Project Coach on TV!

This past Wednesday, Project Coach was delighted to host Jackie Brousseau and her team from NBC news affiliate WWLP Springfield 22 News at the first annual Project Coach retreat held at Smith College.







The media's visit proved to be one of the highlights of a successful day's coaching and learning - interspersed with a good dose of fun! - as coaches experienced a wide range of activities while on campus. After Co-Founder Sam Intrator had already visited the News 22 studio earlier in the morning to film a live interview during the morning broadcast, the day began with Exercise and Sports Science professor - and fellow PC Co-Founder - Don Siegel, along with department colleagues, leading coaches through a series of sports science lab experiments that challenged our teens to think about the application of power and balance in sports, and how such data is collected and processed. Graduate assistant Will Bangs proved to be the show-stopper at this event, defying college and high school basketball players to claim the vertical leap crown with a whopping 29 inches!

Next, the coaches worked with their redshirts in the Smith gym to refine their coaching styles ahead of next week's first 'live' session with one hundred elementary school athletes, before heading down to the squash courts to participate in a racquetball clinic kindly hosted by Smith College Squash Coach, Tim Bacon. Coaches quickly took to the sport, and were appreciative of Coach Bacon's knowledge, instruction, and great sense of humor!

Before breaking for lunch, coaches had time for one more workshop, this time generously led by Kia Johnson and her team of theater students. PC youth worked alongside their college counterparts to hone their "coaching voice", develop positive body language, and practice quick and effective methods of communication.

After the success of the February retreat, plans are already underway for a follow-up session during the April vacation.







http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/local/Project-coach-shows-teens-new-skills

http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/local/program-turns-city-teens-into-coaches