Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) is dedicated to "transforming youth sports so sports can transform youth".
Founded as a non-profit within the Stanford University Athletic Department in 1998, PCA has conducted roughly 5,000 live group workshops nationwide for more than 200,000 youth sports leaders, coaches, parents and athletes. Workshop attendees have helped create a positive, character-building youth sports environment for more than 2.2 million youth and high school athletes.
PCA's partnership network includes more than 1,100 youth sports organizations (YSOs), cities and schools. In 2007, PCA will conduct roughly 1,500 live, group workshops across the U.S., primarily near its hub markets of Northern California, Southern California, Chicago, Hawaii, New York City and Washington, D.C., while assisting thousands of other individuals via online workshops.
National Advisory Board edit
PCA has the support of elite coaches and athletes, including Los Angeles Lakers Head Coach Phil Jackson as PCA National Spokesperson. PCA's National Advisory Board comprises luminaries from the worlds of sports, including: NBA and NCAA Champion Coach Larry Brown, former senator Bill Bradley, Olympic Gold Medal Gymnasts Bart Conner and Nadia Comaneci, Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach Herm Edwards, NFL Hall of Fame Member Ronnie Lott, Olympic Swimming Gold Medalist Summer Sanders, University of North Carolina Men's Basketball Retired Head Coach Dean Smith, three-time Super Bowl Champion coach Bill Walsh, and Cy Young Award winner Barry Zito.
The late John W. Gardner, founder of Common Cause, was a founding member of PCA's National Advisory Board. Other academic, social and business leaders on the Board include: Former Stanford University Athletic Director Ted Leland; and educators Albert Bandura, Brenda Bredemeier, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, William Damon, Dan Gould, Joan Duda, Howard Gardner, and Jerry Porras.
National Partners edit
PCA National Partners are American Youth Soccer Organization, Ice Skating Institute, Little League International, Pop Warner Little Scholars, US Club Soccer, US Lacrosse and USA Rugby.
PCA philosophy edit
Youth sports offer a virtual classroom for teaching life lessons, but only if the adults who work with athletes recognize and seize the many teachable moments provided. Research shows participation in youth sports improves academic performance and school attendance, results in better behavior and decreases risk-taking behavior, such as experimenting with drugs and alcohol. Children who drop out of sports at an early age, often because of negative coaching and a prevailing "win-at-all-cost" mentality, miss out on the life lessons sports offer.
PCA remedies this through:
- A New Model of Coaching
PCA workshops hosted by a partner school or YSO train "Double-Goal Coaches™," whose first goal is winning, and whose second, more important goal is using sports to teach life lessons.
- A New Sports Culture
PCA workshops focus on creating a culture of athlete-centric development by educating organizational leaders, coaches, parents and athletes.
- A "Social Epidemic" of Positive Coaching
Allied with universities, corporations, sports organizations, government agencies and others, PCA leads a grassroots movement to provide all youth athletes a positive, character-building experience.
Funding edit
As a social entrepreneurship, PCA earns revenue through partnerships with schools and YSOs and receives contributions from individuals, foundations and corporations.