Coach for College

More about Coach for College

Through sports-learning summer camps taught by local college students and American college athletes, Coach for College works to increase the probability that middle school youth in rural parts of developing countries (currently Vietnam) will obtain the education and skills needed to acquire fulfilling jobs with adequate wages and will lead lives that will provide them with long-term psychological well-being. Because of the important role that psychology plays in determining the life trajectories of disadvantaged youth, the program focuses on helping adolescents develop key psychological skills – goals, motivation, self-efficacy, and self-regulation – that are critical for long-term psychological well-being, job-related productivity, and educational attainment.

Sport is a foundational tool around which the program is structured. In addition to providing direct instruction in sports skills, Coach for College uses sports analogies and metaphors to teach academics and develop life skills that translate into educational and career achievement. Through the process of empowering older role models to promote academic and life success among underprivileged rural adolescents, the program also strives to foster the development of the college students who participate in the program as coaches, ultimately leading to their transformation into capable leaders equipped to bring about positive change.