An Exercise in Written / Photographic Sports Media
USF Youth Impact Program, Introduction: PRISM Press Group Covers The University of South Florida’s Youth Impact Program
The following is an introduction by founder and lead contributor for PRISM Press Group, Jason Roberts, discussing a recent assignment contributors for PPG were granted for coverage of the Youth Impact Program — or Y.I.P. — currently taking place on the campus of the University of South Florida. Questions regarding this article or subsequent articles on the subject may be submitted directly to Jason at jason@prismpressgroup.org, including requests for republication of material offered to readers on this site.
It was only about two weeks ago when I received via email an update from the University of South Florida Athletic Department regarding a special football camp it would be hosting from the end of June and throughout the majority of July.
The name of the camp? The Youth Impact Program.
Curious as to what the camp entailed — it didn’t look anything like the majority of summer football camps I’d previously seen advertised as a key component of what major university programs provide in that “dead period” between the end of spring and start of the fall semester — I began to research what the program offered, what type of kids were involved in the camp, and the role of university athletes and administrators in ensuring the program was delivered in a timely and effective manner.
That’s when my eyes were open to an incredibly powerful opportunity for at-risk middle school youths — a program that combined academics, personal mentorship, and, of course, football into a curriculum which, as the official website for the Y.I.P. (www.youthimpactprogram.org) maintains, “leverag[es] … interest in football to take [participants] off the streets for four weeks in the summer and enhance their academic performance, develop character, and build long-term mentoring relationships with established and local inner city community leaders and teachers.”
Founded approximately three years ago and originating at the University of Southern California, the program targets what directors call “the extremely high-risk group of inner city 9 to 12-year old African American and Hispanic boys” at a time when “academic progress and character development are threatened due to their living environment.”
Y.I.P., notes its website, attempts to address this issue by using inner-city teachers, university students, current and former athletes, program mentors, and coaches as a mechanism by which students can learn methods of “conflict resolution, anger-management, and the character values needed to succeed in the inner-city community.” It also seeks to improve academic performance through a football-themed curriculum, low student-teacher ratios, and innovative teaching methods, the latter which includes learning by and from recognizable members of the university and surrounding local community.
Involvement in the camp is hardly easy, particularly given that those attending the camp participate in any number of activities (classroom, mentoring, football drills) eight hours a day for a full month, with downtime rarely provided.
That led one student participant at Rice University’s Youth Impact Program, 13-year old Leonard Owens, to comment to a Rice university media staff member, “Everything we do here is hard work. But it’s great because it’s improving the fundamentals of the way I learn in school and the way I play football.”
The program, which prior to this summer had taken root only at USC and Tulane, expanded its operations and now includes as part of its fourth year in existence both Rice and the University of South Florida — all of which are well-known for their emphasis on community outreach.
The South Florida version of the Y.I.P. is believed to include well over 70 local middle school students, all who attend the program at no cost to themselves, thanks to a $1000 investment-per-child provided by participating schools.
Starting at 8 a.m. each day, students attend academic courses in the morning and units on life skills after lunch. Mini-camps are then provided to campers in the afternoon, with a wide-array of instruction provided by Bulls’ football players such as All-American defensive end, George Selvie, safety Nate Allen, and former wide receiver for USF, Jesse Hester.
Individuals representing other sports on campus such as Angelique Waller, Stephanie Augustavo and Jordy McGillis are also involved in the Y.I.P., providing assistance in the classroom and serving as life-mentors for the young men in attendance, while Justin Miller, USF’s Assistant Athletic Director of Academics and Student-Athlete Development, serves as the local Y.I.P. coordinator.
Given the dynamics of this program and the nature of those involved in providing a better future for at-risk kids in Southwest Florida (the Y.I.P. even includes follow-up mentoring that lasts well-beyond the end of the month-long camp) — not to mention the support provided PRISM Press Group by the entire whole of the University of South Florida Athletic Department this year — it was hardly surprising when the members of our group unanimously elected to travel to campus in order to provide coverage of this remarkable camp and — more importantly — to celebrate those it is helping.
That being decided, PRISM Press Group contributors Jordan Loperena and Nick Hanson all took time out of their busy schedules last Thursday to experience the Youth Impact Program at South Florida first hand.
To say that they were meet with excitement, smiling faces, and enthusiasm on the part of all those they came into contact with — campers, mentors, teachers, athletes, program directors — is an understatement.
With that in mind, it is my hope that all those who arrive at the PRISM Press Group website take a moment to read the interviews and look closely at the pictures acquired during our team’s trip to Tampa.
It is my belief that you will be unable to avoid coming away feeling as we did — blessed to have come to know, if only briefly, those that are sure to provide the next generation of community leadership in the community which the University of South Florida holds so dear.
A tremendous amount of thanks to all those at South Florida who took time out to speak with us and pose for photographs while we were on campus; a particularly huge thank you goes to Maile Keeney, Assistant Director of Communications, who arranged for PRISM Press Group to cover the Youth Improvement Program and was instrumental in our having as successful a day as we did.
