Building Program Models with The Barrios – Panama International Exchange

10 Sport Coaches and Administrators from Panama concluded their 10 day exchange Friday, with a tailor made Global Game Changers (GGC) project development workshop. After spending almost two weeks meeting with sport foundations, government officials, professional sport franchises, and non-profit experts, the participants were ready to put their ideas on paper. Led by GGC partner Julie Younes, participants worked their ideas through a project model framework, deciding on goals, objectives and activities. Groups were also tasked with thinking about resources, partnerships, and a program timeline. Lastly, GGC trainers outlined the on-going importance of data collection for monitoring and evaluation purposes.

Vaughn College Lock-In

Vaughn College Lock-In

Global Game Changers (GGC) brought energy, sport and much more to the Vaughn College's Lock-In event on March,15th in Brooklyn NY. Nine GGC trainers suited up for the large gathering of close to 80 students. GGC activities engaged students athletically and mentally. Participants were challenged to work together in small groups in the 'Monster" and "Blind Dribbling" activities. Throughout the two-hour event the GGC instructors set a tone of high energy and positivity (a GGC trademark) which was quickly reflected in the students interactions with one another. The conclusion of the event saw one of the largest and most exciting games of "Scramble" perhaps ever played. Of course, all students came together and put their hands in for the final cheer: "1,2,3, Warriors!"

Brazil Basketball Delegation Partakes In GGC Clinic

Whether encouraging one another in a shooting drill or hustling through an intense scrimmage, where high-fives and encouragement counted as much as points on the scoreboard, Global Game Changers (GGC) engaged a dozen youth and two coaches from Brazil in a high-energy, positive training focused on leadership, communication and team-building skills on Sunday, Feb. 10 in Arlington, Va.

Hailing from different neighborhoods of Sao Paolo, the Brazil's largest city, the trainees enjoyed a three-hour program beginning with a broad discussion of what traits make excellent leaders on and off the basketball court -- and how leaders work to improve those traits both in and out of sports.

The GGC trainers -- Michael Vaughan-Cherubin, Josh Simon, David Grant, Andrew Mincheff -- further focused the group on specific behaviors of good leaders including productive communication skills, emphasizing a 5-1 ratio of positivity to constructive criticism, and leading by example, through exhibiting solid work ethic and focus in practicing one’s athletic craft.

With those concepts firmly in mind, the group worked on coaching one another in shooting fundamentals, the challenges of being an effective leader and follower in running and dribbling drills, the need to build trust through a partner activity involving blind dribbling through an obstacle course, and a final scrimmage emphasizing competition as a way to build relationships through positive feedback and the ability to coach one’s teammates constructively.

The group of teens and their coaches came to GGC as part of a three-week program focused on using sports for development sponsored by the US State Department.

- Written By David Grant

 

 

 

Leadership Clinic with Vaughn College Students

On Saturday December 1st, at the 92nd Street Y’s May Center, Global Game Changers (GGC) hosted a group of students from Vaughn College.

This group, mostly freshman, embarked on a basketball, teambuilding, and leadership clinic administered by GGC partners Michael Vaughan Cherubin, Julie Younes, and Danny Ourian. The clinic began by creating an inclusive place to play through positive reinforcement, groups cheers, high energy and of course, lots of high-fives.  The clinic continued as participants learned about one another (such as hobbies, birth date, favorite movie, number of siblings) as they simultaneously learned the fundamental basketball skill of passing. Throughout the remainder of the clinic,  the Vaughn College students where led through a montage of basketball drills and team building activities, all geared at uniting the group, building trust, and developing leadership skills.

GGC is happy to thank Vaughn College and the 92nd Street Y for helping make this event possible.

GGC Trains Coaches from South Sudan

Earlier this week, Global Game Changers (GGC) hosted a clinic for five basketball coaches and sport administrators from newly established South Sudan.  The clinic focused first on identifying the goals of each of the participants teams and programs.  In order to do this, we introduced new concepts in Sport-For-Development, which used a tree as a metaphor to describe the "logic" of Sport-For-Development programs. Participants built this metaphorical tree - from roots being program "activities" - to the trunk which stood for negative behaviors that wanted "changes" - and finally, branches which symbolized program "goals."  The clinic then went on the court as GGC partners encouraged participants to modify their "game" (in this case basketball), to reach their program or team goals. Basketball drills old and new were taught with a new spin - a specific development outcome.  As always with GGC events, fun was a major theme. "Spontaneous hand clapping", positive encouragement and high fives were the norm.

Indian-Pakistani Soccer Training

 

Washington, DC - Global Game Changers held a sport for development clinic today for 20  female soccer players and young coaches from India and Pakistan.  The clinic, held at Rock Creek Park near DuPont Circle, Washington DC, featured a variety of drills which aimed at teaching the young women not only how to improve technically, but also provided tools for them to bring back to their communities and improve the lives of those they train.  Included among those tools are concepts about how sports can be used as a vehicle for change.  Our aim, at Global Game Changers, has been to serve as a resource for individuals, coaches, organizations and communities that share the ideal that sports is a powerful vehicle for impacting positive change, growth, and interaction.

Today was a shining example of that aim.

From the onset, Coach Mike and Coach Josh had great energy and built terrific rapport with the participants.  After a series of warm-up drills, we asked the group what elements of their lives could be developed using sports.  We were thrilled with some of their responses:

"How to communicate with one another in school or at home."

"Sports can help us learn to trust each other better."

"When we play sports in our village, we feel more confident about ourselves."

Communication.  Trust.  Confidence.  These are some of the traits these young ladies believe have improved and can continue to improve because of the role that sports has played in their lives.  We couldn't agree more!

Upon completing our "Bring It In" chat, we moved onto working on higher level soccer techniques including headers, chest traps, volleys, and footwork.  Coach Mike - a former collegiate goalkeeper and current Community Relations Manager with Major League Soccer team DC United - lent his personal expertise as a goalie to the handful of coaches that play the position themselves.  "Communicate the loudest! You are the eyes of the team! They need to know what only you can see!"

Afterwards, Coach Josh led the group through GGC's classic game of "Monster" followed by a conversation about its merits as a team-building drill.  The energy peaked as we played a three-way scrimmage.  The girls had a blast.  And of course, so did the GGC team.

The end of the clinic brought us full circle: everyone communicated over the course of the day. We learned to trust each other. We felt confident not just about ourselves as individuals but these young coaches felt strongly they were able to bring these drills and ideas back with them to their respective communities in India and Pakistan.  We at Global Game Changers are PROUD to have worked with another excellent delegation brought to the USA via our wonderful partner and friends at SportsUnited, a public diplomacy initiative of the State Department.

Until next time!

GGC runs baseball clinic for Central American Youth

On August 13th, Global Game Changers held a clinic for a SportsUnited delegation from Central America.  In addition to a great outdoor practice, the group of athletes hailing from Panama, Mexico and Ecuador all brought great energy and learned valuable skills through baseball that they will find useful off the field.  First, we started the day with a brief introduction and explanation of how baseball can instill values such as respect, communication, positive attitude and teamwork.  We then moved to the outfield for some stretching and calistinics, where three girls and three boys were given the opportunity to lead in stretching.  After a brief lesson in bodyweight exercising followed by a brief competition, we broke for water and blasted right into Monster, a team-building exercise in which two teams need to work together to create one unit with “limb restrictions" in order to win a race.  The drill was a great way to start the activities as the kids were laughing constantly and really tapping into the fun parts of teamwork.  Afterwards, we moved right into game-like situations practice, such as fielding grounders, making plays, and communicating and practicing proper form for catching fly balls in the outfield.  The opportunity was unique in that each player learned something new about infield positions and simultaneously worked on communication skills while in the outfield.  We scrimmaged for the remaining hour using earlier learned positivity components as a twist in the scoring system.  Overall, the clinic concluded yet another sucessful partnership between Global Game Changers and SportsUnited.  Its always great to work with youth with such fantastic energy.

Global Game Changers Holds Martial Arts Clinic for Iraqi Youth

June 14th, 2012 - Global Game Changers representatives Josh Simon, Julie Younes, and Martial Arts expert Arturo Reyes conducted a clinic for a group of Iraqi youth in a SportsUnited cultural exchange at the George Mason University fieldhouse. Coach Josh started the day with an introduction and discussion on how sport can be used to improve life skills outside the studio. The dialogue painted a picture of how the youngsters used their particular sport, in this case Taekwondo, to impact their lives by providing discipline, structure, patience, and forgiveness. Sharing personal stories helped the youth grasp the uniquely-tailored GGC message.

We then warmed up with bodyweight exercises in order to provide an avenue for physical conditioning for those lacking resources or access to equipment - an issue some participants are often challenged with. After that we moved into a kick-boxing fundamentals drill with amateur and professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter Arturo Reyes. This was a great opportunity for the kids to learn a new martial art outside of taekwondo, but the catch was the GGC touch at the end: During and after the drill we challenged the kids with food-related vocabulary words in the English language which the kids were able to later associate with negative and positive actions in taekwondo, such as blocking on the calling out of unhealthy foods, and punching and kicking on healthy ones. The lesson taught not only English words that the group hadn’t known previously, but also encouraged healthy eating habits over unhealthy ones.

Coach Julie continued with a number of relay races that were designed to increase hand-eye coordination and technique in fun and challenging ways. Integrating the earlier fundamental kicks, punches and bodyweight exercises taught earlier in the day, we were able to give the youngsters an opportunity to implement newly learned technique through healthy competition. We ended the relay races on a brief lesson of how restricting certain body parts could make the exercise harder, and showed how to equate this to overcoming challenges in everyday life.

Throughout the day, we placed strong emphasis on technique and focus and how these skills can help not only with honing fundamental Taekwondo basics, but improving grades in school and work, or anywhere outside of the Taekwondo studio for that matter.

Finally, we ended the clinic with “Monster,” a cooperation, communication and mutual respect drill which forces teams to work together and have fun doing so in a race. As the winning team went from celebration to immediately congratulating their peers on the losing team, Global Game Changers representatives Josh Simon, Julie Younes, and Arturo Reyes smiled knowing the kids not only absorbed, but were practicing lessons learned of mutual understanding and respect.