 Amateur
Athletic Union (AAU), one of the nation's largest and most
influential youth sports organizations, is partnering with PCA to
become the first national sports organization to require all its
coaches to obtain PCA Double-Goal
Coach� training and certification.
"We
are taking this bold and unprecedented step for two reasons," said
AAU President and CEO Bobby Dodd. "First, AAU has always believed
in the power of sport to develop character in youth, and there is
no better way to do that than through Double-Goal Coach training
for all our coaches. Second, AAU has always been a pioneer and it
is keeping with our tradition to stake out a leadership position in
this important area."
The AAU-PCA partnership requires that all 50,000 AAU coaches
complete Double-Goal Coach courses for three consecutive years
beginning now.
PCA will provide training at no cost to AAU or its coaches through
a grant from the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation. "Our foundation is
committed to improving society through character education, and
youth sports provides the ideal setting in which to build better
people," said Laurie Dachs, President of the Foundation. "We are
excited about the impact this historic partnership between PCA and
AAU can have on our nation's youth, and we look forward to the day
when every youth coach is a Double-Goal Coach."
Training will occur through PCA's online courses, which feature video
instruction from such PCA National Advisory Board Members as Los
Angeles Lakers Coach Phil Jackson, Boston Celtics Coach Doc Rivers,
Cincinnati Reds Manager Dusty Baker, NBA star Shane Battier and
Olympic Gold Medalists Summer Sanders and Julie Foudy.
 Doc
Rivers (left, with PCA Founder and Executive Director Jim
Thompson), hailed this partnership. "All four of my children have
competed in AAU and two are still active. I am a firm believer in
PCA and the Double-Goal Coach model. I am thrilled that every AAU
coach across the country will be exposed to this outstanding way to
coach."
Added Thompson: "We are looking forward to working with AAU in what
is one of the most significant advances in coach education in the
United States. This is a huge step toward achieving our mission of
transforming youth sports so sports can transform youth. We are
grateful for the leadership of AAU and the support of the Bechtel
Foundation, which makes this possible."
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