The need for quality sport sampling programs, ones that put play back into sports, is a global crisis.
While the following is in no particular order, these “events”, all from my past two days, illustrate just how global ⸺ and local ⸺ the need and demand really is.
- I’m starting to write this at 8:38 a.m. and have already been to two of our 2-4-1 TOP Self Sport school sites in Hartford (we are currently programming in five Hartford area schools).
- I have a call later this morning with a colleague in Reykjavik, Iceland (believe it or not, to talk about expanding our programs in Philadelphia).
- Yesterday, I did a 60 minute training webinar with our partner in Zambia, Africa but needed to keep bouncing between Zoom and WhatsApp because of bandwidth limitations on his end.
- We received word of funding support that will allow us to present next month in Dallas, Texas at the Magnet Schools of America Conference (with more than 1000 schools from around the U.S. represented).
- Had a call finish at 9 p.m. (my time) with a new contact in Tokyo who is interested in helping us grow our global presence ⸺ both in Japan and the United States.
- Confirmed being a guest to the Project Play Western NY Sport Sampling Working group (out of Buffalo) that meets tomorrow morning to talk about our approach and ways we can support their team’s work.
- Finalized and submitted a proposal with our SEL consultant to present at the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) national conference in Atlanta next fall.
- Heard from a colleague who wants to partner with us this summer on programming in Brooklyn, Manhattan and the South Bronx.
- Finalized details with our Camp Director in New Westminster, BC (just outside of Vancouver, Canada) and opened up registration for summer 2023 today!
- Had a meeting with our Camp Director in Boulder to review how a recent Pop-Up Camp went and discuss plans for two weeks this summer, and will have one in a few hours with our Camp Director in Denver.
- Worked on registration and webpage for a mental health awareness program we’ll be offering with our friends from Fleet Feet Hartford in May in honor of a friend who died from suicide.
- Discussed curriculum and programming with our 2-4-1 Hartbeat Youth Run Club starting back up at Bushnell Park next month.
- Have met with two area teacher/coaches interested in becoming lead coaches of our 2-4-1 Fencing program (we start at yet another new school tomorrow with a class of twenty-five second-fifth graders -see the news clip from NBC CT at bottomr regarding the program).
- Did an update of enrollment with our administrative team and determined that our summer camp enrollment numbers are up 165 percent over last year at this time (many programs are on waitlists already).
But one of my favorite moments of the week was when one of our fifth grade Physical Literacy Pals (PLPs) excitedly approached me on only his third day of programming as he couldn’t wait to share a story about recess earlier that day.
“Mister, mister… today, my friend was getting really mad when we were playing and I could tell he wanted to get in a fight with someone else. I just pulled him aside and told him to put one hand on his heart and one hand on his belly and to take deep breaths like you taught us. I did it with him ⸺ and we both calmed down. I taught him TOP Self. It really works!”
That, my friends, happens with children everywhere we go. And, they either have skills to manage ⸺ or they don’t. What that fifth grader reminded me was that the work we are doing is just so important. Sport is the absolute best setting to teach leadership, build the skills of social emotional learning, and to remind children that sports are meant to be played. We are thrilled to be programming year round, but have a sense of urgency now about wanting to reach more kids more quickly because there are so many kids that need these skills. Whether we’re in Hartford, Philadelphia, Denver, Charlotte, Canada, Zambia, kids are kids and sports should be fun and should be used to teach kids self control, self awareness and to build relationships responsibly. We feel blessed to have created a model that does this for them, but we really want to reach more kids in more communities. So, let’s see what the next 48 hours brings!!
Thank you all for believing in our approach and keeping wind in our sails on this journey.
About Steve Boyle
Steve is the Executive Director of 2-4-1 CARE, Inc and Co-Founder/Director of 2-4-1 Sports -- a signature program of 2-4-1 CARE-- whose flagship program is held at the Kingswood Oxford School in West Hartford, Conn. but now has locations throughout the United States and Canada. 2-4-1 was recognized by the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC as one of eight model programs in the United States for its approach to anti-specialization in youth sports. This led Steve to form the National Association of Physical Literacy – of which he is now Advisory Board Chair. Steve is also a founding member of the Quality Coaching Collective – an international group of activators around sport, movement and mindfulness. Lastly, through his role at CCG, Steve was the two-year Global Lead on Physical Literacy and Athletics for Whittle School & Studios (2018-20), which currently has campuses in Shenzhen, China and Washington, DC.