UPDATED (5/26/09)

We sincerely regret having to postpone our community conference, “Facilitating Extraordinary Accomplishments in Hawaii’s Youth (FEAHY)” originally scheduled for Tuesday, June 2, 2009, due to insufficient registration.

We will continue to meet and plan, and we will keep you advised of our progress.

In the meantime, please let us know your suggestions about scheduling the new conference date, about program plans, and about reaching various audience segments.

MEDIA RELEASE (5/11/09)

Hilo, Big Island of Hawaii – Greg McMackin, head football coach at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, will deliver the keynote address at a youth sports conference at the University of Hawaii at Hilo on Tuesday, June 2, 2009.

Reservations are being accepted for “Facilitating Extraordinary Accomplishments in Hawaii’s Youth (FEAHY),” a community conference designed to examine the local youth sports culture.

Registration deadline is May 15.

Request registration forms by email from PCABigIsland@hawaiiantel.net or at the County’s Recreation Division office at 799 Piilani Street in Hilo.

The community conference is being organized by the County of Hawaii’s Recreation Division, the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s Campus Center and Athletic Department, and Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) Big Island.

Conference participants will hear from a panel of local sports and education leaders including Randy Hirokawa, dean of the UHH College of Arts and Sciences, Vulcans head volleyball coach Bruce Atkinson, Mason Souza, County recreation specialist and basketball official, Doug Connors, Hamakua community activist, and others.

The panel moderator will be ESPN Hawaii radio show host Josh Pacheco, a St. Joseph High School graduate.

According to organizers, the conference’s purpose is to “create and facilitate an opportunity for interscholastic and youth sports leaders, coaches, students and parents to hear success stories—and descriptions of various sports cultures—and to design their own enhancing plans to facilitate extraordinary accomplishments in Hawaii’s youth.”

Two PCA workshops—“Becoming a Triple Impact Competitor” for high school student-athletes, and “Developing Competitors” for coaches—will be provided for participants.

Afternoon break-out sessions will enable participants to hear additional presentations on the following topics.

• “What is leadership and why does it matter?”
• “Best practices in motivating people”
• “The importance of planning and preparation to improve not only efficiency and effectiveness, but maintain motivation and concentration”
• “The meaning of self-discipline”  

 
PCA believes winning is a goal in youth sports but there is a second, more important, goal of using sports to teach life lessons through positive coaching.

In the United States, youth are dropping out of sports at an alarming rate.  A major contributing factor is the “win at all cost” mentality of many parents and coaches that creates a pressure-filled environment for the kids and ultimately turns them away from sports.

According to Michigan State University’s Institute for the Study of Youth Sports, children participating in organized sports tend to achieve higher results in school, develop excellent interpersonal skills and lead healthier lives.

PCA Big Island, the County of Hawaii, and other local PCA partners provide live, research-based training workshops and practical tools developed by PCA Stanford to local communities for coaches, parents and leaders who operate youth sports programs to get them on the same page about what it means to Honor the Game.

PCA Big Island educates adults who shape the youth sports experience in partnership with YSO’s, schools, cities and national sports governing bodies.

Get Positive Coaching Alliance information on the web www.positivecoach.org