March 9, 2010, Stanford, CA – Kim Everist, coach of the Campolindo High School Water Polo Team and USA Junior National Water Polo Team, has won Positive Coaching Alliance's coveted Double-Goal Coach Award Presented by Liberty Mutual Insurance for her positive impact on youth athletes.
The award – named for coaches whose first goal is winning, and whose second, more-important goal is teaching life lessons through sports – carries a $250 prize, a trophy and mention within the websites and newsletters of Positive Coaching Alliance (www.PositiveCoach.org ) and the Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports program (ResponsibleSports.com). Everist will receive her award at Positive Coaching Alliance's 2010 National Youth Sports Awards Dinner and Auction sponsored by Deloitte, April 17, at Stanford University's Maples Pavilion.
"Kim wins on the scoreboard, and more importantly, she wins by creating a positive, character-building sports experience for youth athletes," said Jim Thompson, PCA's founder and executive director and author of several books on coaching and sports parenting, including the just-released The Power of Double-Goal Coaching. "Ultimately, the youth athletes Kim coaches are the real winners, and as those athletes become tomorrow's leaders our society as a whole wins."
One way in which Everist pursues both goals of a Double-Goal Coach is through team retreats. Recalled one of Everist's former players in her nomination letter: "The retreat included numerous team-building and trust activities, as well as an arts and crafts project for which we wrote and decorated our favorite inspirational quotes on a block of colored paper. All the colored blocks were then attached together to form a quilt that we brought to all our team gatherings...a firm reminder of the dedication each of us must have if we wanted to succeed as a team."
What most excites Everist about coaching is "seeing the development of confidence and self esteem in young women," she said. "I've had a couple athletes go through anorexia and bulimia and then completely turn their lives around. One had to be removed from sports altogether for a year because her heart had been affected. I was fortunate enough to stay in touch with her over that year and watch her change, develop, learn from her experiences and eventually sign her letter of intent to play in college."
In addition to such stirring stories from Northern California award recipients, the April 17 ceremony will include a keynote speech by Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, Built to Last, and How the Mighty Fall. PCA's 2010 Ronald L. Jensen Award for Lifetime Achievement winner will be collegiate basketball coaching legend John Wooden, whose award will be accepted by his son, Jim Wooden.
More information and online ticket sales for PCA's National Youth Sports Awards Dinner and Auction sponsored by Deloitte are available at www.positivecoach.org/nysa-2010.aspx.
"As an insurance company that celebrates people who choose to do the right thing, we believe that youth sport coaching is a clear example of how individuals can promote the fundamental ideals of community," said Greg Gordon, Liberty Mutual's Senior Vice President of Consumer Marketing. "By focusing on positive mentoring, Kim has created a culture of responsibility among young athletes and parents. And by doing so, she has earned increasingly hard-to-find funding for her team."
Liberty Mutual and PCA have also partnered to help youth sports coaches and parents, through the Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports program. Founded in 2007, the program serves as a means to highlight the positive impact that everyday, responsible actions can have on our youth.
The Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports program provides resources for parents and coaches at ResponsibleSports.com to help children reap the full benefits of playing a team sport. The online community incorporates blogs, videos, and best practices on youth sports topics that provide practical, real-world advice. Parents and coaches also can complete guides on positive sports mentoring that offer best practices for handling challenging sports scenarios.
About Positive Coaching Alliance
Founded as a non-profit within the Stanford University Athletic Department in 1998, Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) has the mission of "transforming youth sports so sports can transform youth." To that end, PCA has conducted roughly 7,000 live group workshops nationwide for more than 400,000 youth and high school sports leaders, coaches, parents and athletes. Workshop attendees have helped create a positive, character-building youth sports environment for more than 3 million youth athletes.
PCA's partnership network includes more than 1,700 youth sports organizations, cities and schools. In 2010, PCA will conduct roughly 1,300 live, group workshops across the U.S., while assisting thousands of other individuals via online courses at www.PositiveCoach.org.
PCA workshops train coaches to be Double-Goal Coaches, whose first goal is winning and whose second, more-important goal is teaching life lessons through sports. PCA sports parent workshops cultivate "Second-Goal ParentsTM," who focus on life lessons through sports. PCA student-athlete workshops produce "Triple-Impact CompetitorsTM," who work to improve themselves, their teammates, and their sport as a whole.
PCA has the support of elite coaches and athletes on a National Advisory Board (http://www.positivecoach.org/advisoryboard.aspx), including National Spokesperson, Los Angeles Lakers Coach Phil Jackson.
About Liberty Mutual Group
"Helping people live safer, more secure lives" since 1912, Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group (http://www.LibertyMutualGroup.com ) is a diversified global insurer and fifth-largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. based on 2008 direct written premium. Liberty Mutual Group ranks 86th on the Fortune 500 list of largest U.S. corporations, based on 2008 revenue. The company has over 45,000 employees located in more than 900 offices throughout the world.
The eighth-largest auto and home insurer in the U.S., Liberty Mutual (http://www.LibertyMutual.com ) sells full lines of coverage for automobile, homeowners, valuable possessions, personal liability, and individual life insurance. The company is an industry leader in affinity partnerships, offering car and home insurance to employees and members of more than 12,000 companies, credit unions, professional associations and alumni groups.
Contact:
David Jacobson, Positive Coaching Alliance
Phone: 650-210-0808
E-mail: david_jacobson@positivecoach.org
Glenn Greenberg, Liberty Mutual
Phone: 617-574-5874
E-mail: glenn.greenberg@libertymutual.com
