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.

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.

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.

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 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.

Each June during Pride Month, Up2Us Sports celebrates and elevates the valuable contributions of our LGBTQ+ coaches, VISTAs, youth, staff and the broader community. We reaffirm our commitment to stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community in their ongoing struggle against discrimination and injustice.

Danielle Lugo is an Up2Us Sports Program Manager in the Los Angeles region and was recently recognized as a 2023 Laureus Sport for Good Emerging Leader. 

Up2Us Sports Chicago has a new team member, but he is not new to the sports-based youth development (SBYD) field. Chicago native Jeffrey Harris is a former Up2Us Sports coach and is the newest Program Manager in his hometown.

Women’s History Month is a celebration of women’s contributions to history, culture and society. Up2Us Sports recognizes the powerful impact that women have had on sports and in coaching and given our #SheChangesTheGame initiative, we wanted to hear from our own coaches.

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.

On Tuesday, January 17, 2023, Up2Us Sports staff and coaches across the country participated in AmeriCorps’ MLK Day of Service. The Up2Us Coach and VISTA programs are funded by AmeriCorps, so it was only fitting that our terrific service members took this day of service and dedicated it to Dr. King’s honor.

With November being National Career Development Month, we wanted to highlight the work that Up2Us Sports has been doing through our Career Readiness program and hear from one of our full-time staff members, Brandon Pack.

We kick off #ThanksCoach on November 4th, which is National Coach Appreciation Day. Our goal is to highlight the powerful role that coaches play in the lives of youth, and to raise the funds needed to train and place more coaches with programs across the country.

Our Up2Us Sports coaches and VISTAS give back to their communities, but their achievements and impact do not stop at the end of their service terms. The Alumni Spotlight series shines a light on service members and their experiences.

Our Up2Us Sports Coach and VISTA teams spent Monday, September 12, 2022 honoring and remembering those lost and those impacted by September 11, 2001.

Our Up2Us Sports coaches and VISTAS give back to their communities, but their achievements and impact do not stop at the end of their service terms. The Alumni Spotlight series shines a light on service members and their experiences.

Every May, the Administration for Community Living leads the nation’s observance of Older Americans Month. Up2Us Sports is fortunate to have several older AmeriCorps service members and we are excited to share a few examples of how two of our older Up2Us Sports coaches are serving their communities through coaching local youth sports.

Up2Us Sports launched a Lunch & Learn Series for our She Changes the Game initiative in order to educate sports-based youth development programs about diversifying recruitment strategies, the importance and benefits of having women staff and coaches, and the progress we’ve made in advancing opportunities for women and girls in sport.

Welcome to March, a time of year in the sports world brimming with what is most aptly described as Madness: a fanatical fusion of excitement, anticipation, and suspense, plus the ever-so-palpable promise of basketball history in the making. March Madness is to sports fans as Women’s History Month can be to all of us!

On Tuesday, March 15th, we celebrated AmeriCorps Week and the incredible work of our Up2Us Sports' AmeriCorps service members with an inspiring virtual event.

In response to the growing mental health crisis that continues to negatively impact the lives of American youth, Up2Us Sports has launched a New York-based pilot program with support from the Booth Ferris Foundation: the Coaching Sports for Mental Wellness initiative.