ON COVER
Say “Yes” to FLIPANY’s Fitness Program Youth Engagement in Sports (YES)
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n efforts to encourage engagement among students in sports and new sporting opportunities and in efforts to increase consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables, FLIPANY with its two-year Youth Engagement in Sports (YES) program has been working with middle school students in Homestead, Florida, and has already seen great results with more students now primed for sport. Since its inception a year ago, FLIPANY has already seen improvements. With the commencement of its second year, the program focuses on continued exposure to the benefits of sports: creating well-rounded and confident young athletes; improving awareness and understanding of body image among young minds; and teaching life lessons such as perseverance, goal setting, hard work causes and effects, losing with grace and empathy all through this innovative sports platform. Michelle McCaw, Program Manager, said, “Soccer, basketball, football and volleyball are a few of the sports involved in this program. The YES fitness program is funded by a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services partnering with the Office for Minority Health. The federal goal is to review these funded programs for best practices and evidence of what works to engage sport-reluctant youth in wellness and physical activity and replicate our success in more communities. Minority youth, especially girls, are more likely to suffer the consequences of poor health than other youth, and to break down barriers to a healthy life for minority, sport-reluctant, food-insecure youth is critical.” She continued, “The YES initiative intends to identify characteristics of effective collaborations that improve physical activity and nutrition via increased sports participation. The target population is racial or ethnic minorities and socio-economically disadvantaged male and female 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, particularly those who reside in communities where no or few youth sports programs exist. YES projects will develop and implement sports-fitness programs based on successful evidence-based strategies of youth engage-
By Vicky Sidler | Photos by FLIPANY
Everglades Preparatory Academy
ment. Projects are expected to serve and retain a minimum of 130 youth over a two-year YES initiative period and to maximize the number of youths served. Youth recruited, served, and retained over the course of the intervention should be those who do not meet current physical activity guidelines for children and youth.” Currently, the program is providing access to nutrition, education, sports programming, and physical activity in only two charter schools due to lack of funding. Physical activity and sports programming are integrated into the physical education courses. McCaw confidently replied, “FLIPANY is actively working to secure funds to expand the intervention model in other schools that serve
low-income students.” McCaw adds, “The project promotes acceptance for all skill levels. Some sessions are divided into co-ed groups and some are not. We have seen an increase in students’ confidence level to participate in sports. Students have also expressed that they have enjoyed learning more about nutrition and the variety of physical activity exercises. We collect data on students’ food choices and have seen a measurable increase in consumption of vegetables and a measurable decrease in consumption of sugary drinks. This program is unique in its design of sportssampling menus that allow students to choose for themselves what activity to engage in and at what level of effort. Social-emotional learning is built into all the sports lessons, and Go! Latinos | April 2021
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