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![[WATCH] Young Voices Series, Episode 6: Exploring Race, Class and Privilege in Sports](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58bddd12e58c6278e8a670e2/1599754172816-85E3BYVLTZLIZB28EKUU/Logo%2BSquare.jpg)
Up2Us Sports' Young Voices Series is a series of one-hour virtual events in collaboration with their partner organizations, that give youth an opportunity to speak about the issues that affect them and their communities most.
[READ] Global Sport Matters | Respect Us!
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Ways to Model a Healthy Relationship with Food for Youth
March is National Nutrition Month! This year, the theme is “Personalize Your Plate.” What our plate looks like is going to depend on many factors such as access, socioeconomic status, time, personal goals, activity levels, genetics, preferences, and cultural backgrounds. Bodies come in all shapes and sizes and all are worthy of love, acceptance, and nourishment.
AmeriCorps Week 2021: #WeAreAmeriCorps
The past year has been one of immense heartache and sadness. Through it all, however, a dedicated group of people have answered the call to serve: AmeriCorps Members. They all answered the call for different reasons, but the overall goal was to give back and put their neighbors first to help heal the country, despite all of the obstacles happening around them.
VISTA Highlight: John Bilbao
John Bilbai graduated from University of Minnesota, Twin Cities with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism in 2019, and returned to his home city in Los Angeles to kick off his career in the nonprofit sector. Given that John’s background and experience is in professional strategic relations, it was no surprise that he ended up in the marketing field in Los Angeles.
VISTA Highlight: Katelan Newman
One of our incredible VISTA features is Katelan Newman, who is doing her service year at South Bronx United. She’s a proud South Bronx native, so her service quite literally ‘hits home.’ SBU was founded in just 2009, and since then, has been focusing on serving at-risk and immigrant youth to “build character, teamwork, and leadership skills so that they can achieve success in high school, college, their careers and communities, and beyond” through soccer.”
VISTA Book Club: Adding Heart to the Conversation
On February 4th, Up2Us VISTA members joined a Zoom meeting to discuss the book “A Girl with More Than One Heart” by Laura Geringer Bass. “A Girl with More Than One Heart” follows Briana after the death of her father. Through her grief, Briana imagines a new heart growing inside of her which speaks with her dad’s voice. In the book, her “dad voice” compels her to take actions like “find her,” “move,” and “let go.” While reading, I thought not only about the process of grieving but also about my experiences of home, love, and friendship.
Three Rivers Rowing Association Participates in “A Long Talk”
A Conversation on Girls
Girls and women have always had to fight for the space they take up and the space they hold. This holds especially true for girls and women in sports. It wasn’t until 1972 that girls were given the right to equal access to sports with the passing of Title IX. Since then, we’ve seen female athletes own their power, strength, skill and abilities to rise to the top, even with endless barriers set in their way.
VISTA Highlight: Samantha Verdugo
A Look into Up2Us VISTA Members’ Professional Goals
January is a month of new beginnings. At Up2Us Sports, our VISTA members continue their commitment to supporting sports-based youth development organizations and strengthening communities. To take time for reflection, we asked VISTAs: “What are your professional goals for the coming year?”
Here are some ways they strive to grow their host sites and themselves:
The Road Ahead
AmeriCorps VISTA members come from all walks of life. Some are newly college graduates looking to gain some work experience. Others are matured professionals looking to switch careers. The bulk of them are in it to volunteer their skills in an effort to reduce economic disparities. For Emily, that is exactly what she was looking to get out of the experience - an opportunity to launch a meaningful career.
