Cleveland Indians Extend Chapter Supporter Partnership with Positive Coaching Alliance to Benefit Youth Athletes and the Community

February 19, 2020 – The Cleveland Indians have extended their chapter supporter partnership with the Cleveland Chapter of the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA), a national non-profit movement developing “Better Athletes, Better People.” PCA works with youth sports organizations and schools to provide research-based tools, resources and training for youth sports administrators, coaches, parents, athletes, and officials. The intent of the programming is to establish and/or elevate a positive, character-building youth development culture so that kids actually learn the valuable life lessons that sports can teach when done right.

Through this partnership coaches, players and parents who participate in Indians coaching clinics or youth camps/clinics will be exposed to PCA’s sports and educational psychology and organizational behavior research-based philosophies. PCA also integrates practical advice, tools and resources from a National Advisory Board of top pro and college athletes and coaches who use PCA principals themselves at the highest levels of competition. Programming will be delivered through live interactive group workshops, online courses, and books by PCA Founder Jim Thompson along with additional online resources through PCADevZone.org.

PCA has partnered with roughly 3,500 schools, districts, conferences, youth sports organizations, and park-and-rec departments delivering over 20,000 live group workshops and impacting over 19.2 Million youth since the movement's inception in 1998. The programming creates a Development Zone® culture, where the goal is using youth and high school sports to develop stronger social-emotional learning and leadership and reasoning developmental opportunities.

“I am extremely excited about this partnership extension with the Indians, particularly because our chapter simply wouldn’t be in existence without them. From former President Mark Shapiro launching the chapter, to Neil Weiss (Indians SVP of Technology/Chief Information Officer) serving as the Chairman of our Board, to Brad Grant (VP of Baseball Operations, Strategy & Administration) serving on our Board, to Curtis Danburg, Rebecca Kodysh, Matt Kata and the Indians community engagement team and countless others who have contributed their time, talent and treasures to support our movement here in Northeast Ohio, I can’t thank the Indians organization and their incredible people enough," said PCA-Cleveland Partnership and Development Manager, Ryan Virtue.

“This renewed partnership with the Indians will have a tremendous impact on youth baseball and softball in Northeast Ohio, but more importantly, it will have a tremendous positive impact on the mindsets and lives of our young athletes and the adults who support them.”

“We’re excited to extend our partnership with Positive Coaching Alliance,” said Indians Vice President of Communications and Community Impact Curtis Danburg. “The mission of Cleveland Indians Charities is to prepare youth for successful lives and it has been evident from day one how aligned we are with PCA. They’ve been a tremendous resource in providing support to achieve our goals and objectives to positively impact coaches and young athletes in Northeast Ohio. We look forward to expanding the reach of impact with the new programs we’re introducing this coming year.” said Curtis Danburg, Vice President of Communications and Community Impact. “We are committed to improving the quality of youth baseball and softball in Greater Cleveland. Our partnership with PCA helps us ensure that coaches, parents, officials and youth work together to foster a positive environment that promotes a character building sports experience for youth athletes.

For information about this partnership, please contact either Ryan Virtue (PCA-Cleveland) or Rebecca Kodysh (Cleveland Indians).

Ryan Virtue, Positive Coaching Alliance
Tel: 440-465-6552
E-Mail: ryan_virtue@positivecoach.org

Rebecca Kodysh, Cleveland Indians
Tel: 216-420-4382
E-Mail: rkodysh@indians.com

About Positive Coaching Alliance

Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) is a national non-profit organization with the mission of creating a positive, character-building youth sports environment that results in BETTER ATHLETES, BETTER PEOPLE.

Youth sports currently involves 40M children, which presents a tremendous platform on which to develop youth character and life skills. Research has shown that in order for youth to accrue these benefits from sports, sports needs to be done in a way that creates a positive youth development culture. PCA ensures sports are ‘done right’ with programming that is research-based and designed to have an impact at three levels in a youth sports organization or school:

Youth experience improved life skills and character development. They also perform better!
Coaches become more positive and increase their focus on using sports to teach life lessons.
Youth Sports Organizations & Schools see their cultures become more positive and everyone involved has more fun.

Since its founding in 1998, PCA has established 18 chapters nationwide, partnered with roughly 3,500 schools and youth sports organizations to deliver more than 20,000 live group workshops, reaching over 20 million youth. PCA offers interactive online courses and has thousands of multimedia tips and tools for coaches, parents, athletes, and leaders available free of charge on PCADevZone.org. PCA also runs two annual awards programs: a scholarship program for high school student-athletes and a coach award program to recognize youth and high school coaches who strive to win and teach life lessons.

PCA gains support from a National Advisory Board of elite coaches, professional and Olympic athletes, organization leaders, and academics who share PCA’s mission including Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach, Lindsay Gottlieb and others such as Joe Thomas, Dusty Baker, Carol Dweck, Herm Edwards, Julie Foudy, Phil Jackson, and Steve Kerr. PCA is proud to partner with more than 50 national governing bodies, youth-serving organizations and professional leagues and teams including the Boys & Girls Club of America, National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, and US Lacrosse.

About The Cleveland Indians

Positively impacting the community is a guiding commitment of the Cleveland Indians. At the 2019 Sports Awards, The Greater Cleveland Sports Commission honored Cleveland Indians ownership, the Dolan Family, as a Lifetime Achievement Award winner recognizing the family and the Indians organization for their tremendous support of various community activities and causes. Most notable, is the team’s commitment to youth baseball and softball.

The Cleveland Indians have generously supported youth baseball and softball in Cleveland for many years contributing millions of dollars, coach development and skill development training to both the Cleveland Municipal School District and the City of Cleveland Recreation Department youth baseball and softball programs. In 2019, through All Star week and in partnership with Major League Baseball and other generous supporters, the team made a $5 million investment which included the development of two fully turfed baseball fields (Talty Field at Jim Thome Complex at Brookside Reservation and All-Star Field at Luke Easter Park), a Student Veterans Center at Baldwin Wallace College and a Digital Arts Suite at the East Technical High School Boys & Girls Club. The Cleveland Indians are also a founding partner of the Cleveland Clinic’s Velosano Bike Race. Furthermore, the team provides financial, in kind and experience donations to several community organizations and nonprofits each year.

Key Players

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The PCA Blog

Cleveland Indians Extend Chapter Supporter Partnership with Positive Coaching Alliance to Benefit Youth Athletes and the Community

Mark Shapiro

Curtis Danburg

Matt Kata

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