BACK TO SCHOOL AND BACK IN THE GAME LIBERTY MUTUAL RESPONSIBLE SPORTS PROGRAM HONORS FALL YOUTH SPORTS LEAGUES
Youth Organizations and School Athletic Programs Across the Country Can Qualify
For $2,500 Grants at www.ResponsibleSports.com.
BOSTON, September 16, 2008 Fall sports are as much a part of autumn as hot apple cider and the changing of the leaves. As children settle into their back-to-school routines, they also prepare to suit-up for their favorite fall sport. Every year an estimated 35 million children run, kick, throw, and skate in youth leagues around the country, and a record 7.4 million kids participated in high school sports last year*. These leagues and school teams offer more than just the ability to play, they create a network where coaches and parents can teach the universal values of commitment, discipline, responsibility and teamwork.
To celebrate and reward the value of youth sports, the Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports program, created in partnership with Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA), US Youth Soccer, USA Football, USA Hockey and the Amateur Softball Association is awarding twenty $2,500 Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports grants. Liberty Mutual will award grants to youth sports organizations and school athletic programs that have the most individuals in their community complete the online Responsible Sports curriculum on their behalf. Grant applicants may register at www.responsiblesports.com until November 30 for their chance to earn $2,500 for their league or team.
Behind Responsible Sports Community Grants
The touchdowns and goals players will score this season are made possible by the often-unheralded work of coaches and parents, who are tasked with scheduling games and referees, purchasing new equipment, and maintaining athletic fields and facilities usually on shoestring budgets. The Responsible Sports Community Grants will help 20 leagues or teams put their budgetary concerns aside for a year, allowing coaches and parents to focus on the more important issue of providing an environment where children can reap the benefits of youth sports.
Everyday, hundreds of thousands of adults donate their time and energy to ensure that children have the opportunity to experience youth sports, says Jim Thompson, Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports spokesman, and founder and executive director of Positive Coaching Alliance, an organization that has provided workshops to more than 300,000 youth sports leaders, coaches, parents and athletes. To mirror the responsibility these dedicated coaches and parents demonstrate, Liberty Mutual supports and celebrates their efforts by helping to offset some financial barriers to providing a positive youth sports experience.
The Role of Youth Leagues in Childrens Lives
The Responsible Sports program recognizes that youth sports encompass more than developing skills and learning the rules of a game. They serve a greater good of teaching valuable life lessons responsible behavior, sportsmanship and commitment from their coaches and parents, says Greg Gordon, Liberty Mutual senior vice president, Consumer Marketing.
And while it has long been clear to adults that sports play an important part in the development of youths, we are learning that children recognize this role as well. According to a 2003 report in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, young people viewed extracurricular activities as an important growth experience where psychological skills were learned. To that end, it is critical that leagues and teams ensure that they are providing a positive community for young athletes to grow.
The www.responsiblesports.com site offers parents and coaches constructive tips, expert advice and practical examples to help create a positive sports environment for children; including sports safety, goal-setting, and communication with young athletes. Among these are guidelines on how to:
Establish constructive relationships between coaches, parents, and league officials
Emphasize principles other than winning
Lead by example on and around the field
To access these free resources, and register your league or school for the Responsible Sports grant program, visit www.responsiblesports.com.
*Source: National Association of State High School Associations
About Liberty Mutual Group
Helping people live safer, more secure lives since 1912, Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group is a diversified global insurer and sixth-largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. based on 2007 direct written premium. Liberty Mutual Group ranks 94th on the Fortune 500 list of largest U.S. corporations, based on 2007 revenue. The company has over 41,000 employees located in more than 900 offices throughout the world.
The eighth-largest auto and home insurer in the U.S., Liberty Mutual libertymutual.com sells full lines of coverage for automobile, homeowners, valuable possessions, personal liability, and individual life insurance. The company is an industry leader in affinity partnerships, offering car and home insurance to employees and members of more than 10,000 companies, credit unions, professional associations and alumni groups.
About Positive Coaching Alliance
Since its founding within the Stanford University Athletic Department in 1998, PCA has conducted roughly 6,000 live group workshops nationwide for more than 300,000 youth sports leaders, coaches, parents and athletes. PCA trains workshop attendees to create a positive, character-building environment for youth athletes, replacing the prevalent win-at-all-cost mentality.
PCA has affected more than 3 million youth athletes through partnerships with 1,100-plus youth sports organizations, cities and schools that host workshops across the U.S., primarily near PCAs hub markets of Northern California, Southern California, Chicago, Hawaii, Houston, New York City and Washington, D.C. Thousands of other coaches and parents learn PCA methods via online courses at www.PositiveCoach.org.
About ASA
The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The ASA has become one of the nations largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 83 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 240,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than three million. For more information on the ASA, visit www.asasoftball.com
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