Latest / The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast / #55: Gill1918 presents Elise Morris "Team Up Washington" FREE

Transcript

#55: Gill1918 presents Elise Morris "Team Up Washington" FREE · The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast

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  Welcome to the Gill 1918 Project, a podcast series by
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  coaches, for coaches, powered by Gill Athletics.
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  Think of this as the Ted Talks of track and field coaching.
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  Short, insightful, and packed with valuable strategies to help
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  you grow as a coach. We're bringing the once a year
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  track clinic straight to your ears daily.
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  Interested in creating your own episode?
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  Everyone's welcome to participate.
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  Check out the show notes below For more information.
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  Now let's get into today's topic.
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  Hi everyone. This is Elise Morris.
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  And today we're going to talk about sexual violence prevention
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  in sports and the power of coaching and mentorship.
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  So as you may think, this is not a sexual violence prevention
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  from the lens of rules and regulations.
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  Rather, this is for coaches, mentors, and people who want to
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  empower student athletes to prevent hazing, sexual assault
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  and dating violence specifically through a strength based
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  leadership development approach. So we're going to be talking
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  about culture shifting. We're going to be talking about
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  team identity. We're going to be talking about
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  creating a positive, healthy, empowering and authentic
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  community as some of the best strategies and solutions to
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  preventing harmful things like hazing, sexual violence and
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  dating violence. So before we get started, I
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  would like to share a little bit about myself.
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  As I mentioned, my name is Elise Morris.
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  I am a former professional soccer player.
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  I am recently retired from having a few contracts in
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  Europe. I played in, oh gosh, Norway,
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  France, and most recently in Iceland.
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  I am currently training to run the New York City Marathon in
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  November. I am fundraising for an amazing
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  nonprofit called Bras for Girls, but that is a podcast for
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  another time. And what else I based here in
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  Seattle, I am currently working as the Director of Community
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  Outreach and Engagement for Team Up Washington, which is an
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  initiative, A nonprofit initiative aiming to empower
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  young athletes to increase their sense of leadership and reduce
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  risky behaviors in high school. And today, this is what we're
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  going to talk about. We do this by implementing a
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  program, a few programs, One of them is called Coaching Boys
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  into Men, which you may have heard of, and another one is
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  called Athletes as Leaders. Today I'm going to talk about
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  Athletes as Leaders. And Athletes as Leaders is a
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  program that is near and dear to my heart.
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  It was created in Seattle in 2018 and it had its first pilot
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  and 1st year at Garfield High School, which is the which is
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  the high school that I went to and I had the honor of going
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  through the program during its very first year as a member of
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  the girls soccer team at Garfield.
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  So going through this program completely changed my life.
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  It just gave me the space and opportunity to talk about power
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  dynamics, about expectations, relationships, communication,
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  consent, things that I was experiencing every single day as
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  a high schooler but never had anywhere to talk about.
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  And to be able to talk about these things in a team
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  environment with people that I felt comfortable with, that I
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  could be vulnerable with, that I knew and had been practicing how
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  to work together and who I knew had my back, was just such a
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  beautiful experience. It really revolutionized my
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  world and my ability to ask more from my community and how I
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  wanted the future to be. So I went through the program in
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  high school. The year later I learned how to
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  mentor the program so I mentored my own teammates as a captain
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  through the program itself. I went to college and I came
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  back over the summers and interned for Rebecca Milliman,
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  who was at the time working at Harborview, and I co-authored
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  the current content and the current curriculum of athletes
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  as leaders and now post professional career.
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  I am a trainer and I get to train coaches, mentors and
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  advocates on how to implement this same program into their own
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  teams. So I know the insurance and outs
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  of this program. It has shaped my life.
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  It has had a huge impact and I just feel so honored and
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  empowered to spread this gift of a program to as many
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  communities, as many young athletes as I possibly can.
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  And I'm really excited to be able to do it on this podcast.
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  I this is a community full of coaches and mentors who are
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  excited about the work they do and understand the power that
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  they have with young people and want to use their their limited
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  time, their limited face to face interactions with their athletes
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  to make a difference that goes far beyond the the day-to-day
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  interactions that they will have.
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  And this is the program for you. So I want to walk a little bit
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  through what is athletes as leaders?
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  What is this program? The goals of the program are to
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  the core principles are health and safety, to create an
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  inclusive and welcoming community, to increase empathy,
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  increase consent, to increase gender and racial equity and to
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  increase youth leadership. So what is it?
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  It's a gender inclusive program for high school athletes and we
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  believe that in we believe in intentionally targeting all
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  genders because we believe that everyone can play a role in
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  preventing violence. The goals of the program, as I
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  mentioned a little bit earlier, is to increase gender equitable
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  attitudes, increase leadership, increase the connection and
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  cohesion that a community feels by increasing the sense of
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  inclusion, support and belonging, as well as empathy
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  and concern for how one's actions affect others.
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  Increase one's willingness to intervene in situations of harm.
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  We want to replace harmful norms within a team setting with
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  positive norms that players and athletes choose themselves.
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  And we want athletes to understand healthy versus
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  unhealthy relationship behaviors by increasing caring ones and
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  decreasing harmful ones. So you can go to the website and
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  there's a cute introductory video with me as a high schooler
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  with a beautiful side part. But mostly I want to talk about
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  why do why do we target sports as a platform to prevent
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  violence in our communities? And this is for three main key
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  factors. First, the team space is a great
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  space to address sensitive topics.
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  There is built in vulnerability. You work on teamwork so you know
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  that your your athletes have each other's backs.
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  And we use sports as a framework for accessible language around
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  these things. So we talk about consent, but we
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  talk about consent through the through the lens of athletics,
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  right? So using practicing consent
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  looks like asking before you borrow someone one of your
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  teammates equipment, right? Or you ask if you can drink some
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  water out of their water bottle, right?
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  These this is practicing consent and we do it through a language
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  that is accessible in a team setting.
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  So it helps us practice these tools that are especially
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  important in more sensitive areas of our life.
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  The second reason is that athletics is a great
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  environment. Oh, like I said, it is a great
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  environment to practice healthy consent.
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  The third reason is that athletes have social capital and
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  influence in their communities, right?
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  So we know that people from a small community to a school, to
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  a state to a country, on a global level, people look to
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  athletes and athletes determine what is normal in our society.
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  We know that by harnessing the power of athletes and the social
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  capital that they have, and if we can empower athletes to set
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  positive and healthy cultural norms within their team, that
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  will have a trickle down effect to the rest of our community.
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  So let's talk about the program itself.
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  The structure of the program is that there are 10 sessions, each
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  with a unique topic for a team discussion.
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  Each session is 20 minutes and we recommend doing a session
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  about once a week. Obviously, if your timeline
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  looks different and your season is longer or shorter, or you
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  want to do this through a summer camp, the timeline is very
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  adjustable. So as long as you are taking at
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  least 20 minutes for each session, you can do as many or
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  as few sessions as you want within the time range that you
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  have. What are the session topics?
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  So we have 10 sessions, but we have a preseason session which
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  we recommend doing with returning athletes.
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  This is basically a anti hazing facilitated discussion with your
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  team, right? How do are we going to include
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  newcomers onto our team this year?
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  How do we create a sense of welcoming and inclusion that
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  doesn't require them to prove there that they belong on this
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  team, right? The reason we want to include
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  them is because we want them to feel like they belong simply by
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  being a part of this team. So there's some brainstorming
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  about ways to do that that replace potentially harmful
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  alternatives like hazing. This is a very relevant topic.
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  I was hazed in high school. I know that hazing still
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  happens, you know, for a range of different sports and a range
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  of different ways. So this is just a really
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  important session. Session one is an introductory
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  session and setting group agreements.
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  Session 2 is understanding privilege and oppression.
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  Session 3 is about challenging harmful stereotypes, especially
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  around gender. Session 4 is addressing
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  misinformation and bias about the things and narratives that
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  we have heard that aren't necessarily rooted in reality,
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  about specific groups of people right like identity groups.
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  Session 5 is about unpacking beauty standards, which is
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  really important when we're creating a sense of confidence
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  and I and self worth, especially in long distance aerobic sports
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  where there is a specific focus on what your body might look
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  like. Session 6 is about ending rumors
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  spreading and shaming, which is a really important topic within
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  a team setting. Session 7 is about promoting
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  consent. Session 8 is fostering healthy
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  relationships. Session 9 is building community,
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  and session 10 is celebrating our success.
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  Right. So I also want to talk about the
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  national evaluation of athletes as leaders.
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  So in 2017, the University of Pittsburgh facilitated a formal
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  evaluation with 268 athletes on 12 teams in eight different
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  States and they found statistically significant data
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  that showed that students who had gone through the program
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  showed an improved ability to identify piece of behaviors,
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  improved belief in gender equity, and an increased
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  self-image and confidence in leadership.
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  So this is an evidence based program that does increase and
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  and shows statistic evidence towards the goals of our
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  program. And I just want to share a few
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  quotes of athletes who have gone through the program.
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  An athlete said I have become a more positive person on and off
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  the court after doing this program.
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  Another athlete said that athletes as leaders has
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  fundamentally changed me as an athlete.
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  Going through AAL in high school empowered me to challenge the
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  unhealthy norms I encountered in college, right?
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  So the impacts of this program are far beyond just high school
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  then. These are life lessons and
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  skills that people take with them for the rest of their life.
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  And coach told us that the program gave them the tools they
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  needed to advocate for social justice, promote a culture of
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  safety and respect, all while meeting their number one goal as
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  a coach, which was to build confidence within their athletes
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  on their team. So I'm just really excited to
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  bring this opportunity to coaches on this podcast who I
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  know are aligned in this mission, who know the impact
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  that they have with high school athletes, with the young
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  athletes that they spend face to FaceTime with.
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  That the most important thing they can do as mentors of young
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  people is to give them the tools, the inspiration, and the
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  confidence to be the type of people that they want to be.
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  So if this program interests you, if you're interested in
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  gaining some tools and structure and formal education on how to
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  implement a program like this on your team or in your club or
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  with your young athletes, I encourage you all to come to our
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  next event, which is happening in next week, August 13th.
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  We are hosting a completely free Train the Trainer event in
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  Spokane. It will be happening at the
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  Taobot Event Center. Doors open at 4:30 and we are
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  ending the event at 8:00. We are partnering with the USL
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  Spokane professional soccer teams, the men's and women's
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  teams, so Velocity FC and Zephyr FC, which you may have heard of.
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  And we will be hosting A catered meal while you listen to a panel
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  discussion with Katie Harnitow, the owner and president of USL
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  Spokane, along with some of the athletes on the teams who are
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  going to speak on the importance of these topics and the impact
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  of mentorship and coaching. We will then follow the evening
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  with supporting and teaching coaches and mentors how to
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  implement athletes as leaders into their own team communities.
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  This is going to be an amazing event.
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  I'm super excited to be organizing it and providing this
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  opportunity to Spokane area mentors and coaches.
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  But this is open to anyone who can make it in person and I just
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  cannot wait for for the beautiful things that are going
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  to come out of this team Up Washington has been hosting
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  these events for about 5 years now.
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  We do 3 events every year and every single time it is such a
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  beautiful reminder of how this community, the community of
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  coaches and mentors of young people are so passionate and
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  driven and motivated to make a difference in the lives of young
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  people so that they can pass it on, that they can pass it
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  forward. And so that we can all create
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  the world that we want to be a part of.
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  So as a former athlete, as a coach, as a domestic and sexual
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  violence prevention educator, I'm just excited to share this
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  information with you all and I really hope to see you all
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  there. Thank you for your time and for
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  listening. You can always find.
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  You can sign up and register for the event by going to
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  teamupwa.org. That's team upwa.org and sign up
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  under the training tab. There's the registration link
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  there. You can also contact me via
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  e-mail at Elise at whiskeyted.org.
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  That's Elise at wscadv.org. Again, the event is happening
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  next week, so right around the corner.
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  Register if you can, spread the spread the word, share with all
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  of your coach and mentor communities and we look forward
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  to seeing you all there. Thank you for your time and have
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  a great rest of your day. Bye.
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  Hey gang, Mike Cunningham here. Hey, I hope you enjoyed this
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  episode of the Guild 1918 Project series.
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  It's really my mission, my passion to bring you massive
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  amounts of value and I hope this one hit the mark.
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  The Guild 1918 Project is really dependent on you if for you to
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  build your own episode, to hear your voice, to have your voice
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  heard you have something to say and teach other coaches out
• 17:33
  there. So please get a hold of me,
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  e-mail, text message, Twitter, smoke signals, get a hold of me
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  and let's help create your episode of the Guild 1918
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  Project. Hope you enjoy today and we'll
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  see you tomorrow.