by Kelly Rogge
A workshop for coaches and aspiring coaches who want to turn their athletes into young, responsible men will be held Wednesday.
“Coaching Boys Into Men” is from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11, in Room 2325 of the Lower Jewell Center on the Kansas City Kansas Community College main campus, 7250 State Ave. Brian Porch and Andre Tyler are leading the workshop, and the hosts are the KCKCC Women’s Resource Center of the Counseling and Advocacy Center; the KCKCC Athletic Department and the American Association of University Women. Light refreshments will be provided.
“Coaching Boys Into Men” is a program from the Futures Without Violence organization. Futures has been providing programs and campaigns for more than 30 years with the purpose of ending violence against women and children.
Athletic coaches play an important role in mentoring young men, according to the sponsors of the program. In addition, coaches tend to be in a unique position when it comes to influencing how young men both think and behave, whether they are on the field during a game or off the field in school or in the community, according to the sponsors.
The goal of the Coaching Boys Into Men Program is to provide coaches with the necessary resources to promote respectful behavior in athletics wherever they are in their lives. In doing so, it is the hope that relationship abuse, harassment and sexual assault can be prevented, according to the program’s sponsors. The program is the only evidence-based prevention program that works with coaches to teach their athletes about healthy relationships, according to a spokesman.
For more information about KCKCC’s Coaching Boys Into Men workshop, call 913-288-7193. For more information about the Coaching Boys Into Men program, visit www.coachescorner.org.
Kelly Rogge is the public information supervisor at Kansas City Kansas Community College.