National Council of Youth Sports

STRIVE: Sports Teach Respect Initiative Values and Excellence

Hershey's STRIVE Award Program

Steve Kelley
Coach of the Year
Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence
Lawrence, Massachusetts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Sally S. Johnson, CSA Executive Director National Council of Youth Sports 772-781-1452 youthsports@ncys.org
NATIONAL AWARDS PROGRAM RECOGNIZES STEVE KELLEY AS HOMETOWN HERO Coach keeps kids off the streets and out of trouble in positive activities
LAWRENCE, Massachusetts. (August 15, 2008) – Steve Kelley has been selected by the National Council of Youth Sports as the recipient of NCYS’ 2008 Hershey’s STRIVE Award for Coach of the Year. Kelley is recognized for the indelible imprint he has left on the lives of hundreds of highly disadvantaged youth in the city of Lawrence, Massachusetts. Academic Basketball was Steve Kelley’s brainchild conceived 30 years ago when he was coaching a boy’s basketball team at the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence. The Club serves as a critical counterweight to a deprived environment providing more than 4,000 youth annually. The program highlights recreational and educational programming that builds character and self-confidence as it improves skills and prepares youngsters for productive fulfilling futures. Today every boy and girl must not only present a satisfactory weekly report from his/her teacher but must also attend a one-hour study session before each practice. Kelley has influenced thousands of individuals both on and off the court. He is a coach, a father figure, a mentor, a friend, an advisor and a strict disciplinarian who reaches out not only to the players but to the families’ extending his involvement way beyond basketball practices and games. He organizes hikes and field trips for kids to explore the world beyond their immediate inner-city neighborhood. Kelley teaches tenacity, fair play, teamwork, responsibility, discipline, mental toughness, mutual respect, and the importance of academic achievement. In a school district where only 38.4% of entering freshman graduate from high school, almost every Academic Basketball participant is a graduate, and more than 80% go on to post-secondary education. Kelley says, “I can never remember one day that I thought I don’t want to go to work today. The kids energize you and keep you alive! These kids are my heroes. They overcome odds that would pulverize adults. The drugs, the gangs, the guns, the violence, the teen pregnancy and the family problems they encounter each day would challenge a saint to stay on the straight and narrow. The kids do it. They work at their lives daily and they are the survivors and the ‘thrivers’ we read about as incredible successes. How lucky can on person be to work with these kids!” More telling is the number of youth who return year after year to visit Kelley and to share their dreams and their successes with the man who had such a deep and lasting impact on their lives. Kelley’s Kids have been coached and mentored by a true hometown hero. Markus Fischer Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence says, “Steve is an extraordinary coach and human being who has devoted his entire life to helping the children of Lawrence.” STRIVE stands for Sports Teach Respect, Initiative, Values and Excellence and the award honors adult leaders for their “heartfelt passion, enthusiastic commitment and contagious spirit to help kids succeed in youth sports activities.” This year, NCYS’ Hershey’s STRIVE Award will be presented to a national administrator, a volunteer, a coach, and a local administrator. Honorees were nominated by team members, parents or colleagues and judged by a panel of NCYS officials. Sally S. Johnson, NCYS Executive Director, noted that the lack of recognition given to outstanding adult leaders involved in youth sports prompted NCYS to create the STRIVE awards five years ago. “Honoring America’s hometown heroes on a national scale gives them the praise they deserve,” Johnson said. “It is awe-inspiring to pay tribute to these exceptional individuals who devote countless hours each week, all while juggling full-time careers, families, and other commitments.” Kelley will be honored on Wednesday, November 26, 2008 at the BGC of Lawrence’s annual Thanksgiving Dinner. Dozens of volunteers will serve more than 600 boys and girls observing the holiday together while paying tribute to Kelley in the Club’s gymnasium/dining hall. The STRIVE event presentation is hosted by the NCYS and The Hershey Company. During the celebration, Kelley will receive a check for $2,500 which he has announced will be donated to the Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence. Other STRIVE winners In addition to Coach of the Year, the other 2008 STRIVE Award winners for National Administrator, Local Administrator, and Volunteer of the Year include: Ann Cody of Washington, D.C. is being recognized as NCYS’ Hershey’s STRIVE National Administrator of the Year. She is the director of partnerships and public policy for BlazeSports America headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Cody has dedicated her career to ensuring that young people with disabilities have the opportunity to participate in and benefit from sports. Cody is a Paralympic Gold Medalist in athletics and competed on three U.S. Paralympic teams. As a sport instructor, she has taught aspiring young athletes and their coaches training principles and techniques in wheelchair racing, injury prevention, sports psychology and racing strategies. Whether advocating for the creation of physical activity standards for people with disabilities or shaping landmark legislation, Cody’s leadership is making a significant difference on overcoming the barriers and advancing the lives of youth with physical disabilities through sport and healthy lifestyles. Frank Wilkinson of Staten Island, New York will be honored with NCYS’ Hershey’s STRIVE Award as Local Youth Sports Administrator of the Year. Wilkinson has had a lifetime journey in the sport of bowling since the age of five. At the age of 18 he was elected President of the New York State Youth Leaders Chapter of the United States Bowling Congress and today remains an active leader in USBC and Bowling Proprietors Association. Passionately involved in all aspects of the bowling industry and a strong advocate for youth bowling, Wilkinson has also introduced the sport of bowling to school students as a part of their physical education classes. Wilkinson is a respected voice for all youth bowlers telling the kids and the volunteers, “It is our job to pay it forward.” Dan Dionisio of Olney, Maryland was chosen as the recipient of NCYS’ Hershey’s STRIVE Award for Volunteer of the Year. For nearly 20 years, Dionisio has been a coach or on the board of directors of the Olney Boys & Girls Community Sports Association helping OBGC children for eleven years before his own kids were born. His volunteer leadership is responsible for transforming a small disorganized organization serving 1,800 children, into a highly recognized organization serving 7,000 children on a 118-acre nationally acclaimed facility. Dionisio has set a standard for adult behavior in the club. He is a role model motivating nearly 800 volunteer coaches to make child-base decisions where no children are turned away due to cost and by creating a club environment where children flourish in superior quality youth sports programs.
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ABOUT The NCYS: The National Council of Youth Sports (NCYS) comprises the who's who in the youth sports industry. Its membership represents more than 180 organizations/corporations serving 52-million boys and girls participating in organized youth sports throughout the United States. NCYS members include organizations such as: Little League Baseball, Pop Warner Football, U.S. Youth Soccer Association, United States Olympic Committee, and Boys & Girls Clubs of America. To learn more about the NCYS visit www.ncys.org.
ABOUT The Hershey Company: The Hershey Company has long offered successful fundraising programs for youth in America. Its sponsorship of the STRIVE Awards stems from The Hershey Company's devotion to helping children of all ages to "Dream, Reach and Succeed" in everything that they do. For more information about The Hershey Company and its fundraising programs, visit www.hersheysfundraising.com.