Mid City Times

Fort Worth has received a $4,000 grant from the Million Coaches Challenge cohort, aiming to train 1 million coaches nationwide in youth development techniques by 2025.

A good coach can play a transformational role in a child’s youth sports experience and help build key skills like teamwork, compassion, and responsibility. However, less than one-third of the country’s 6 million coaches have been trained in youth development practices.

The Million Coaches Challenge was created to build a future where all youth are equipped with the skills they need to thrive. This initiative aims to bridge the gap in coach training, ensuring that coaches are equipped with the necessary tools to promote positive youth development.

The Park & Recreation Department’s Youth Sports Division will administer the grant.

“The awarded grant provides the City of Fort Worth Youth Sports Division with essential resources to train and develop up to 250 coaches, parents and staff on various situations and scenarios that they may encounter while traversing the youth sports industry in different roles and capacities,” said Sharetta Goodwin, district superintendent in PARD.

The trainings will become a required component for Youth Sports staff and volunteer coaches. The goal is to have as many of those 250 people trained by the end of 2024.

“We want to ensure that our staff and volunteer coaches who engage with, and encounter, youth in our sports programs and leagues are well-trained and prepared,” Goodwin said. “We want our staff and coaches to leave a positive, lasting impression on both the youth athletes and their parents. Moreover, as a result of these different offered trainings, our staff and coaches will be better positioned to handle various situations that may potentially occur. Additionally, they will be better equipped to detect a problem or situation before it happens and attempt to resolve it.”