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Second Annual Up2Us Gala

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The Second Annual Up2Us Gala was a great success, bringing together more than 300 guests including Hollywood celebrities Heidi Klum, Gretchen Mol, Jonny Lee Miller and Kyle MacLachlan who mingled alongside sports figures such as New York Giants cornerback, Prince Amukamara, Milwaukee Bucks power forward, John Henson and U.S. Olympians Kim Vandenberg and Sarah Hughes. More than 300 guests joined the celebration while raising more than $470,000 to help advance sports as a solution to the critical challenges facing America’s youth – obesity, violence and academic failure. College basketball analyst Bill Raftery emceed the star-studded event, joined by Pro Football Hall of Famer, Curtis Martin who presented the Up2Us Legacy Award to Commissioner Tagliabue. Jay Agresta, President of Benzel-Busch Motor Car Corp, presented the second Up2Us Legacy Award of the evening to Stephen Cannon. The program included a powerful video highlighting the struggle and success of Up2Us’ Coach Across America (CAA) coach Israel Frank. The crowd rose to their feet after the Coach of the Year winner’s moving speech, “Through my training at Coach Across America, I’ve learned to separate the child from the behavior. The kid isn’t bad, he’s just made bad choices,” Coach Israel explained. He added, “I see kids going in the wrong direction like I was, and Up2Us has given me an opportunity to show them the right way. Like the other CAA coaches, I’m someone the kids can relate to and I think that’s what makes Up2Us’ Coach Across America program so effective.”

“Coach Israel’s story is a testament to the power of sports and the important role mentors can play in the lives of young people, especially kids living in underserved communities,” said Paul Caccamo, founder and president of Up2Us. “The support we have received from our friends in the business, entertainment and sports community has been incredible and encouraging. Every day, news reports remind us of the urgent need to advance the SBYD movement and place more coaches like Israel Frank to serve our nation’s most vulnerable youth. We can create real social change through sports and positively impact the lives of millions of children across the country."

Take a look at some of the photos below!

 

Heidi Klum and Up2Us Board Member David Colbert came to the gala to show their support.

Basketball analyst Bill Raftery acted as the emcee of the Up2Us Gala.

Sandra Bernhard, Jonny Lee Miller and Michele Hicks attend the 2nd Annual Up2Us Gala

Kyle MacLachlan tells reporters how important sports were to him during his youth.

Up2Us Founder and President, Paul Caccamo telling the NFL network about Up2Us' great work.

Former NFL player Curtis Martin (R) presented the Up2Us Legacy Award to Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

President of Benzel-Busch Motor Car Corp., Joseph Agresta, Jr. (L) presented the Up2Us Legacy Award to President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA, Stephen Cannon.

Up2Us Ambassadors, Olympic figure skater, Sarah Hughes and rock climber, Sasha DiGiulian.

New York Giants Cornerback Prince Amukamara (L) and Pilar Davis attend the Up2Us Gala.

Olympic swimmer Kim Vandenberg and Adam Rosante attend the gala as Up2Us Ambassadors.

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NBA Player John Henson (R) and Up2Us Board Member Matt Henson attend the Up2Us Gala.

Boardwalk Empire's Gretchen Mol supports Up2Us.

Olympic fencer Tim Morehouse and Rachael Kun show their support for Up2Us.

 

New Funding Opportunity for Teams

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Sports Matter.  Decades of research show sports and physical activity are the solution to the critical challenges facing youth.  The hard data shows sports are good for youths’ brains, bodies, and futures.  Yet, frequently slashed school budgets result in disappearing or financially inaccessible opportunities.   The youth who need sports the most are the least likely to have access to high-quality opportunities they can afford.    At Up2Us, our mission is to turn this tide. We are excited to partner with the DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation on an innovative new campaign, Sports Matter. The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation believes Sports Matter. To act on this, DICK’S came to two conclusions about what the company can do to turn that belief into impact:

  • Focus resources on one of the worst outcomes of this crisis—entire teams disappearing or never competing at all due to severe financial challenges.
  • Strengthen and expand communities of support that already step up to make high-quality youth sports available for young people around the country.

 

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The Sports Matter initiative will raise awareness of the youth sports funding crisis and match community donations up to $2 million on a new crowdfunding platform to save or start teams facing financial challenges. Participating teams will commit to raising ½ of the total funding they need, and those that reach their funding goal will receive a matching grant from the DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation. Youth (K-12) sports teams affiliated with a school or non-profit are eligible to apply IF they fall into one of three categories:

  • Team is no longer able to play because of funding challenges.
  • Team is on the brink of not being able to play because of funding challenges.
  • Youth interest in a sports team exists, but funding challenges have prohibited the creation of a team.

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, click here to learn more and/or sign up for one of our technical assistance webinars covering the Sports Matter application process on February 13, February 19, or March 11. Even if this opportunity isn’t right for you, please help us spread the word to any teams or coaches that you think could benefit from this incredible opportunity. Applications will be accepted until March 21, or until 575 applications are submitted, whichever comes first. 

 

 

 

Sasha DiGiulian...Up2Us' Rockstar

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If you haven’t heard of Sasha DiGiulian by now, you should probably crawl out from underneath the rock you’ve been living under. Actually don’t…because that’s where you’ll be able to find Sasha, the world’s number one female rock climber. sasha-redbull

At the age of seven, Sasha began her career in rock climbing at a local gym in her home state of Virginia. Recognizing her potential, they asked Sasha to join their junior’s team. One day, she walked into the gym during a regional championship and asked to participate. Sasha competed, won her category and since then, hasn’t looked back.

Now, 21, Sasha has been climbing for 14 years and has set a number of national and world records. She’s traveled to over 32 countries to pursue rock climbing for both training and competitions.

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Sasha strives to push herself to go above and beyond her limits—attempting some of the worlds most difficult rock climbs. Back in 2011, she did just that. Sasha traveled to the Red River Gorge of Kentucky where she was determined to ascend one of America’s most difficult rock climbs. Rated 9a, it would be the most difficult female ascent in American rock climbing history. Not much to our surprise, Sasha completed the ascent, being the first and only North American woman to achieve 9a.

Every day, Sasha is attracting more and more attention to the sport of rock climbing. She's appeared on the cover of 16 magazines, was a featured guest at the US Embassy in Switzerland and serves as an athlete representative on the board of the International Federation of Sport Climbing.

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Last year, Sasha became Up2Us’ first Ambassador and we couldn’t be more excited and proud to have her support. Because of her passion and love for rock climbing, she supports Up2Us in providing opportunities for every child to experience the transformative power of sports, no matter what that sport is.

Up2Us’ rockstar…literally.

Fast Facts about Sasha: Age: October 23, 1992 (21) Height: 5’1" Weight: 97lbs Years Rock Climbing: 14 (since 1999) College: Columbia University Favorite Color: Pink

Current Rankings: Female Overall World Champion World Ranking Leader: Female Outdoor Sport Climbing Pan American Champion Reigning U.S. National Champion

Cutting Sports, Cutting Values

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I'm often receiving links to stories about the power of sports. Recently, I saw a story of a high school football team in Michigan who made a secret pact that they would forfeit every scoring opportunity when they got to their opponent’s one-yard line.   They wanted to set up one of their teammates—a child who was labeled as “not cool” because he suffered from a developmental disability—to be in a position where he could successfully carry the football into the end zone and score his first touchdown.  By the end of that game, his teammates had succeeded.  They blocked the opposing team and cleared the way for this “uncool” kid to score a touchdown and be cheered on by the entire community. Afterwards, one of the other high school football players said in tears that he learned lessons from the whole experience that he would take with him for the rest of his life.  He explained that up until that moment he had never thought of anyone but himself.  But that touchdown helped him to realize that life is really not about “you,” it’s about the actions you take for others.

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This story about the power of sports led me to ponder…what if every child in this country learned this lesson at a young enough age to guide their entire future?  What kind of impact would that have on our schools, communities, businesses and governments?   Then, I pondered an even more fundamental question…where do children go to even learn these kinds of lessons today?   Unfortunately, the answer to the last question is fewer and fewer places.

Too many children grow up in homes with parents who are overly focused on their own economic and personal problems to worry about their kids.  And too many of our schools are so focused on the test score that the concept of teaching values and ethics is almost nonexistent.

That leaves after-school activities like sports.  Sports programs, like that football program in Michigan, remain the one arena where kids learn to work together with values like teamwork, leadership and compassion.  When they are led in accordance with the Up2Us standards of sports-based youth development, sports impart on young people a sense of community and belonging that does shape their futures.

Which leads me to warn communities, parks, schools and other government officials as they create their 2014 budgets. The elimination of sports programs is the elimination of values.  And these are budget cuts which none of us can afford.

Paul Caccamo Executive Director

Sticks and Stones…

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What if “someone” wanted to hate you? You did nothing wrong to this “someone.”  In fact, you don’t even know why this “someone” doesn’t like you.  It might be someone from work—someone from your community—someone you met at a social gathering—someone you hardly know.

Now, what if you get an odd feeling that this “someone” really is destroying you.   They are spreading rumors that are ugly and untrue.  The rumors are about your personal life.  They are not only untrue but they are embarrassing.  And now you suddenly have this sense that these rumors have gotten to your family, your neighbors, and your co-workers.  In fact, people are now talking about you behind your back.  Stories you don’t even know about.  And there’s no way to defend yourself because you don’t even know how this is happening.

But it doesn’t stop there.  Now you hear something vicious about you on the Internet, on Twitter, on Facebook, on YouTube, and even on Instagram.

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This can’t be happening.  You did nothing wrong.  You don’t even know what caused this person to hate you.  But it keeps coming.  In fact, other people are doing it too.  You’re life really is getting destroyed.

What would you do?

Now, what if you’re only 14 years old?

Welcome to “Bullying 2013.”

This month across the country, several children have taken their lives because they couldn’t take the bullying.  And yet, we have made little progress on educating those responsible for our youth—our school leaders, our teachers, our coaches—on what to do about it.  In part, because many adults confuse “Bullying 2013” with “Bullying When They Grew Up.”  It’s not the same—it’s more vicious because there are more means to communicate it.

Starting this fall, Up2Us will partner with Ben Cohen’s StandUp Foundation to create a toolkit to help coaches use the power of sports as a solution to bullying.  While many youth may associate sports as an arena that fosters bullying, it in fact can be a powerful platform for preventing it.  Coaches naturally receive the respect of their athletes.  They are in a unique position to address diversity and inclusion among their teams and steer would-be bullies into pro-social behavior.  They can also be intentional about engaging those youth who are bullied into participating in sports and facing athletic challenges that can provide them a new sense of dignity and self-worth.  And, yes, all of this can take place in the context of “positive peer pressure.”  After all, that’s what a trained coach fosters, and that’s what sports are all about.

“Stick and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.”  That was once true before those names ended up all over the Internet.  It’s no longer true today.  Up2Us is proud to lead a national effort to end bullying through the power of youth sports in America.  Let’s get our community leaders and schools to do the same.

Paul Caccamo Executive Director

I would like to acknowledge Diana Cutaia for her work in this area and her support of this Up2Us effort.