The PCA Blog - Arizona

Thunderbirds Charities Awards PCA-Arizona $50,000 Grant For Underserved Maricopa County

01.12.2018

The funds will enable PCA-Arizona to provide PCA workshops to underserved and underfunded middle schools throughout Maricopa County.

PHOENIX, AZ – 

“We at PCA-Arizona are incredibly grateful to the Thunderbirds for this grant, which will allow us to conduct a multitude of workshops that teach valuable life lessons for coaches, athletes and parents in Maricopa County,” said Rich Tomey, Chapter Executive Director. “The Thunderbirds and PCA both share a common mission to provide the young children of Arizona with a positive learning environment both on and off the field.”

"The Thunderbirds are proud to support Positive Coaching Alliance," said Thunderbirds Charities President Andy Markham. "They're instilling in our youth essential life lessons, and we are excited to help fuel their efforts."

With the generosity of The Thunderbirds Grant, teachers, coaches and students throughout Maricopa County middle schools will have an opportunity to learn and benefit from PCA tools and concepts. The ability to work with all key stakeholders (school leaders, coaches, and student-athletes) through live, interactive educational workshops will enrich the development of a county-wide culture that utilizes sports as a means of teaching character education and life lessons. PCA lessons foster character development that lasts a lifetime and can break the negative youth-sports cycle forever. Athletic fields are classrooms, that ultimately teach us our greatest lessons in life and provide a springboard to excel both in the classroom and in life.

Some of the lessons learned will be:

Leadership Training: sets the table for success by aligning School Administrators, Staff and Coaches to achieve great things. Topics include:

  • Culture-shaping skills development for leaders
  • Elements of a positive coaching culture
  • Structural pillars and maintenance of a positive culture
  • Development of an organization-specific development plan

Coach Training: introduces PCA's Double-Goal Coach model and presents research from experts in coaching, education and sports psychology. Every participant gains access to practical, proven tools that they can immediately begin using in their next practice or competition. Topics include an in-depth review of the three principles of Positive Coaching:

  • ELM Approach to Building a Mastery Environment
  • Filling of Emotional Tanks for Optimal Performance
  • Honoring the Game

Athlete Training: educates high-school athletes on becoming a Triple-Impact Competitor who strives to improve themselves, their teammates and the game. Outcomes include:

  • Inspiration to value competitors and respect rules, officials and the game
  • Education of powerful sports psychology techniques to improve performance
  • Player self-confidence, resiliency, response to adversity, self-control and mental toughnes


About Thunderbirds Charities

Thunderbirds Charities is a non-profit organization formed in 1986 to distribute monies raised through the Waste Management Phoenix Open golf tournament. The Thunderbirds Charities Board consists of 15 board members from varying professional backgrounds. The mission of Thunderbirds Charities is to assist children and families, help people in need and improve the quality of life in our communities. The organization’s giving is directed toward organizations based or with a significant presence in Arizona. For more information on Thunderbirds Charities or the Waste Management Phoenix Open, visit www.wmphoenixopen.com or call the Thunderbirds office at (602) 870-0163.


About Positive Coaching Alliance

Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) develops  through resources for youth and high school sports coaches, parents, administrators and student-athletes. In addition to nearly 1,500 free multimedia tips and tools at www.PCADevZone.org, PCA has partnered with roughly 3,500 schools and youth sports organizations nationwide to deliver more than 20,000 live group workshops, along with online courses and books by PCA Founder Jim Thompson that help those involved in youth and high school sports create a positive, character-building youth sports culture. 

PCA resources, which have reached more than 8.6 million youth, strive to transform high school and youth sports into a Development Zone® culture, where the goal is to develop Better Athletes, Better People and the following become the prevailing models in youth and high school sports:

  • The Double-Goal Coach®, who strives to win while also pursuing the more important goal of teaching life lessons through sports
  • The Second-Goal Parent®, who concentrates on life lessons, while letting coaches and athletes focus on competing
  • The Triple-Impact Competitor®, who strives to impact sport on three levels by improving oneself, teammates and the game as a whole.

PCA gains support from a National Advisory Board, including National Spokesperson and 11-time NBA Champion Coach Phil Jackson, and many other top coaches, athletes, organization leaders and academics who share PCA’s mission.


For information on PCA-Arizona, contact Rich Tomey, Chapter Executive Director Rich_Tomey@positivecoach.org or call 602-647-2864.

For more information about Thunderbirds Charities, visit https://thunderbirdscharities.org/