Today, January 12th, 2023 is our 13th Anniversary, and we are expecting to have more impact in the year ahead than ever before. We will serve more kids, recruit more coaches, support more VISTAs (front office-based service members) and help more sports-based youth development programs across the country. And this is all thanks to you for believing in our mission and vision. You have helped us get to this unprecedented level of growth.

The bottom line for all of us at Up2Us Sports is that a coach can have a significant impact on the positive development of young people. A coach is an adult who young people trust, who can inspire them to say “no” to violence and “yes” to education. A coach is also uniquely positioned to translate sports skills into important life skills, such as the ability to be resilient, to set goals, to exercise leadership, to have a Plan B, and to demonstrate social confidence. We believe these skills are prerequisites for learning. They uniquely prepare youth to excel in the classroom and beyond.

So that brings us to Lucky #13. This year we will branch out and place more coaches in schools as part of a bold new effort to transform how schools use sports to achieve their academic missions. We plan to present more career opportunities to coaches as part of our career readiness model to make national service a stepping-stone to economic mobility. We plan to recruit more women as coaches to help level the playing field for girls in underserved communities. And we plan to expand our coach training to be sure that all coaches have the tools to help their young athletes recover from the stressors of these past few years.

When sports first entered public schools more than 100 years ago it was a deliberate effort to get kids physically active in urban areas where childhood diseases were running rampant. Towards the end of the last century, sports became an emblem of school pride and a pathway for some students to achieve college scholarships and even professional careers. At Up2Us Sports, we predict that the next century will see sports play a whole new role: it will be a leading contributor to social-emotional skill building that prepares children for the classroom and for life. That is our vision, and we ask you to continue to be our teammates in seeing it come to fruition.

Let Lucky Year #13 begin! And please join us in our efforts. After all, it takes more than just luck; it will take our collective determination to be sure that all children have coaches trained to help them achieve their potential.

Happy Anniversary, Up2Us Sports!