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!
This month, we spoke with Adia Smith, a coach at Bronx Lacrosse.
When you first hear the word “coach,” you probably think of someone who teaches kids how to play a sport — maybe someone who plans practices, or organizes drills, or gives instruction from the sidelines.
But being an Up2Us Sports coach often means going beyond what’s required of typical sports coaches. It means helping kids learn not just sports skills, but life skills — teaching them how to become leaders both on and off the field.
And if there is anyone who embodies what it means to be an Up2Us Sports coach, it's Adia Smith.
Adia, a 26-year-old Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) and current graduate student at Teachers College, Columbia University, has spent the past year as an Up2Us Sports coach at Bronx Lacrosse, an academic and sports-based youth development program in New York City.
Even after her time in the Peace Corps came to an end, Adia knew she still wanted to serve her community, so becoming a coach was the perfect fit for her. “While I have not played lacrosse since high school,” Adia said, “I saw being an Up2Us [Sports] coach and working at Bronx Lacrosse as an opportunity to serve, be a positive role model, and empower youth.”
“While I have not played lacrosse since high school, I saw being an Up2Us [Sports] coach and working at Bronx Lacrosse as an opportunity to serve, be a positive role model, and empower youth.”
Adia’s role as an Up2Us Sports coach primarily involves coaching middle school girls lacrosse, but that isn’t the only way that she has served the Bronx Lacrosse community during her service term. With the support of Bronx Lacrosse students, Adia created the Bronx Lacrosse Youth Council, a space where, in her words, students in the program “can voice their concerns, while creating opportunities for them to have an effect on their community.”
“The idea for Youth Council came after having multiple conversations with students about what they would like to see more of in the program,” Adia said. “Many of the students I talked to felt like their voice was not being heard or that they felt left out of the conversation. [But] Youth Council allows the students to have a seat at the table in the decision-making processes of the program.”
Although the Youth Council has only formed recently, the students have already begun to strategize and discuss what issues they would like to address as a group. Right now, they are planning a movie night for the parents and students at Bronx Lacrosse, and Adia is excited about what the group will be able to accomplish together. “[Youth Council] will allow students to have… a sense of ownership over projects they feel are needed in the community,” she said. “[It] creates an amazing opportunity for those involved to become advocates, resources, and positive role models for their peers.”
Developing the Youth Council also ties into Adia’s coursework at Columbia, where she is pursuing a master’s degree in International Educational Development with a specialization in Curriculum and Teaching. To earn her degree, Adia must complete an integrative project, a capstone research project which is similar to a thesis.
“One small motivating factor behind my development of a Youth Council was my integrative project,” Adia said. “My project discusses the importance of youth leadership and empowering youth and the role that sports can play in a young person’s life, especially in their development of leadership skills.”
As the main part of her project, Adia created a curriculum which serves as the foundation for the Youth Council.
“The curriculum I designed is intended to be student-centered and eventually student-led,” Adia said. “We talk about what it means and looks like to be a leader, ways that [the students] can help their communities, and ways that they can motivate others to fight for the issues they care about.”
“The biggest lesson I have learned [from coaching] is to approach every new opportunity with authenticity and an open mind, and to speak up and advocate for yourself and others!”
Even though Adia’s service term as an Up2Us Sports coach ended in February 2022, she was glad she was able to leave her mark on the Bronx Lacrosse organization through the creation of the Youth Council and “offer some long-term support to the students and the program before ending [her] term.”
But despite the fact that her service term is over, Adia doesn’t want to stop serving her community, and she plans to continue working in the education sector. She has lived in seven different states throughout her life and loves to travel, and eventually, she said, she wants to “move to a warm, sunny country like Spain or Portugal.”
And regardless of what the future holds, coaching has made her well-prepared for whatever comes next for her.
“The biggest lesson I have learned [from coaching],” Adia said, “is to approach every new opportunity with authenticity and an open mind, and to speak up and advocate for yourself and others!”
Adia served as Up2Us Sports coach from February 2021 through February 2022 at Bronx Lacrosse in The Bronx thanks to support from AmeriCorps.
