This season marks the fifth year of the NBA Coaches for Kids program, a collaborative effort between NBA head coaches and athletic trainers in conjunction with Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) and NBA Cares. The program provides young BGCA members in every NBA team market with the opportunity to attend a game and experience the excitement of professional basketball at its best, plus receive a pregame interactive “life lesson” from an NBA coach or athletic trainer.Since the 2008-09 NBA season, more than 150,000 BGCA members have attended NBA games thanks to the generosity of NBA coaching staff and athletic trainers.
These two groups have contributed nearly $2 million to BGCA, enabling the nonprofit to coordinate this exciting experience nationwide. This year, in addition to providing tickets to games and in-arena interactive opportunities, the program will also make a $1,000 donation to the Boys & Girls Clubs that the participating coaches attended or to a Boys & Girls Club in their current team city.
During this season’s pregame meet and greets with Club members, NBA coaches and trainers will emphasize the importance of the BGCA’s “Great Futures Impact Plan.” This recently launched plan highlights three essential missions which form the basic expectations of every BGCA member:
- Academic Success: Graduate from high school, ready for college, trade school, the military or employment. Fact: U.S. high school graduation rate is only 73.4%.*
- Good Character & Citizenship: Be an engaged citizen involved in your community, register to vote and model strong character. Fact: 50% of U.S. youth admitted to bullying someone in the past year. 47% of U.S. youth said they were bullied, teased, or taunted in a way that seriously upset them in the past year.*
- Healthy Lifestyle: Adopt a healthy diet, practice healthy lifestyle choices and make a lifelong commitment to personal fitness. Fact: 34.7% of U.S. youth 6-19 years old are considered overweight or obese.*
For more on NBA Coaches for Kids visit: http://www.nba.com/cares/coachesforkids.html