New York, U.S.A - The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation , a charitable organization that supports projects in the U.S. to improve the lives of youth through the power of sports, in collaboration with Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA), the company and its dealers, is addressing the recent onslaught of New York’s after-school budget cuts with an innovative solution.
In 2012, the New York City initiative will train and place 120 coaches in 15 sports-based youth development projects in underserved neighborhoods in all five boroughs that will mentor approximately 10,000 city children. Laureus USA has selected Coach Across America as their delivery partner.

This regional initiative is part of a nationwide program that, with a $1.3 million national commitment from MBUSA to the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, focuses on training and placing 250 coaches through Coach Across America in sports-based youth development projects in underserved neighborhoods in five U.S. cities: Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Miami and New Orleans.
This afternoon at 3:00 PM EDT, the city-wide initiative kicks off with dealer partners and employees from MBUSA along with Laureus World Sports Academy Member and nine-time Olympic Champion Mark Spitz, as well as elected officials, guests and staff, visiting Play Rugby USA - an innovative program that cleverly combines rugby with sports education, health, academic and community development programming to create a holistic and asset-based approach to youth development. Underlying the program’s success is the establishment of sustainable partnerships with urban schools and youth organizations, each creating a systematic opportunity for youth during or after school.

“Mercedes-Benz USA and our dealer partners have a long tradition of supporting and giving back to our communities. When you combine that with MBUSA’s extensive involvement in high-profile sports events, this is an undertaking that really makes sense for us and provides a real benefit to youth across the country,” said Steve Cannon, president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA.
“We believe in the transformational power of sport as a tool for social good. Today’s coaches go beyond the traditional sense of the term ‘coach,’” said Edwin Moses, who also serves as the chairman of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation USA. “They are mentors, community organizers and mediators. Investing in proper training and offering support for these coaches is vital to sports-based youth development, especially as youth violence and obesity escalate and school-based programs continue to be decimated by budget cuts. Initiatives like this are essential in America to fill the gap.”

Recent budget cuts to childcare and after-school programs are expected to impact up to 90,000 young people in New York. In the last two years alone, $3.5 billion has been cut from school sports budgets nationally, resulting in 16.5 million youth with little to no access to sports. With staggering childhood obesity statistics – an estimated 33 percent of American youth are overweight or obese by third grade and in New York City, one in five kindergarten children is obese. Solutions to combat these issues affecting youth are sorely needed.

Along with parents and teachers, coaches play a crucial role in developing character in today’s youth. But a recent GAO report confirmed that despite this important role, quality coaches are in short supply.Proper coaching increases the chance of  better grades, better behavior, healthier lives and longer life due to fitness activity.

Additionally, this initiative will provide employment opportunities, relevant experience and scholarships in the sport for development sector for young adults in this tough economy. Many of the coaches recruited by Coach Across America will be college graduates from the local community. The projects where they will be placed include: America Scores NY, American Youth Table Tennis, Asphalt Green, Beat the Streets, City Soccer in the Community, Harlem RBI, I Challenge Myself, New Heights Youth, Nike Camp Skate, Nike DYCD Community Centers, Play Rugby USA, Power Play NYC, Inc., Row New York, United Youth League, and Urban Dove.

“The positive influence coaches can have on today’s underserved youth is undeniable,” said James Kallusky, director of Coach Across America. “The generous support from both Mercedes-Benz USA and Laureus Sport for Good Foundation USA will allow Coach Across America to both broaden and deepen its impact by providing new coaches in New York.”

One beneficiary of Coach Across America is Ktrice McNeill, who turned to a basketball court to avoid gang violence and drugs. Ktrice used his basketball skills to earn a scholarship to attend Southern Connecticut State University. After receiving his college degree, Ktrice returned to New York and joined Coach Across America to coach in the same community center he turned to as his sanctuary. ”When I started coaching, I had kids ask me to be their dad or brother,” he said. “I told them ‘I can’t be your dad, but I can be your role model.’ On my cell phone I have numbers for 100 kids that can call me any time they need me.”

Image Courtesy of  muzsy / Shutterstock.com

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iPakistan is a new social media initiative set up by a group of Pakistani university students to change the global perception of Pakistan. Reaching out to others via the web, their aim is to re-brand Pakistan and break the stereotypes that often result in discrimination and prejudice towards its people.

Type out ‘Pakistan’ in the Google Images search bar and scroll down the first few pages: one would find pictures of maps,  the Pakistani flag and images that spell out a country torn between poverty and war. Although this may be the harsh reality in some parts of Pakistan, it is not the only reality of this South Asian country, as some are prone to believe.  With the kind of news surfacing daily regarding the conflicts, bomb blasts and political issues of not only the country, but also its neighbors’ it’s not hard to see why most people have a negative outlook on Pakistan. Rehman Ilyas aims to change this by replacing the post 9/11 images of terrorism, extremism and war zone to that of extremely talented youths, scenic landscapes and rich culture.

As a Lahori studying at the University of Hong Kong, Ilyas found himself subject to questions about Pakistan ranging from relatively normal ones such as “Do you have any malls there?” to more ridiculous ones like “Is there Taliban in your family?” He was always aware of the injustice done by the world media news in regards to their portrayal of his country but he was unaware of the severity of it until he arrived in Hong Kong.

“People only got to see that 1% of Pakistan in which the War on Terror is going on, in the media, and take that to be representative of the entire Pakistan,” he said.

Instead of merely complaining, he took action and decided to play his part in correcting the wrongly propagated image of his country. He started with doing his own online research on the subject and pitching the idea to his friends, followed by doing pilot tests on Facebook and a trial website. A survey was even conducted to realistically depict what the world thinks of Pakistan. Tackling the issues from there, what initially started out as a personal contribution to his country has now expanded to a website and a Facebook page with contents from over 80 team members, a diversified group of youths spread over 10 countries all intent on introducing the real Pakistan to the world.

Ilyas also intends to reach out to the world for a greater purpose that could help Pakistan in a myriad of other ways. According to him, “The 2011 floods in Pakistan were worse than the Asian Tsunami and the Haiti Earthquake combined, and an area the size of England was inundated in water. Despite all this, the media coverage and global aid intervention received wasn’t even close as compared to these other recent natural calamities, simply because people around the world were not interested in helping out a country which in their minds, harbors terrorist groups and is a base camp for terrorist activities around the world.”

Setting the global views straight, even one person at a time, could slowly prove to be beneficial for 180 million Pakistanis. With Pakistani businessman and traders at exhibitions around the world facing difficulties when questioned about bringing in supplies reliably to and from a war zone, Ilyas’ project could have a positive effect on his country economically as well.

Along with changing the way others perceive his country, Ilyas would also like to see a few changes within the nation itself. Speaking for a majority of the population, he said, “Most Pakistanis crave for a change of leadership. We are done with having the same corrupt leaders elected again and again, and this needs to end now. Pakistan is blessed with both vast natural resources and human capital, and given the right leadership we have the potential to develop into a regional superpower.”

Another sub-project that Ilyas has been working on is ‘Romancing the Border’ and is aimed at another issue spread across the nation: the social gap between Indians and Pakistanis. With most youths having been raised with a mindset bearing hatred for the other side, the stereotypical views separate the youths despite the fact both sides may be similar to each other in a lot of aspects. Backed by Stanford University’s Peace Innovation Lab, this cross-border initiative provides an online platform for youth from both sides of the border to interact with each other and to encourage pro-social behaviors between Pakistanis and Indians.

Having received positive responses so far regarding iPakistan from both Pakistanis and foreigners, Ilyas hopes to reach out to the masses and in the foreseeable future, instead of us receiving war torn images of Pakistan as soon as we Google the word, iPakistan will appear on the top search results and bring about a positive first impression of the country.

Perhaps it is a sign of change in the world when youths stand up to defend their country, and not in the traditional means of violence or crude words, but by showing the rest of us what their nation is capable of, what makes it beautiful, and most importantly, what makes it their home and source of pride. With that, Ilyas leaves us with one last statement on his beloved homeland, “We are not a country supporting terrorism. In fact, we are the country which has sacrificed the most in the war against terrorism.”

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

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