Up2Us Coach
ABOUT OUR PROGRAM
Up2Us Coach is the first national service program to identify and train young adults to coach and mentor kids in low-income communities. Since the inception of Up2Us Sports, AmeriCorps has been by our side, providing grants to support service members to serve as youth sports coaches nationally.
Are you an alumni of our Up2Us Coach (formerly Coach Across America) program? We’d love to connect! Learn more here.
program REACH
3,725
COACHES PLACED
25 (18-65)
MEDIAN AGE
64.8%
coaches serving in their community
38%/58%/4%
GENDER: FEMALE/MALE/non-binary
PROGRAM impact
3,971,500
total service hours
657,710
YOUTH SERVED
90.0%
youth report the lessons & skills learned will help them in life
86.6%
youth improved in at least one core sel competency
$27,006
est. savings for partner organizations per full-time coach
$640,201
est. federal cost-benefit return per full-time coach**
*Above numbers accurate as of October 25, 2023
UP2US COACH FILMS
In order to share the impact of the work our coaches do, we share their stories. Over the years, we have featured our annual Coach(es) of the Year in a film to highlight their story and the stories of the youth they serve.
View all our Up2Us Coach films below, on our Up2Us Coach Program YouTube Playlist.
Featuring our 2022 Coach of the Year, Jae Cooper, Harold Hunter Foundation - Brooklyn, NY.
Featuring our 2021 Coaches of the Year, Lionardo Quezada Guevara, Northern Virginia Wrestling Club, Fairfax, VA and Janeicia Neely, KIPP East Primary and The 18th Ward, New Orleans, LA
Featuring our 2019 Coach of the Year, Tiffany Corselli, Kids in the Game - New York, NY.
Featuring 2018 Coach of the Year, Tayquan Faulkner, Curtis High School - New York, NY.
Featuring our 2017 Coach of the Year, Delmy Del Cid, South Bronx United - New York, NY.
Featuring New Orleans coaches Mike and Gen.
Featuring our Operation Coach program and our 2015 Coach of the Year, Kleiton Almeida, Eneida M. Hartner Elementary School - Miami, FL.
Featuring our 2014 Coach of the Year. Israel Frank, Brotherhood Crusade - Los Angeles, CA.
Coach Stories From The Blog
We are pleased to announce our 2024 Coaches and VISTAs of the Year for their exemplary service and commitment to serving and mentoring students nationwide.
As an AmeriCorps-funded national service program, supported in California by California Volunteers, our LA-based staff and coaches were proud to serve their communities on March 31 for César Chávez Day.
Coach Katlyn serves as an Up2Us Sports coach at DC Girls Baseball. When asked who or what makes her feel empowered to be a coach and to explain the importance of women in sports breaking barriers and making a difference, this was her response.
AmeriCorps will lead the celebration of AmeriCorps Week 2024 during the agency’s 30th anniversary. The theme, AmeriCorps is not a moment, it’s a movement, demonstrates the hundreds of thousands of members and volunteers, and the millions of alumni, who have committed to get things done for America for the past three decades.
While February is officially Black History Month, Up2Us Sports honors and celebrates Black voices all year long. Black History Month is an opportunity to pay special tribute to their voices and stories. We asked our coaches to share their thoughts on what Black History Month means to them and why representation in coaching matters.
Ciera Jones - an Up2Us Sports Coach at partner program Friends of Baseball in Portland, Oregon - was named a 2024 National Winner of the Positive Coaching Alliance Coach of the Year Award. She has served since March 2023 thanks to funding from AmeriCorps.
Each January, MENTOR unites communities for National Mentoring Month. We are proud to join MENTOR by amplifying the voices of three of our AmeriCorps service members this month.
We talk a lot about grassroots change at Up2Us Sports. But what does that look like? Javan was a student at Dolores T. Aaron Academy in New Orleans, who was coached by Up2Us Coaches. A few years later, he is now making a difference as an Up2Us Coach himself. Read his story.
Between January 11th and January 17th, 2024, Up2Us Sports staff, VISTAs and coaches across the country participated in AmeriCorps’ MLK Day of Service.
On Wednesday, January 10th, Up2Us Sports’ NYC-based Program staff participated in a special event at Fordham University alongside our partner Equity Design, Bronx Health REACH, & PS 32.
The L.A. Clippers Foundation honored two Up2Us Coaches as Clippers Community Heroes of the Game on Wednesday, January 10, 2024. Coaches Jasmine Hernandez and Frank Martinez were honored at halftime the game.
As we close out 2023, we spoke with some of our coaches about what is most rewarding about being a coach, what made them want to become a coach, and who they want to say #ThanksCoach to.
Up2Us Sports coaches are leaders in the field of sports-based youth development (SBYD), but they often don't receive the recognition they deserve. Coaches' Corner is our way to show our appreciation for our incredible coaches who make positive change in their communities every day.
November 4th marks National Coach Appreciation Day, and we humbly request your continued support as we launch our annual #ThanksCoach campaign.
October is National Bullying Prevention Month and is held annually to bring awareness and education on preventing childhood bullying and promoting kindness, acceptance, and inclusion.
Our 2024-2025 Call for Partnerships is NOW OPEN! Up2Us Coach is an AmeriCorps-funded national service program that funds coach-mentors that work directly with youth.
Up2Us Sports, in partnership with the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF), announces that applications are now open for the fifth year of the LADF Field Champions program.
Up2Us Sports coach and Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation Field Champion DeAndre Dukes has seen success for his team on and off the field throughout 2023. Notably, he led the Dodgers Dreamteam Nike RBI Junior Division regional team to the championship game of MLB RBI World Series.
Hispanic Heritage Month runs annually from September 15 - October 15 and this year, Up2Us Sports’ Hispanic and Latinx coaches, VISTAs, and staff proudly shared about their Hispanic heritage, their culture and how it has shaped who they are and the work they do in the SBYD field.
[Photo Credit: Los Angeles Dodgers Photography / Juan Ocampo] Up2Us Coaches Pamela Ayala and Blair Harvey were two of five Dodgers Dreamteam coaches named a 2023 Dodgers Dreamteam Coach of the Year by the LA Dodgers Foundation (LADF).
The Up2Us Sports Coach and VISTA teams spent Monday, September 11 and Tuesday, September 12 honoring and remembering those lost and those impacted by the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Up2Us Sports coaches are leaders in the field of sports-based youth development (SBYD), but they often don't receive the recognition they deserve. Coaches' Corner is our way to show our appreciation for our incredible coaches who make positive change in their communities every day.
On Saturday, August 12, 2023, Up2Us Sports staff, coaches and program partner Peaceplayers Baltimore attended the Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse games at the USA Lacrosse Headquarters, Sparks Glencoe, Maryland.
Up2Us Sports coaches are leaders in the field of sports-based youth development (SBYD), but they often don't receive the recognition they deserve. Coaches' Corner is our way to show our appreciation for our incredible coaches who make positive change in their communities every day.
Up2Us Sports coaches are leaders in the field of sports-based youth development (SBYD), but they often don't receive the recognition they deserve. Coaches' Corner is our way to show our appreciation for our incredible coaches who make positive change in their communities every day.
Up2Us Sports coaches are leaders in the field of sports-based youth development (SBYD), but they often don't receive the recognition they deserve. Coaches' Corner is our way to show our appreciation for our incredible coaches who make positive change in their communities every day.
Two Up2Us Coach alumni have been named honorable mentions for the 2023 Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award, announced leading up to the ESPYs, held on Wednesday, July 12th, 2023.
For the eighth consecutive year, Up2Us Sports has received funding from PennSERVE, Pennsylvania’s state service commission. For the 2023-2024 year, the grant will support 13 Up2Us Sports coaches in areas of Philadelphia.
For the tenth consecutive year, Up2Us Sports has received funding from Volunteer Louisiana, the state service commission of Louisiana. For the 2023-2034 year, the $272,440 grant will support 26 Up2Us Sports coaches around the parish of New Orleans.
Up2Us Sports is excited to share that through a new partnership with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, they are hiring 50 Up2Us Sports AmeriCorps coach-mentors to serve in after-school programs across Miami-Dade Public Schools starting this fall.