Creating the Tenderloin Youth Sports Initiative
Since early 2002, BAWCC has been serving as the lead agency and providing staffing for the new Tenderloin Youth Sports Initiative. The Initiative's goal is to have an additional 200+ children a year, (particularly targeting girls), involved in organized sports and physical activity programs.

Boy's Basketball is a popular TYSI activity. Tenderloin ice skaters received blue ribbons for their efforts.

Increasing Sports Programs for Tenderloin Children & Youth During the first six months, BAWCC staff and the other TYSI Planning Committee members, (made up of Tenderloin parents, older youth and staff from IHDC-Indochinese Housing Community's Youth Program, Salvation Army's Youth Program, Tenderloin Children's Playground, and Tenderloin Community School) identified the sports we would offer.

	Sports programs sponsored by TYSI since we began the Initiative: Basketball League Ice Skating Classes (Yerba Buena) Bowling League (Yerba Buena) "Tenderloin Strikers" Flag Football League Dance (Hip Hop, Ballet, West African, & Hawaiian) Soccer Skills Tennis Volleyball Yoga Swimming Rugby Skills Softball
The Hip Hop dance class is fun and a good workout!

Through the Initiative, we have begun to host "Sports Highlight Nights" in which we invite outside groups (such as Notre Dame de Namur University's Women's Volleyball Team) to come, do demonstrations and work with our youth on sport skills. We are also creating a TYSI Partnership Program in which we're reaching out to local hotels and businesses to partner with BAWCC. The SF Hilton & Towers is our first “partner” for our Basketball League.

The girls learned to stretch and warm up properly.	And how to actively defend!

TYSI meets with Coach John Wooden and uses his Positive Coaching/Teaching Principles as the Foundation for all TYSI Programs
After becoming familiar with Coach John Wooden's Pyramid of Successes' positive teaching principles, BAWCC and the other TYSI planning committee members decided to use those principles for all the sport programs that are part of our Initiative. In fact, 22 of us from BAWCC and other TYSI supporters went to Los Angeles in August, 2002 and met with Coach Wooden for an afternoon, to talk about implementing his principles in our Tenderloin programs. Through regular coaches' trainings, which combine the Coach Wooden lessons, along with the Team-Up for Youth (our sponsoring agency's) positive building blocks, we are working to impart positive sport experiences, as well as positive life-lessons, to all of the children and youth in the Tenderloin Youth Sports Initiative programs.

BAWCC staff and volunteers and other Tenderloin Youth Sports Initiative members meet with Coach John Wooden in LA. (Summer, 2002)