SHINE teaches fundamentals of sports, character

Hundreds of Yuma-area students can take part in an after-school program that not only teaches the fundamentals of various popular sports but also provides lessons in character education.

For the past three years, the Housing Authority for the City of Yuma (HACY) has been running its Sports Helping Influence Neighborhood Excellence (SHINE) program with fourth- through sixth-grade students at Carver Elementary School. This year, the program was extended to second- and third-grade students at Salida Del Sol Elementary School.

HACY executive director Michael Morrissey said he designed SHINE based on after-school sports programs from East Coast places where he was employed.

“I felt Yuma needed this ... I've been in property management in public housing in low-income communities for about 20 years now and I've learned that it's very important to invest in your children and in turn they help strengthen your community. If you don't, you see gangs, drugs, violence and even prostitution...

“We want to reach students while they're young so they can learn basic principles of respecting one another and respecting themselves so they can develop into strong caring leaders that will be pillars in their community.”

Through funds from the U.S. Department of Justice's Weed and Seed Program three years ago, HACY purchased sporting equipment, hydration beverages and nutritious snacks for students in the program at Carver. HACY was able to expand to Salida Del Sol thanks to funds donated by the Optimist Club of Yuma.

“The theory behind this program is having an opportunity to work with kids in the community and give them something constructive to do during the after-school hours where kids are generally more susceptibility to getting into trouble because they are typically unsupervised,” said Morrissey. “If we offer them some constructive activity to participate in, they will be less apt to get into trouble after school.”

Unpaid volunteers coach the students in various sports ranging from baseball and softball to soccer to flag football and field hockey. Morrissey said they've also held potato sack races with the kids and played tug-of-war, dodgeball and kickball.

“It presents the kids with a chance to interact with one another, learn some basic fundamentals of sports and learn some character education lessons about sportsmanship, teamwork, discipline, respect, responsibility and those basic tenants of being of good moral character.”

Students from the beginning years of the program that have now progressed on to junior high are also coming back to the program in leadership roles to mentor students and assist SHINE coaches with the large numbers of students, Morrissey added.

When they first started the program at Carver, they expected about 30 to 40 students to show up, but were surprised when 89 kids came out on the first day. At Salida Del Sol, he said, they expected about 60-80 kids and were even more surprised by the first-day turnout of 182 students.

Morrissey said the program has drawn out talent from students who may have never realized they were good at sports had they not joined the program because some families cannot afford to join city teams.

“For me if we can make that investment in these kids, we can also bring certain talents out of them that otherwise would have been just buried and overlooked.”

Students in the program are supplied with a SHINE T-shirt, wristband and medal that represent their time spent in the program. The uniform shirts, he said, help students to all be on the same “playing field,” so to speak, as some students may not be able to afford gym clothes.

Morrissey noted that aside from the two schools, the program has been implemented in HACY neighborhoods at 230 Avenue A and 1865 W. 3rd St.

Additionally, although HACY did not receive the official award, it was one of three finalists out of 33 nominations in the state to receive an Outstanding After School Program award through the Arizona Center for Afterschool Excellence program.

Former U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke also came to Yuma to recognize the group for its work, and it won an award for innovation in 2009-2010 through the Arizona Housing Authority Directors Association and the Arizona chapter of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials.

Visit www.theshineprogram.org or contact Jesus Roldan, program manager, at jesusr@hacy.org or at 782-3823, Ext. 130, to learn more about the after-school program. To donate to SHINE, contact Lupe Lewis Smith at lupes@hacy.org or at 782-3823, Ext. 132.

Sarah Womer can be reached at swomer@yumasun.com or 539-6858. Find her on Facebook at Facebook.com/YSSarahWomer or on Twitter at @YSSarahWomer.