[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 14894]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


                   A TRIBUTE IN RECOGNITION OF UP2US

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MARCIA L. FUDGE

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, October 5, 2011

  Ms. FUDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Up2Us--a leader in 
sports based youth development--on the occasion of its annual awards 
ceremony for its Coach of the Year contest to be held here in 
Washington, D.C.
  Up2Us is leading a national movement to advance sports as a tool for 
addressing the critical issues facing youth in this nation, including 
childhood obesity, academic failure and anti-social behavior.
  Up2Us accomplishes this by supporting a national network of nearly 
500 member organizations operating in all fifty states. Together, these 
organizations serve 25 million youth through both traditional and non-
traditional sports. As one way of serving this network, Up2Us launched 
an initiative called Coach Across America.
  The Up2Us Coach Across America (CAA) program is an AmeriCorps program 
that represents the first nationwide effort to mobilize a workforce to 
promote positive youth development through sports. In partnership with 
the Corporation for National and Community Service and Nike, CAA 
coaches use sports as a means to promote health and nutrition, 
education success, civic engagement and personal and social development 
among youth in some of the nation's poorest neighborhoods.
  Last year, CAA placed 250 AmeriCorps members to serve as coaches in 
105 youth programs across 20 states to work with more than 35,000 kids. 
In exchange for college tuition awards and a living stipend, coaches 
completed a total of 170,000 service hours (equivalent to $3.5 million 
in national service), recruited over 1000 program volunteers, connected 
roughly 500 new parents to their respective programs and conducted more 
than 250 service-learning projects totaling 35,000 hours of youth 
volunteer service effort.
  The 35,000 kids served by CAA coaches have access to the programs 
they need for their full development; are provided a safe place to 
acquire new knowledge and skills; gain a heightened sense of competency 
and self-respect through working to make a difference in their 
communities; build relationships with caring adult role models; develop 
leadership skills on and off the field; and have a better understanding 
of healthy eating and the importance of physical activity and exercise.
  In recognition of the powerful role that coaches have on the lives of 
youth, Up2Us runs an annual contest--Coach of the Year--to honor the 
unsung heroes who devote their lives to the positive development of 
youth through sports.
  Mr. Speaker, as Up2Us and its participating members honor the winners 
of this year's Coach of the Year contest, I ask my colleagues to please 
join me in congratulating this year's finalists. They are among a 
distinguished group of individuals dedicated to improving the lives of 
our youth through sport.
  Renato is the Executive Director of Access Youth Academy. He came to 
San Diego to join Access Youth Academy (formerly Surf City Squash) in 
May of 2007 from Harvard University where he was the Assistant Coach of 
the squash team. Originally from Brazil, Renato was a Brazilian Junior 
Champion and a top junior in South America. He represented his home 
country on the national team as its captain. Now, he is a role model, 
teacher and coach to hundreds of urban youth in San Diego.
  Lisa Hawk is the Exercise & Health Science Department Chair, Athletic 
Director and lacrosse coach at the Preuss School at UCSD. The Preuss 
School is a nationally recognized school that serves a low income 
diverse population. Lisa is an advocate for sports as a tool for 
positive youth development and is changing lives through her work. Her 
athletes recognize how special Lisa is: ``She sees the potential in 
each of her players and does not quit until that spark she sees within 
us is released for the public eye to see. She has helped me through the 
turbulence of a teenage life to the hectic lifestyle at home and has 
given me a comfortable place to go as well as someone to turn to.''
  Ktrice McNeill is the 2011 Coach Across America Coach of the Year 
recipient. Ktrice recently completed his year of service coaching 
basketball at Edenwald Community Center in New York. Ktrice is a NY 
native influenced by his parents who reminded him daily that ``without 
education you have nothing.'' Growing up in an inner city where gang 
violence and drugs were prevalent, Ktrice understands first-hand that 
``sports give me and other young people in my community a safe haven to 
feel secure and feel like there's not a care in the world.'' As a 
coach, Ktrice aims to use his voice to teach young people that 
``failure is not an option.''
  Faye Stevens-Jett is a Physical Education Teacher and Athletic 
Director at Morton School of Excellence in Chicago, Illinois. For the 
past eleven years, she has coached double dutch, cheerleading, and pom-
pom. In addition to her many city championships, she has impacted many 
young lives through her work. Faye received several nominations 
highlighting her work ethic and commitment to her students: ``Faye goes 
above and beyond the call of duty to make sure her students have the 
things they need. She is consistently incredible.''
  I also want to recognize Up2Us' entire staff of employees and 
volunteers. They are all to be commended for their work to keep Up2Us 
the vibrant and strong organization that it remains today; I extend to 
all of them my best wishes for many more successful years ahead. Indeed 
they are demonstrating that advancing the lives of our youth is a team 
sport.

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