Sport for social development

Sport for Social Development is a method of bringing about social change through the use of sports. In the U.S. this is commonly referred to as Sports-Based Youth Development. Sport refers to the physical activity and development is any individual, health, social, and economic benefits. Sport for is used as a tool for peace and development. The programs use sport to help children learn lifelong skills as an incentive for the children to improve their scholarship. Sport is used as a tool to reach personal and community goals. Most organizations utilizing this method are geared towards underprivileged children and teenagers in urban areas.

Since the advent of modern Olympics in 1896, athletes have shown that sports enable people to come together in an effort to bring about global peace and to share a desire for self-improvement. Non-profit sports programs aiming to educate through similar means are part of an up-and-coming movement, however. Through sport, children learn sportsmanship and other life skills. Youth sport can help them grow towards positive development and good relationships with others. Sport is a tool utilized to get young people involved in their communities. Positive peer relationships are also encouraged through coaching as well as the physical activity, this leads to youth feeling integrated with other young people. Through being involved in sports youth can gain self-esteem when they are enjoying the experience of taking part in a sport. Sports help them gain lifelong skills and want to do better in the classroom as well. Involvement in sports have been related to one having better cognitive functioning as well as higher grades and rest scores, satisfaction in school, engagement in school, aspirations for college, and lower dropout rates. Also, according to the Official Website of the Olympic Movement, being surrounded by a supportive group of people with similar goals, as in playing a sport, “can alleviate the negative effects of poverty.” Non-profit organizations are founded in urban areas affected by poverty to help marginalized children by creating an environment to unite people across gender, race, religion, or socioeconomic background.

Up2Us, doing business as Up2Us Sports, is a sport-based youth development non-profit organization founded in 2010 dedicated to supporting young people through sport. Through their national coach program, Up2Us identifies, trains and supports coaches, many of whom serve as AmeriCorps members, to work with young people in underserved communities around the country. Their training teaches strategies for coaches to work with young people who have dealt with trauma.

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