than 30,000 children in underserved communities about the value of a healthy and active lifestyle through our Soccer for Success program. Soccer for Success utilizes its four main components – physical activity, nutrition, mentorship and family engagement – to engage children in 90-minute sessions of moderate to vigorous physical activity that teaches them lessons about health and wellness. By integrating nutritional lessons in a fun way, children are more likely to retain the information and implement it in their everyday lives.
The program’s mentoring component is critical to children’s success. At the U.S. Soccer Foundation, we host our annual Soccer for Success National Training event each summer in order to help empower our trainers and coach-mentors with the tools to be positive role models. The event brings together leaders from more than 30 communities across the country to become Soccer for Success trainers in their local neighborhoods.
This year’s Soccer for Success National Training introduced more than 150 new and seasoned trainers to the Soccer for Success curriculum for the 2016-2017 program year. We hosted sessions and workshops that focused on physical activity, nutrition and child safety. Following the training, the community leaders become certified trainers and are equipped to lead more than 1,000 coach-mentors in local Soccer for Success trainings across the country. Using this model, the U.S. Soccer Foundation can help to ensure that every coach-mentor is equipped to help children, families, and communities live an active and healthy lifestyle.
The U.S. Soccer Foundation’s programs are the national model for sports-based youth development in underserved communities. Since its founding in 1994, the Foundation has established programs proven to help children embrace an active and healthy lifestyle while nurturing their personal growth beyond sports. Its cost-effective, high-impact initiatives offer safe environments where kids and communities thrive. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Soccer Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization. For more information, visit http://www.ussoccerfoundation.org/or follow us on Twitter at @ussoccerfndn and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ussoccerfoundation.
To learn more about Soccer for Success and how the U.S. Soccer Foundation is impacting communities, visit to www.ussoccerfoundation.org.
For more ideas about how to promote healthy and active living in your everyday life, take a look and these other articles from Together Counts!