Relationships Across the Years-- What PC Means to our Teen Coaches

By Matt Samolewicz, Project Coach Fellow, 2010

What does it mean to coach? To Teach? Many of us are familiar with the athlete or student perspective, but what does it mean to be on the other end? Twenty three Springfield high school students are learning to take on the role of “coach” and with it, all of the pressures and rewards, as part of Project Coach.

This past Friday, October fifteenth, my mind hummed with a weeks full of preoccupations as I made my way to Gerena Community School’s cafeteria. Waiting for me, as almost always, were four of Project Coach’s high school coaches. I sat down and into a conversation that sprung me from all internal griping. Two of our returning coaches were observing a group of fifth grader players whom they have known for the past four years:

“We have seen these kids grow up. I mean, we have seen them grow,” said one coach.

Coach Tyree (4-year veteran) demonstrating the web of community

“I know! I can remember these kids when they were in first grade! Now look at them.”         replied the second coach.

“I remember what that was like,” said the first coach, “do you?”

This kind of conversation comes from an aware eye, an empathetic soul, and a teacher who is willing to learn from their students.   As I listened, the weight of the shared recognition seemed to pull on every conception I had made in our first five weeks. The students were not only considering the growing athletes as individuals, but as part of a larger context, one that is ever-changing and unpredictable. They were seeing “the bigger picture,” the one I had been trying all too hard to present, and without any external provocation. The coaches were tapped into what was happening in that cafeteria and reflecting on the significance of their relationships with the kids. By recognizing the children and their growth, the coaches were considering the affect time has on all of us. This insightful look was a result of recognizing the kids, their transformation, and ultimately, their story. Whether or not they knew it, the coaches were showing me how to see.

As I turned the interaction over in my mind, the coaches lined up our attending players for a rainy Friday Project Coach session. We were back into the swing of things and ready to facilitate a great afternoon. The clarity didn’t fade from our Coach’s eyes as they led the children down Gerena’s steps and towards the game.

Youth Voices on Participating in PC and more...

By PC Blog Correspondent Angela Navarro Fusillo

Friday was gray and rainy and instead of being out on the fields everyone moved into the school gyms. Four high school coaches shared their thoughts on Project Coach with us in a quieter room full of ping-pong tables adjacent to the courts.

TYISHA, a twelfth grader, described the elementary school players as

“hyper and pumped up”. She was told about Project Coach the day prospective coaches were to be interviewed by a coach who had already participated in the program. She usually coaches ten to twelve kids with the assistance of another coach. Between themselves they swap leadership positions. One of the main issues she identified was how quickly the players get bored so it is key to prepare multiple games to keep the players “active and engaged”. Tyisha hopes to go to culinary school after high school and spoke of how her grandfather finally taught her how to cook stuffed shells after many years of delayed stuffed shell promises.

JOHN, an eleventh grader, spoke of how Project Coach has helped him with

his academics since he is doing far more of his homework now that he is in the program compared to the amount of work he was doing at the beginning of the year. He believes that Project Coach keeps the kids “out of trouble”. John, who has been dancing salsa, merengue, bachata and hip-hop for about ten years, hopes that the experience he is gaining as a coach will help him become a dance instructor and open his own dance studio.

TRAVIS, a twelfth grader from Renaissance, described Project Coach as a “safe place” for the players to go after school that provides an outlet for all their energy, a place to “better themselves”. One of the challenges he faces with the players is getting them to listen; however “it gets easier each time”.

On Mondays all the coaches meet in the library at Chestnut Middle School with the Project Coach coordinators and director. The coaches learn new strategies and games that will be used later on in the week with the elementary school players. When asked about future plans, Travis explained how he wants to go to college after high school to study Psychology.

ANTONIO, an eleventh grader, also heard of Project Coach from two other coaches who had already been in the program for a couple of years.He thinks of Project Coach as a valuable training that will enable him to work with kids

in the future. Antonio also agreed that one of the main challenges he faces as a coach is getting his players to listen. Project Coach keeps the kids active, giving them something to do rather that being “stuck at home”. He wants to study forensics after high school. Before going back to his players he described Project Coach as a “good program”.