It all started when…

KOPPS was birthed from personal experiences and statistically proven facts that sports can play a powerful and significant role in developing youth, especially when incorporating a wholistic approach in programming. Empirical studies strongly show that there is a correlation in the success of student-athletes in inner and suburban areas versus non-athletic students. Youth having access to comprehensive athletic programs provides an opportunity for them to learn essential and even critical life skills such as; respect, discipline, resilience, leadership, accountability, teamwork, and community. Our goal in creating a wholistic comprehensive sports program will include incorporating educational components for youth and single parents. KOPPS is laser-focused on helping to create and promote a family environment and community, help to eliminate various barriers families may encounter, including but not limited to, single-parent households, families experiencing socio-economic challenges, or youth navigating friendships and connections. KOPPS overarching goal is to make a lasting positive impact on families and creating a family community.

The goal of a positive youth development perspective is the promotion of healthy physical and psychosocial development in young people. This approach consists of social-contextual features (e.g., teacher behaviors, classroom structure, student activities) that help equip youth with attributes, skills, competencies, and values that will contribute to their role as productive, socially conscious, and healthy citizens. School physical education represents a context that has the potential for promoting positive youth development by helping students acquire life skills and psychosocial and behavioral attributes that can transfer to other important domains (school, family, work) concurrently and over the life span. I contend that such skills and attributes should include both motor skill development and physical activity and health goals. 

Teach the children well: A holistic approach to developing psychosocial and behavioral competencies through physical education. Taylor & Francis. (n.d.). Retrieved September 22, 2021, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00336297.2011.10483663.