The Center for Leadership in Athletics

The Million Coaches Challenge Calls to Action reflect the power of collective commitment, organized across four sections that offer a clear path forward: insights, narrative, organizational practice, and policy.

The Calls to Action set a bold, unified vision shared by the UW CLA and other MCC partners:
✔ Coaching frameworks centered on health, safety & well-being
✔ Systems that recognize coaches as mentors and leaders
✔ Policies that make quality coach training the standard, not the exception

🔗 Learn more: millioncoaches.org/

We had the pleasure of delivering the ACCEL Sports Coaching Certificate training to rowing coaches from Commencement Bay Rowing, Lake Union Crew, Everett Rowing Association, George Pocock Rowing Foundation, Green Lake Crew, Renton Rowing Center, and Tacoma Rowing.

This one-day training equips coaches with practical tools to help athletes perform at their best while emphasizing holistic well-being and growth. By actively engaging in the full-day workshop, coaches earn an ACCEL Sports Coaching Certificate from the UW Center for Leadership in Athletics.

Interested in bringing this training to your organization? Learn more here: https://uwcla.uw.edu/coach/coach-training-education/in-person-coach-training-programs/

The Aspen Institute Sports & Society is surveying youth across the nation to gather feedback on their participation in and feelings about sports. The results of the National Youth Survey will help drive meaningful change in youth sports.

The survey collects the following information:
* Basic demographic details (no personally identifiable information)
* Current sports participation and interest in trying new sports
* Reasons behind current levels of participation
* Experiences and the impact of current sports involvement

All youth ages 10–17 are invited to take the National Youth Survey by November 30, 2025. All responses are anonymous.

Take the survey: https://rezed.io/1PTG99

Great coaching isn’t about knowing the playbook, it’s about shaping environments where kids can grow. The Million Coaches Challenge Practice Guide for Youth Coaches offers 12 evidence-based coaching practices to help every coach support positive youth development from building trust to fostering belonging and mastering self-regulation.

Each practice includes what it is, why it matters, and what it looks like in action, developed by American Institute for Research and the 18+ Million Coaches Challenge Partners.

Explore the guide: https://www.millioncoaches.org/mcc-practice-guide/

Join our partner, the King County Play Equity Coalition, for a compelling two-part lunchtime webinar series exploring the landscape of youth sports in Washington State.

Through engaging conversations with a panel of local and national experts, the coalition will examine both the pressing challenges and the promising opportunities shaping the future of youth athletics.

Topics will include challenges related to coach training, abuse prevention, injury, and access to affordable programs, as well as discussions on the public health possibilities and community benefits statewide if all youth had access to high-quality sports experiences.

The coalition will welcome legislators, nonprofit leaders, coaches, program providers, advocates, public health champions, mental health professionals, funders, parents, and young people to be part of this important conversation.

Part 1: Youth Sports in Washington State: The Challenges
📅 Friday, Nov. 14
🕛 12–1 p.m.

Part 2: Youth Sports in Washington State: The Possibilities
📅 Friday, Dec. 5
🕛 12–1 p.m.

Register here: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/kingcountyplayequitycoalition/event/freewebinarseriesyouthsportsinwashingtonstate/

Next week, Sam Brown, Associate Director of Coaching Initiatives and Strategy at the UW CLA, will speak at the annual Bridge Conference hosted by School's Out Washington on the current state of Gen Z mental health. Her session will explore key developmental factors that influence adolescent mental health.

At the UW CLA, our coaching strategies empower coaches and other responsible adults to identify local and national resources and take proactive steps to support their teams in the event of a mental health crisis.

Learn more about our coaching resources: https://uwcla.uw.edu/coach/

Tickets are still available for the Seattle Sports Commission’s Women in Leadership Breakfast on October 24. Join Jennifer Peterson (JP), Director of Coaching Initiatives & Strategy at the UW CLA, as she moderates the panel discussion, “Unlocking Potential: A Coach’s Approach.” This year’s event theme, “Cultivating Confidence,” will explore how coaching strategies can inspire both personal and professional growth.

Reserve your spot by October 20 at seattlesports.org and discover how a coach’s approach to building confidence can empower your own professional career.

Dr. Julie McCleerly, UW CLA Co-Director and Professor of Practice, and Dr. Longxi (Jack) Li, UW CLA Postdoctoral Associate and Measurement, Evaluation, & Research Coordinator, recently spoke with the School Health Pulse about our international coach education study. Dr. McCleerly and Dr. Li analyzed data from over 180,000 youth sport coaches who participated in various training and professional development programs.

Watch the School Health Pulse episode below to discover what our research reveals about the most impactful approaches, and why supporting individuals beyond coaches may be essential for improving youth sport environments.

What works when it comes to coach education? What works when it comes to coach education? Researchers from the University of Washington’s Center for Leadership in Athletics led an international study to...

In 2021, in collaboration with the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, the UW CLA launched CoachUp! Washington. The study aimed to measure the impact of an evidence-informed online coach education program through pre- and post-season data collected directly from student-athletes and coaches. Half the coaches took the course and the other half did not and results were compared. Support from the NFHS Foundation enabled sustained coordination including recruitment, course delivery, testing, analysis, and incentives for participation.

Study findings include:
* Athletes with trained coaches reported better mental health status and perceived fewer controlling coaching behaviors.
* Even short coaching courses have positive benefits for coaches and student-athletes if well-designed and evidence-informed.
* Training produced positive effects in domains most associated with harm prevention and athlete well-being.

Read the CoachUp! Washington Executive Summary: https://nfhs.app.box.com/s/0js58q986g6u0s3ofc845mwjpp5bby02

One Million Coaches Trained. A Bold Vision Launched for Youth Sports.

Today on , as partners in the Million Coaches Challenge, the University of Washington Center for Leadership in Athletics celebrates a milestone shaping youth sports: 1 million coaches trained in youth development practices.

As part of this milestone, we are also releasing two new resources to sustain momentum:

📘 A Practice Guide for Youth Sports Coaches: 12 Coaching Strategies to Support Positive Youth Development — 12 practical, research-backed strategies every coach can use to create safe and empowering environments for youth athletes.

📣 The Million Coaches Challenge Calls to Action: A Vision for Youth Sports Coaching — a bold agenda for the future of youth sports, organized around policy, organizational practice, narrative, and research.

When we invest in coaches, we invest in kids, communities, and the future of sport.

🔗 Learn more and access both resources: https://lnkd.in/ehmqH2MM

The use of physical activity as a consequence is widely used and accepted in sports. The UW CLA's new eCourse, To Run or Not to Run: Alternatives to Physical Activity as Punishment in Sport, examines why coaches choose this approach to teaching and explores what research and athletes have to say about this type of coaching.

Is using physical activity to punish the best way to motivate, develop, and prepare athletes? Does it truly simulate performance and competition? This course invites you to reflect on your own coaching practices and equips you with strategies and tools to address performance and behavioral issues without using physical activity as punishment.

Take the course now and step up your coaching: https://uwcla.uw.edu/online-course-offerings/

Our coach development team kicked off the first in a series of school-based fall sports coach trainings at The Bush School this week. The session focused on strategies coaches can use to foster a positive team culture, which is an essential element of team success and athlete satisfaction.

Learn more about our coach education offerings: https://uwcla.uw.edu/coach/coach-training-education/