Sports Experts Form Action Plan to Use Sport to Overcome Urban Violence

Beyond Sport on 09.29.10 at 12:04 PM | 1 comment |

Scott Myers works with World Sport Chicago and led a Symposium about using sport to stop urban violence at the Beyond Sport Pre-Summit 

On Tuesday, September 28, World Sport Chicago, University of Chicago and the Mayor's Office of Chicago brought together community thought leaders and international experts in youth sports development for a day-long session on how the city can use sport as a tool to engage kids in positive social development, disengage them from crime and violence, and create safe havens in inner-city neighborhoods.  The unique gathering is timely considering the issues the City of Chicago has struggled with recently in regards to gang-related violence in various neighborhoods and the great strides World Sport Chicago (WSC) has made over the past year to develop programs and conduct events that expose inner-city youth to sport and provide them with better options.

Scott Myers, WSC Executive Director and Harold Pollack, Co-Director University of Chicago Crime Lab, facilitated the meeting that included a panel discussion, breakout sessions, priority setting and best practice presentations from cutting edge organizations across the globe that are dealing with the same issues and tackling them through sport.  "It is very difficult being a 17 year-old male in the City of Chicago these days," said Pollack, "we are here today to learn from each other and develop strategies on how sports can help kids find some tools to survive, avoid the challenges in their neighborhoods and continue to develop socially."

The discussions were focused around prevention, intervention and safe-places.  Many professionals had the opportunity to share their stories and provide anecdotes to make their point.  Adam Hall, who works for Streetchance in the UK talked about how he was an at-risk teenager just a few years ago that went through the program and now works for the organization.  Luke Dowdney was a panelist from Fight For Peace in Brazil which uses boxing & martial arts combined with education and personal development to realize the potential of young people in communities that suffer from crime and violence.  Luke was asked to address the fact that they use a contact sport as an alternative for violence and if they were one in the same.  "I have been answering this question for ten years, boxing and martial arts are sports of discipline and self-control, isn't that what we are striving to instill in these young men," asked Dowdney.  All participants agreed that any sports programming must also work to combine other social development elements including education, leadership, goal setting, etc. in addition to the athletic skills and tactics being coached.

Local organizations also took part in the meeting, sharing some of their experiences and taking notes, including Chris Mallete, a CPS football coach and Mayor's Office Head of Community representative and Rob Castenda, founder of Beyond the Ball in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago.  Beyond the Ball is one of five finalists for the United Airlines Chicago Impact Award that will be awarded later in the week. 

 At the end of the day, Scott Myers summarized three key points that included the need for "structural engagements," educating policy makers, city organizations and funders on the impact of sport and integrating all of them to share ideas, resources and services.  Systemic changes within the organizations themselves also have to take place, refining and improving processes for identifying and recruiting kids, coach training and parental involvement.  Lastly, a "people element" was identified, recognizing the need to attract quality coaches in programs of all levels, coaches who are interested in acting as mentors, role models and even a bit of social service workers rather than just concentrating on athletic skills and the elite athletes.  This element also listed the need for parents to help instill the same values the program stresses with their kids.  Myers thanked all the participants for a great day and assured them he would be synthesizing the information and sharing it with local organizations throughout Chicago.

The meeting took place on the eve of the 2010 Beyond Sport Summit - a unique event taking place on September 28-29 in Chicago at the Palmer House designed to celebrate, promote and drive forward the use of sport as a tool for positive social change. Beyond Sport is a global organization that promotes, develops and funds the use of sport to create positive social change across the world.  Beyond Sport partnered with World Sport Chicago, Barclays Spaces for Sports, United Airlines, TIME and UNICEF to conduct the event

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/beyond-sport/2010/09/sports-experts-form-action-plan-to-use-sport-to-overcome-urban-violence.html

-          This article is a great gauge on just how important youth sports are in the community. As we discussed in class on September 23^rd and 28^th, youth sports are a great way to keep young kids away from violence and trouble and get them physically active while doing something they enjoy. This meeting that brought together well thought leaders and international experts on youth sport was put together to try to get kids off the street and away from the violence that many were seeing due to gangs. In class we talked about how now with families having two parents working and the growing belief that informal activities provide occasions for kids to get into trouble is not good for the youth of this country today. It is really good to see that a community is stepping up and trying to help out the future of the country by trying to keep kids out of trouble yet keeping them in shape at the same time.