“Abusive Coaching in sports can take many forms,” says the website EndAbusiveCoaching.org, a project of GetPsychedSports.org (GPS), a nonprofit founded in 2002 by Mitch Lyons J.D. ’73. “Whether it’s physical, emotional, verbal, or sexual, it causes serious emotional scarring that can last a lifetime. It can take confidence away from children when they need it the most. It can cause long-lasting anxiety and stress among other maladies.” Lyons is one of three team members who run the project.
According to its website, EndAbusiveCoaching.org aims to bring awareness to parents, educators, and the general public about the physical and emotional abuse that takes place in youth and school sports; offer alternative solutions to the abusive team model; and provide information for parents and children about the benefits of sports.
GPS is dedicated to advancing a model of high school and youth sports teams that supports coaches to explicitly teach social-emotional learning (SEL) and sport psychology skills to students within a positive, safe, supportive student-centric framework.
In 2016, Lyons began work with Boston Public Schools by becoming co-chair of the Committee to Remodel Athletics because of the importance BPS placed on teaching of social-emotional learning skills through sport.
Lyons also founded Social Emotional Learning Alliance for Massachusetts in 2011. At the time, it was the first grassroots educational advocacy group promoting SEL, and now that work is being replicated in more than 20 states through www.SEL4US.org, a coordinated network of alliance states and volunteer members.
An experienced coach himself since 1988, Lyons has coached in all types of sports leagues available to young people: town recreational leagues (8 years); travel teams (8 years); AAU basketball (9 years); girls and boys high school basketball (8 years); and Division III college basketball (3 years). Lyons says he played full-court basketball until he was 65 years old, often three times a week, adding that competition and playing were a constant joy for him.
LINKS:
https://endabusivecoaching.org/
