Promoting Sport To Students

Matthew Baird Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellow 2007

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Contents Section One: Aim; Background Information Page 3 Section Two: Grassroots Sport: A Nationwide Context Page 4 Section Three: SPARK in San Diego Page 6 Section Three: America Scores in New York City Page Section Four: Obesity and Sport Page 18 Section Five: Conclusion Page 19

Front Cover: Team training for New York Scores; Above: New York Scores United in action

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Promoting Sport to Students Aim: With 17% of fifteen year olds now obese and £55m being cut from Sport England’s budget (not to mention the knock-on effects of England’s dismal failure to qualify for Euro 2008), these are worrying times for sport in this country. And with the nation’s sporting achievements and facilities under ever more scrutiny as we approach the 2012 Olympics, what can be done to improve grassroots sports in this country? Who should we be looking to? Although the American model may be a strange choice to analyse when dealing with ‘soccer’, this is precisely what I aim to do with my Winston Churchill Trust Fellowship in 2007. My research project will analyse two institutions in America – America Scores in New York, SPARK in San Diego - that are counteracting the trend of students no longer participating in sport. Background: As a Student Liaison member, magazine editor and sport assistant at City of Bristol College (COBC), I have firsthand experience of how both under-funding and an emphasis on academic achievements are failing to entice apathetic students to continue playing sport. Since being employed at the college in 2002, the lack of sporting facilities for students at the South West’s biggest higher education institution has alarmed and frustrated me. The college, which attracts some 40,000 students from diverse backgrounds and often low-income areas, fails to boast a football team, an outdoor pitch of any form or a swimming pool. The new flagship campuses of College Green and Ashley Down have no sporting facilities in the slightest, leaving it up to the 1960’s constructions of Bedminster (one sports hall) and Lawrence Weston (a small school hall complete with very breakable windows!) to provide any form of sporting complex. What’s more, if recruiting students for sport wasn’t tough enough already, in 2006 the college launched an ‘Activity Card’ which meant all students, even those from the most economically deprived areas, had to pay £10 to partake in sports. Combined with the NUS Card also costing £10, this left many on the sidelines. With facilities and charges like these, its hardly surprising that 70% of British students leaving school this year will no longer play sport1 and the number of obese fifteen year olds is set to rise to a fifth by 2010. My analysis will largely focus on football, especially when we earn that only 10% of adult males play football compared to 57% of schoolboys. With statistics like this and players from different nationalities flooding the Premiership (40% are home-grown compared to 70% in the Italian League2), there are crucial decisions to be made on the future of Britain’s favourite sport. But from the affluent suburbs of San Diego, California to the inner-city streets of Harlem, New York City, will I find any answers to how institutions can help prevent obesity and tear students from the Playstation and onto the pitch?

1 Liberal Democrat Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, Don Foster, July 2006, http://www.bookshop.libdems.org.uk/news 2 Trevor Brooking, quoted in Four Four Two, August 2007, p108

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Grassroots Sport: A Nationwide Context Although my experiences in Bristol have been frustrating and disheartening, it seems, sadly, that these are by no means exclusive to grassroots sport in the West Country. A recent Department of Education Study has found that 60 percent of 11-year-olds are physically illiterate, they don’t possess the ABC of physical movement: agility, balance and co-ordination3. As the celebrated Irish midfielder and current youth coach at Arsenal, Liam Brady, states "It's culture, choice. Kids don't have to go beyond their front doors to amuse themselves. Football, essentially, was always a working-class game but the standard of living has gone up. I would like our lads to be practising what they have learned at the academy but the truth is they are probably at home on their computers.”4 I’m guilty of it myself, but when you can stay indoors and be Ronaldinho on the Playstation or go out in the cold and be a middling Sunday league player, the lazy option often wins. And with computer consoles getting better and better, this isn’t a problem that is going away. Derek Mapp, the chairman of Sport England, is the man charged with the target of getting two million more people active before the 2012 Olympics. The games were supposed to be a catalyst for grassroots and community sport, but Tessa Jowell has announced that an additional £675m has been directed away from the National Lottery coffers. Sport England’s lottery income will be slashed by a further £55.9m in 2009, bringing its contribution to the Stratford project to £395m. Its total annual income is £265m (the Treasury loses £8.2bn a year because of the obesity ‘timebomb’5). According to The Guardian’s Andrew Culf, Mapp is dismayed at the 8% cut, which will result in 186,000 fewer people being given the chance to participate in sport. “The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has the smallest budget in government (ditto COBC) but this is the biggest infrastructure project anywhere. Those who participate regularly in sport are healthier, there is less crime in the streets, there is less obesity, it creates better business leaders. The benefits of participation are rather more than finding another champion for the 400metres. It is not just about getting a six-pack.” Mapp suggests that the latest cut will mean his target will automatically be cut by 186,000 people, based on the calculation that coaching and facilities to create an active lifestyle costs £300 per person per year. “Club nights become nightclubs when teenagers find a night in Yates is better than turning up to play football on Saturday mornings,” Mapp concludes, a problem that I’ve witnessed as a Sunday football manager when only nine players turn up due to the others suffering from hangovers. According to research conducted by The Oxford Mail, the Sunday leagues are vanishing; with up to half of all clubs in some areas folding, and almost a million men nationwide giving up the game since 1997.6 3 Four Four Two, August 2007, p108 4 Liam Brady, www.guardian.co.uk/sport November 13, 2007 5 Andrew Culf, The Guardian, Grassroots Participation is the Loser as Sport England Props Up the Games, March 22, 2007 6 The Oxford Mail, December 16, 2006, ‘FOOTBALL: Now it's never on a Sunday’, http://archive.oxfordmail.net/2004/12/16/6422.html.

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What’s more, Bob Roberts, The Daily Mirror’s Deputy Political Editor, has revealed that hundreds of millions of pounds due to be spent on grassroots sports has been left languishing in Government bank accounts. Figures showed only £6.8m of £750m promised for sports investment in Britain’s most run-down areas has actually been spent7, despite former Culture Secretary Chris Smith launching plans for 30 “Sport Action Zones” in Jan 2000 to “boost the health and well-being of the poorest children and keep them off the streets.” The then Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Menzies Campbell, a former Olympic Sprinter no less, also claimed: “This government has broken its promise to provide sports activities and coaching in our most deprived areas. Sports clubs can cut crime and anti-social behaviour. By getting involved in sport, young people gain confidence, respect and self-discipline. All of these qualities can help to stop the downward spiral towards a life of crime.”8 While Campbell’s ideas about sport solving society’s ills may seem ambitious, the lunchtimes at the college when we didn’t provide football saw a notable upturn in incidents, including vandalism and bullying. Sports Minister Richard Caborn’s response was to state: “Through programmes such as Kickz, run by the football federation, and StreetGames we have taken sport into deprived areas and used it to tackle the anti-social behaviour across the country.”9 Kickz, a partnership of Premiership and Football League clubs, offers youths the chance to take part in sports sessions 48 weeks of the year. Activities include football leagues and coaching sessions, with educational classes about issues such as healthy lifestyles, the dangers of drug use and carrying weapons also offered. The Football Foundation is investing £4.7 million into the scheme, the Metropolitan Police Service £3 million and £1 million through the Premier League’s good causes fund. But the Nationwide approach still has not been implemented (Bristol students wanting to be join Kickz would have to travel to Birmingham to do so), and when we learn that the Premier League income from the last television rights deal was £2.7bn and they have only put forward £1m (the equivalent of what England Captain John Terry earns in 40 days) its clear much more can be done. The demands of Terry and fellow ‘role-model’ Rio Ferdinand, who both initially refused substantial new contract offers, is clearly hindering the clubs’ investment in projects, with Ferdinand’s Manchester United recently disbanding their women’s football outfit. StreetGames, Caborn’s other response, ‘delivers sport to the doorstep of young people who are not members of sports clubs and are waiting for the chance to join in’10. But with only seven National Centres set up by Winter 2007 when the aim was twenty-four, its clear that students in Bristol, with the nearest StreetGames reaches being in Cornwall or Birmingham, will have to wait a whole lot longer before sport arrives at their doorstep.

7 Bob Roberts, The Daily Mirror, ‘Labour’s Betrayal’, April 21, 2007, p4 8 Roberts, p4 9 Roberts, p4 10 www.streetgames.co.uk

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SPARK, San Diego, California In June 1989, a team of researchers and educators at San Diego University received funding from the Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, to create, implement, and evaluate an elementary physical education program that could eventually become a nationwide model. SPARK (Sports, Play and Active Recreation for Kids) became a research-based organisation dedicated to creating, implementing and evaluating programs that promote lifelong wellness. SPARK strives to improve the health of children and adolescents by disseminating evidence-based physical activity and nutrition programs that provide curriculum, staff development, follow-up support, and equipment to teachers of Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade (14 year old) students. So far SPARK has reached 2,000 schools, organisations and agencies nationwide, with the programs running from early childhood (ages 3-5) to elementary, middle and high school physical education, after-school active recreation (ages 5-14) and Lifelong Wellness (Nutrition and behaviour change for grades 4-6). Each SPARK lesson includes two types of class activities: a) health-related fitness activities targeted the development of muscular strength, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility. b) Skill-related fitness activities targeted the development of sport-related skills. As program founder Thomas McKenzie states: “I’ve been in this field for more than 30 years. Only in the last decade has overwhelming evidence emerged to show the impact that PE has in reducing young people’s risk for serious health problems, including cardio vascular disease, obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Finding ways to increase the physical education of children should enable future generations of adults to be healthier and enjoy a better quality of life as it helps society to handle health care demands and costs.” While overweight and obesity levels climb, the minutes children spend in physical activity has decreased. Because school administrators view PE as reducing instruction time in core academic subjects, there is an historical resistance to physical education. SPARK is designed to maximise class/session activity time without sacrificing learning. But can the project provide a solution to the overweight and obesity problem plaguing America’s youth (28 million obese children)? My Experience Given that more professional research papers (35 and counting) demonstrating positive outcomes have been published about the SPARK study than any other physical education program, the project wasn’t hard to come by on the Internet. What enticed me to contact San Diego (nothing to do with the year-round sun and beaches, of course!) was the scientific emphasis on proving that physical education need not come at the expense of academia, something that the powers-that-be at COBC are failing to comprehend. Another crucial factor to my research was the project being cited as a "school based solution" to America’s growing health care crisis (the U.S. Surgeon General’s report on Health and Physical Activity), which would,

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unlike countless glossy magazines or educational programme co-ordinators, aim to show that improving your diet isn’t enough to tackle weight issues. Acting as statistical research to the feedback that I have received from tutors in Bristol about how focused in the classroom their (often disruptive) students have been after a lunchtime session of football, SPARK has proven results that show SPARK PE kids did as well or better on standardized tests despite 200-300% more time out of the classroom. With other improvements in fitness, sport skills, enjoyment of PE, activity levels away from school, and the quantity and quality of teacher instruction, I soon found myself on a train from L.A to the eminently more likeable San Diego where the program’s Associate Director, Bruce Bettey, was waiting. Staff Focus: Bruce Bettey Bruce was employed as a sports coach in Illinois for 11-13 year olds for over two decades but joined SPARK when it was in its infancy after ‘retiring’. What’s the difference between your school and one that uses SPARK? Bruce: “P.E in primary schools is often not taught by a specialist, so SPARK has developed a specialized, user-friendly program that all teachers can use and/or modify to their own environment, for example ‘All Run Kick-Ball’ which is like baseball with a football where all of the players are moving at once. With metropolises like Los Angeles having 50 students per class, SPARK is not aimed at elite athletes but the average and below average sport players as only a few children at most will make it professional. It’s an inclusive program that reaches those who are disillusioned, there’s no elimination and, in-turn, hopefully no ridiculing of the less skilled. Like the carrot and the stick, we use incentives for motivation and provide rewards for those who have participated well, not just those who have been the most successful. Fitness should be fun, not work.” Working in education there often seems to be a constant tug-of-war between the academia and physical education departments, with the former being the winner in terms of budget and student time. “I’ve always found those who are in charge of the funding departments at schools and colleges are those who do not enjoy sport or perhaps have had bad experiences of it. Hopefully at SPARK we are reaching those kind of people (below average athletes) who may be future heads of colleges, so getting funding might not be so hard in the future! But seriously, as our research shows, more time in P.E doesn’t detract from grades. But does your project then come at the expense of those gifted athletes? SPARK has improved students at greater rates. By using smaller groups and more balls (one for two people) we have allowed the students to have more touches of the ball and thus improve on their skills. In addition to our all-inclusive games like ‘All Run Kick-Ball’ and ‘Alaskan Snowball’ (see below), we get teachers to aim to use as few words as possible to maximise activity time, with our after-school classes having even less constraints and orders.

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With the prevalence of fast-food joints (in addition to the Burger Kings and McDonalds in Britain, from suburbia to the inner-cities America has a Denny’s, Wendy’s and Taco Bell on every street corner (two are outside the SPARK office where we are talking in fact), are you facing a losing battle with obesity due to the diets (or lack of) of the children? “I am part of the San Diego Child Obesity Coalition which addresses school food, and recently I’ve found that finger pointing from various departments has been replaced by the joining of hands. Health insurance companies are realising that they can save money in the future by tackling obesity today. In a fairly recent instance, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) took the bold step of eliminating the sale of sugary drinks on all of its campuses. What’s more, a new California state law also says children must do 100 minutes of P.E per week.”

Although a world away from the terraced streets of South Bristol, the affluent suburban sprawl of San Diego’s southern district of Chula Vista is still facing the same problems relating to obesity. Driving everywhere (usually in SUVs!) is considered the norm (on the beautiful late summer day I visited I failed to spot another walker) and fast-food outlets litter the anonymous retail parks. Waiting for me in the sun-drenched Hedenkamp School, however, is Ken McFadden, a man whose infectious energy should be connected to the national grid. Hugely active and charismatic (if a little manic!), Ken was the butt of all sport jokes at school so became a sports coach to make sure “kids never feel the way I did at school.” I am here to witness Ken teach a dozen would-be SPARK teachers the value of sport in the curriculum. Aims of the workshop/program:

- To motivate teachers to embrace new ideas and apply those ideas to their teaching - To modify the school environment to make it more conducive to physical activity promotion - To facilitate lasting change

The first thing we are made to do is put on a Pedometer, which measures the number of steps we take in a day, something that SPARK children are made to do. Each week the totals are added up before rewards are handed out for those students who beat the targeted number of steps set out on the Monday. Although not exclusively based on soccer, Ken’s music based interaction with multi-partners (square dancers have been known to cover 5 miles in one evening) is one such way to break down the social circles and cliques that

Training Day with Ken McFadden Hedenkamp Elementary School, Chula Vista, San Diego, CA K-2 and 3-6 Standard Workshops, October 8th

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dominate the classroom through exercise. As I have witnessed at my lunchtime football sessions in Bristol, the previously frosty divide between mechanics and plasterers, learning difficulties and day students has largely disappeared once the students are placed in mixed teams. Adopting the methods of SPARK, Ken has produced a list of rules for PE with the aim of removing ridicule whilst improving skills: Never make kids stand in lines waiting to play Don’t have kids pick the teams as it can cause humiliation Don’t use fitness as a punishment (e.g. making students run round the track) Don’t focus exclusively on star athletes (they get attention in other clubs) Don’t group by gender Don’t share one ball for 30 kids Don’t run laps, run back and forth so no one knows how far the lesser athletes have run.

The games I witness Ken demonstrating to the teachers involved a no shooting, only passing version of basketball where points are scored for consecutive passes (see also America Scores) and ‘Alaskan Snowball’. As the above photo hopefully shows, this all-active adaptation of baseball finds a no-waiting ethos that sees the team running as a unit round the bases once the batter has struck the ball. The fielders then work as one united organism by having to pass the ball through each member before reaching the bowler. Therefore, every athlete is involved during every play, eliminating the chances of disinterested students standing idling around.

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Teacher Feedback: “I can say that the students’ awareness of what constitutes a fitness lifestyle has definitely been increased. Not only is the planning extremely minimal but the set up requires nothing but enthusiasm. I now feel competent to teach physical education to my fifth graders.” Academia Vs Education Having developed out of an academic environment, SPARK is leading the fight to give physical education more emphasis on the curriculum. But does the project have the scientific back up to get sceptical heads of departments to loosen the purse strings? The studies below suggests they just might. In her paper, ‘Why is 30 minutes of Physical Activity Important?’11 Jean Blaydes, a Neurokinesiologist, found exercise causing these benefits:

- Repetitive gross motor movement strengthens secondary Dendritic branching (the part of the neuron that remembers details)

- Neurogenesis: Growth of new bran cells in the hippocampus - Oxygen and glucose (brain fuel) get to the brain faster - The Vestibular system is activated for better balance, enabling the

student to better read numbers and letters to right on the page - Exercise activates brain chemicals that reduce stress and elevate self-

esteem The opposite of exercise, sitting in a chair, inhibits learning. When a human sits for longer than about seventeen minutes, blood begins to pool in the hamstrings and calf muscles, pulling needed oxygen and glucose from the brain. Melatonin kicks in because the brain thinks it’s at a rest since no navigation has occurred recently. The learner gets lethargic and struggles to focus – thus learning declines. By eliminating exercise and physical activity from the school day, students are at a disadvantage for learning. The Ontario Curriculum, a Ministry of Education that administers publicly funded schools in Ontario, has proved that students who participate in physical activity each day exhibit improved memory, concentration, communication, problem solving, and leadership abilities, which improve their learning in other subject areas. SPARK Results In Middle School PE, SPARK increased moderate to vigorous physical activity in classes by almost 20%12. Observational studies of pre-SPARK PE classes, particularly in elementary schools, showed low levels of physical activity, poor quality of instruction and a quantity of PE class time that fails to meet state standards. Up to 80% of schools that adopted SPARK, meanwhile, reported sustained use up to four years later, more frequent PE classes, program sustainability being similar in both advantaged and disadvantaged schools, and students

11 Jean Blaydes, www.actionbasedlearning.com/articles 12 Thomas McKenzie, ‘Student Activity Levels in Middle School’, www.rohan.sdsu.edu

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receiving the study well. These changes may help to prevent obesity and introduce children to a lifelong physical activity lifestyle.13 The well-documented increases of obesity and diabetes bring added urgency to recommendations for improved PE. Schools are ‘unlikely to invest in PE materials and training very often’ (see City of Bristol College’s lack of equipment, pitches and pay for coaches), so evidence that a one-year investment in PE can create a program that is sustained for at least four years may encourage more schools to adopt research-based PE programs. Schools with no previous standard PE program in place were more likely to continue using SPARK than schools with an existing PE curriculum, suggesting that a specific program such as SPARK may be most useful to the many elementary schools building a PE program from a low baseline. 80% of SPARK users reported use of more than 2 years 90% used SPARK methods for 50% of PE lessons Adequate equipment for 80% of SPARK users and only 50% of non-users More time lost changing activities in non-users Users are 4.7 times more likely to participate in 30 min of physical activity per day than non-users. Lifelong Wellness The company’s Lifelong Wellness programme – an attempt to educate about diet and reduce hours of ‘low-voltage’ activities like television watching and computer playing - is unquestionably beneficial. With students experiencing a lack of parental support, family involvement is strongly encouraged with students receiving extra rewards if family members are included in their physical activity after-school. Topics include goal setting, calories and fats, eating in moderation, healthy food choices, healthy and unhealthy ways to change the body, positive self-talk and places to be active in the community. Program Prices The PREMIUM package would include Staff Development in two full-day workshops, all organizational planning provided by SPARK staff, in-service evaluations and debriefing forms compiled. All handouts and teaching materials for up to 40 attendees prepared, and teachers eligible for a unit of credit at San Diego State University per program attended. Follow-up: "SPARK Star Training" & materials (folders, disc), lifetime consultation for attendees via phone and e-mail and a "SPARK Certification" for each attendee. COST: $4,499.00 + Curricula, Transportation, and Equipment The STANDARD Package includes: Staff Development: 1 full-day workshop (6 hours), all organizational planning provided by SPARK staff, handouts & teaching materials for all attendees prepared, in-service evaluations, and debriefing forms compiled. Follow-up: SPARK Star Training & materials and lifetime consultation/support for attendees. COST: $2,499.00 + Curricula, Transportation, and Equipment

13 Evaluating the Sustainability of SPARK Physical Education: A Case Study of Translating Research into Practice, James F. Sallis, Thomas L. McKenzie, Paul Rosengard, 2005

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America Scores, New York City Having been in contact with Dave Tyahlia at the U.S Soccer Federation in Washington D.C., which has partnered with numerous soccer programs aimed at reaching youth who are no longer likely to play sport or ‘at-risk’ of becoming obese, it was decided that the most suitable project for my thesis would be the America Scores institution. Working primarily with minority young players from American public schools and, like my coaching in Bristol, in disadvantaged urban areas, the highly regarded America Scores program goes into some of the toughest city environments and installs soccer and creative writing after-school classes five-days-a-week. Working in over 15 cities across the nation, America Scores provides a host of learning resources to education establishments and has been running for over a decade. Dealing with the same types of challenges and problems we are facing in Britain (currently in the U.S. 28% of children are overweight and 23% are at-risk of being overweight (BMI Status by CDC Guidelines), the primary intended outcomes of America Scores are: - Improved performance in language arts - Improved (or maintained) levels of physical fitness - Increased community awareness and responsibility - Increased cooperation and teamwork - Increased self-confidence My Experience: Upon choosing the New York chapter of the non-profit enterprise, I headed to the Big Apple for a three-week period in October. Excited, if a little sceptical about how seriously the budding footballers would take their poetry lessons, I hooked up with Catherine Sui (NY Scores Executive Director), Andre Bedeau (Athletic Director), Renee Neier (Education Director) and David Sykes (FC Travel Team Head Coach) to witness just how, or if, New York Scores combats student obesity and apathy with a dual focus on soccer and creative writing. Working on a daily-basis with the quartet from their office in mid-town Manhattan, I was given an opportunity to experience the day-to-day running of an operation that reaches 300 students in the Harlem and Washington Heights boroughs. But what ideas could be taken back to Britain? Funding: With educational institutions up-and-down England struggling to provide funds for sport, what ways can they look to America Scores for guidance? With little or nothing coming from the schools in way of donations, sponsorship is the answer. Starbucks have given half a million dollars to the national set-up, Adidas $250,000 and anyone from local arts foundations to Disney have made up the rest. Although relying on sponsorship may seem a risky strategy in the current ‘credit crunch’, funding for non-profit organizations around NYC is up 50% in 2007 (even with the weak dollar), with the coordinated, not competitive, approach of the city’s non-profits highly evident at a celebratory end of year function I attended.

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Staff Training With a sizeable number of sport coaches at American schools not being familiar with soccer rules and having interest but no experience (remember the sport still falls behind what David Mamet calls the ‘frontier sports’14 of American Football, baseball and basketball in the nation’s interests), the Scores team to train the coaches (550 nationwide) before each term. Each coach is presented with the extensive 240 page ‘Soccer Coach Manual’ compiled by former Mexican Women International and America Scores Director of Soccer, Maricela Shukie, which works as a dossier with rules, training tips and contact info. Referees, coach or ex-players will take part in the training, with the Positive Coaching Alliance (through partnership with more than 1,100 youth sports organizations nationwide, PCA has conducted 5,000 workshops for youth sports coaches, parents and athletes) also involved. The manual believes that an excessive focus on winning conflicts with the fundamental values and beliefs of America Scores Without the pressure of intense competition a more supportive, productive and enjoyable atmosphere is created. When relating to urban soccer of the like displayed in Harlem and, indeed, back in Bristol, Sean Wilsey notes – and my childhood memories of playing with tennis balls, balloons etc testify - that space is the most significant challenge but ‘soccer’s universality is its simplicity – the game can be played anywhere with anything. Urban children kick the can on concrete and rural kids kick a rag wrapped around a rag, barefoot, on dirt’15. America Scores can adapt a basketball court or mark chalk outlines on black top (tarmac), and this is something, with safety regulations in mind, which I must attempt at COBC in the campuses so sorely lacking in facilities. Student Sessions ‘With teamwork as the unifying value, New York Scores inspires youth to lead healthy lifestyles, be engaged students and become agents of change in their communities’. New York Scores Promotional Material Although the project’s students were largely from a younger age bracket than my 14-18 year olds in Bristol, the overriding consensus I got from America is that we need to tackle obesity and (potential) apathy before the students reach college age. As the SPARK project later in the thesis is successfully achieving, PE can be fun for students with various abilities, and those with lesser skills need not be put off a lifetime of sport because of painful experiences on the field at school age. The New York Scores programs run from Monday-Friday after school for 10 weeks during each fall and spring term. Students participate in soccer practice two days per week, poetry and language enrichment two days per week and soccer matches with the other schools one day per week. A.S. pay school tutors from $24 – 31 per hour for up to ten hours per-week to coach 32 students in each school. Currently this chapter of A.S has over 300 public school students and 28 public school teachers in Harlem and Washington

14 David Mamet, Observer Sport Monthly, October 2007, p11 15 Sean Wilsey, ‘World Cup 2002: Recap’

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Heights. The students are asked to pay a $10 registration fee (a la COBC) but this includes free shirts, shorts, socks, shin-pads and boots.

The two-hour session I witnessed on October 29th (see photo) started with stretches and exercises that emphasized the health benefits and importance of warming-up the body before physical exertion (something I rarely have a chance to do in Bristol due to the sub-one hour session time). With their bodies limbered up, the students (split 50-50 between boys and girls and predominantly of Latino or Afro-American heritage) were then put through a set of skills exercises with the emphasis on building technique and not scoring goals. Working in small groups within a small area with no more than six players to a ball, points were scored not by hitting the back of the net but by completing five or more consecutive passes, thus building up passing skills and introducing the students to ways to gain space on the pitch and the importance of playing in triangles to keep possession. After some one-on-one dribbling exercises were completed, a ‘scrimmage’ (a game) was set-up for the final 30 minutes in which the student’s excitedly tested out any new tricks and passing moves. Although the standard was of varying quality – let’s not forget some of the athletes have only been playing a short space of time - the students’ enthusiasm was clear for all to see. Unlike my lunchtimes in Bristol where girls are almost certain to not attend, the Scores session saw an even mix of both genders and a group of competitive, active girls that were more than a match for the male members of the team. But aside from the evident enjoyment and bonding being experienced at the session, did the America Scores project have any certifiable proof that its “unique” combination of language arts and soccer was working to improve health?

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Reaching Our Goals – America Scores National Evaluation Report Using both a running test and parent/guardian surveys from over 1,300 youth and hundreds of adults, the Philliber Research Associates (PRA), an independent firm nationally recognized as a leader in youth development research, conducted the America Scores evaluation. Over 12 SCORES sites were included in the evaluation, 3,500 children and youth participated in the program during the academic year. Of these participants: 50-50 were girls and boys, the average age was 9.6, 47% were Hispanic, 29% black and the rest from other racial backgrounds, 80 to 95% were eligible for free or reduced price school dinners. PRA found the following results: Improved Aerobic Capacity: From fall to spring, SCORES participants were able to run an average of 21% farther during the same period of time, representing an increase that is clinically and statistically significant. When asked ‘At SCORES I get a lot of exercise’, 85% of students totally agreed. Weight-loss: The overall percentage of overweight or at risk of overweight had fallen by 2%, with most losses by the girls. Self-Confidence: Coaches and parents overwhelmingly agreed that participating in SCORES helped children feel better about themselves, including helping them become more independent, more involved and more outgoing. Community Awareness: Results provided evidence that SCORES participants believe it is important to help their communities, and that they are capable of contributing to change. Change in time spent reading or exercising: 94% of parents believed SCORES was helping their children learn more about poetry. 98% reported that their children liked participating “a lot.” Change of time spent reading (up 61%, no change 27%), change of time spent exercising (up 61%, no change 33%). Increased Competitiveness and Self-Confidence: Evaluation results showed that the skill-building exercises (of the like I witnessed 29/10) led to increased competencies and self-confidence in those who participated. There was a significant statistical increase from fall to spring in passing, playing specific positions and ball handling. Parents overwhelmingly agreed that young people learnt “lots of new skills.” Community Involvement America Scores also gives participants the opportunity to be involved in their local community in its partnership with ‘CASES’, a community project that offers rehabilitation for troubled students. During 2006, teams were involved in more than 120 service-learning projects. These included efforts to clean up schools, parks and other neighbourhood locations, information campaigns to educate other students about timely needs and issues, and fundraising efforts to collect goods for those in need. 75% of students strongly agreed that they liked helping their community “a lot.” Coaches also reported that students displayed an increased community awareness and greater interest in helping others (they “learned to get along”), which backs-up the feeling from tutors, support workers and myself at the college that sport can allow a myriad of different groups to bond in positive ways and break down social boundaries.

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Report Summary The results of the evaluation suggest that America Scores is an innovative program that helps participants in lower-income urban schools achieve a very diverse set of positive outcomes. The combination of soccer, language arts and community activities coupled with the high percentage of minority players and equal numbers of boys and girls, make SCORES unique amongst other youth programs. Creative Writing Throughout 2007, the New York SCORES poet-athletes used the “Writing for the Community” curriculum to learn about what it means to be an active member of their community. They followed the theme “Tolerance and our Global Community” to learn about issues affecting the local and global community. Students explored topics such as racism and prejudice, tolerance and peace through song writing, art, poetry, and puppetry. Kicker Magazine Much like The Source magazine I edited at COBC, America Scores also has a publication produced by students for students that has a positive motivational effect. In a medium that students are more likely to read, the full colour, A4 glossy magazine publishes the original poetry the students produce in their twice-weekly lessons, thus providing ‘an essential reward for their hard work and diligence’ over the term. Printed by Futbol Mundial, the Fall 2007 edition offers some tips on practice, fitness and ball skills. The T.E.A.M.W.O.R.K Section offers advice on staying healthy through nutrition, ‘Soccer Snack’ ideas and the importance of drinking water (drink 8oz every 20 minutes during practice). It also includes tips on how to generate and maintain good teamwork, and creates a metaphor between nutrients, vitamins and minerals and the positions of a football team (players as nutrients, coaches as vitamins that create energy, goalkeeper as source of protection). Staff Focus: David Sykes An English Coach from Bath, Somerset, David is completing an MA in NYC and works as the Travel Team Head Coach for NY Scores three-times per week. David picks the Saturday travel team from all of the Scores athletes, motivates the players and transports them to the league games. Due to a lack of space and time, and the fact the top players are already fit, David’s Wednesday night sessions focus on improving ball skills and teamwork. Once again I witnessed a 3-on-3-possession game where points are awarded not when goals are scored, but when 5 successive passes are completed (something I’ll be implementing in sessions back home). Although the lack of shoes was a noticeable problem with poet-athletes wearing studs on hard courts, there was enough raw talent displayed by a couple of players to suggest the Scores team could be the start of something promising. Dig a little deeper, however, and it becomes apparent that these players have an uphill struggle to progress in soccer. Whispers about an ingrained snobbery of MLS scouts, who only tend to search affluent suburbia (home of the ‘soccer-moms’) when searching for new players, are clearly audible. The lack of parental involvement (many Scores players are from single-parent families and boast multiple siblings), funds and time also means that those

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from the inner-city find it difficult to be able to attend trials and training sessions with clubs. One problem I witnessed whilst on-board is that it is difficult for only three office based Scores staff to control the schools from the midtown office, with some of the sessions being called off due to absent coaches, uncooperative head-teachers and even rain! Match Report New York Scores United vs. Downtown United, Saturday 10th November Bottom of the table with only two games to go, New York Scores United were fast running out of time to scoop their first win of the season. Playing their final ‘home’* tie of the campaign at Alphabet City, the players entered the pitch with a bitterly cold breeze surging across the East River. Despite facing a team with more finesse and experience, the home-team scored first and managed to hold-on through sustained pressure. With a strong team-spirit, a goalkeeper who could throw a ball further than most of us can dream of kicking it and a lightning fast attack, the side even managed to seal the fixture with a breakaway goal just before the final whistle. Having bagged their first victory of the season, the atmosphere throughout this team of Hispanic and Afro-American athletes on the subway back to Harlem and Washington Heights was jubilant and a little, shall we say, high-spirited! On a previous trip, due to problems on the city’s decrepit subway, the team were forced to get off at Times Square and walk uptown to the next station. Despite living in New York for the majority of their lives, many of them had never seen the shining lights of Broadway or experienced the visual assault of neon that is Times Square, another instance of America Scores’ power to enable students to experience sites previously unreachable due to economic constraints. Throughout my time with the team, I was able to witness first-hand how the project is enabling these children from different boroughs and races to forge new friendships, encounter other teams from different social standings and ethnicities, and to venture from their neighbourhood. The excitement on the subway that day was contagious. *Due to a lack of soccer facilities in the city, the Scores home-ties are played at Alphabet City, a 1.5 hours journey from Harlem that involves two trains and one bus!

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Using Sport to Tackle Obesity As I’ve already stated throughout the thesis, obesity levels across the United Kingdom remain close to pandemic proportions. By 2005, 23% of men, 25% of women and 17% of teenagers were classified as obese. According to government figures, within three years 33% of men, 28% of women and a 20% of teenagers will be obese.16 With that ‘missionary of proper food’17 Jamie Oliver, the endless diet supplements that cover the magazine shelves and even Morgan Spurlock – the documentary filmmaker, lest we forget, who ate McDonald’s exclusively for a month - having no effect on the figures, where else can we look? With the government simply unable to ban fast food – although it needs to do much more in the school canteens - the answer has to be exercise. As The Guardian’s Jackie Ashley states, the ‘reason obesity is rising so fast isn’t only the ubiquity of manufactured foods, it is that we don’t work off the calories afterwards. Any regular dieter can tell you that following the plan without exercise for a few weeks without exercise is hopeless in the longer term.’18 Children who get just fifteen minutes exercise a day cut their chances of becoming obese by half say Bristol University researchers, who monitored 5,500 students from the ‘Children of the 90s’ project by measuring their activity levels for 10 hours a day. Professor Chris Riddoch has said: “This study provides some of the first robust evidence on the link between physical activity and obesity in children. We know that diet is important – but what this research tells us is that we mustn’t forget about activity. Even small amounts of exercise appear to have dramatic results.”19 The results from America Scores back this up, with the overall percentage of overweight or at risk of being overweight falling by 2%. The government’s Active People survey found that swimming was the nation’s most popular sporting activity. Yet local swimming pools are closing (see the recent closure of Gloucester Road’s pool in Bristol) and 31% of black African women say they would like to swim regularly but had no access to a pool. Without the year-round sunshine of San Diego or joggers’ haven of Central Park, free gym membership, funding to refurbish pools (and not turn them into Wetherspoons pubs) and the inclusion of sport as an integral part of the health strategy must be made by a government who spend billions on obesity a year, but only millions preventing it. 16 Jackie Ashley, The Guardian, ‘To Beat Obesity Politicians Must get Serious About Sport, November 19, 2007, p31 17 Ashley, p31 18 Ashley, p31 19 Professor Chris Riddoch, Objectively Measured Physical Activity and Fat Mass in a Large Cohort of Children, www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2007/5354.html

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Conclusion With America Scores seeing the overall percentage of overweight, or at risk of, students had fallen by 2% and its participants able to run an average of 21% further from fall to spring, it is hard to argue with the results being produced by the non-profit organisation. What’s more, SPARK increased moderate to vigorous physical activity in classes by almost 20% and those educational institutions who used the scheme were 4.7 times more likely to participate in 30 min of physical activity per day than non-users. Not forgetting, of course, the scientific analysis that proved none of these sessions came at the expense of academia. But will America Scores unique combination of poetry and soccer, or SPARK’s energetic, somewhat cornball (the coaches describe themselves as ‘merchants of hope’) approach work in the more refined Britain? Almost certainly in the primary school context or with tweens. For the more suspecting college students? I have grave doubts about making them exercise to music or changing their ingrained notions of football. But with both America Scores and SPARK now beginning to target older demographics – not to mention the returning older students (of the age I coach) I witnessed voluntarily turning up to join in training – the omens look good. What can be adopted in the college environment from SPARK is the scientific approach to sport and academia, the institute’s emphasis on an all-active approach, and the company’s provision of age-appropriate equipment. In addition to this, SPARK’s lack of competitive ethos and session running time of 35 – 50 minutes fits perfectly with the college lunchtime schedule. While implementing America Scores approach at a college would involve two dedicated teachers at each institution (one for football, the other for poetry) to work after-school five-days-a-week for two hours, the school/college would not need to foot the bill, as this would be provided by the Scores organisation. The lack of a competitive ethos in the majority of their exercises has also improved the ball skills of the ‘poet athletes’, enabling them to hold their own on an even playing field against New York’s other teenage athletes. With Gordon Brown talking about the “critical under-representation of girls in sport,”20 and Don Foster, again, stating "I'd like to see Government help offer a wide and tempting menu of school sports, like Jamie Oliver has tried to do for school food,”21 its clear that both sides of the Commons are aware of the need for better sporting facilities. But the time for talk and soul-searching from Westminster and the F.A needs to develop into a time of action, and soon. From grassroots up, all-inclusive programs like America Scores and SPARK need to be adopted and adapted, sport has to be placed at the pinnacle of tackling obesity and the F.A needs to look to the future and not just at present results. Otherwise the much-vaunted Olympics in 2012 or the Football World Cup of 2018 may be played out in front of a British nation where nearly 50% of the population are obese and only the affluent can afford to play sport (and that’s before we go into the drubbing we’re experiencing at the hands of the technically superior Americans on the actual field!). 20 Gordon Brown, cited in The Guardian, November 19, 2007, p31 21 Don Foster, http://www.bookshop.libdems.org.uk/news, July 2006

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Although the failure of England’s ‘Golden Generation’ to qualify for Euro 2008 is evidently bad for the F.A. coffers, the economy (reportedly to the tune of $2billion) and football fans both young and old, the soul-searching that it has provoked may well become beneficial. Focus has shifted from the antics of a few superstars to the way football is coached in this country. Having witnessed countries like Holland, France and Spain implement their meticulously planned youth schemes, the F.A is now seriously considering resuscitating the aborted Burton youth academy. Whether this interest transmits down to grassroots level remains to be seen, but with many demanding that Trevor Brooking, the FA’s director of football development, be given more power, maybe, just maybe, a seismic shift in English football is on the horizon.