How can brain science help a Pop Warner football team of 10-year-olds win the big game, and avoid depression when they're adults?

Join us for the August edition of the Up2Us Sports Lunch and Learn Series and find out. The monthly lunch and learn session, usually exclusively for UP2US member coaches, is now open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. Register today using the link at the end of this post!

The session is Wednesday, August 11 at noon CST, and features the Rev. Dr. Clifford Barnett, Carey Sipp of PACEs Connection, and Alison Wine and Kelly Purcell, all of Wilmington, NC, sharing  the science of positive and adverse childhood experiences (PACEs) and the  Community Resiliency Model  (CRM) and how CRM helps coaches and players alike regulate to win -- on and off the field.

"Coaches are among the most important adults there are in the lives of children. Not every coach is a good coach," said Sipp. "A coach who doesn't understand the power of a negative comment to crush a child desperate for the approval of someone he or she respects, can devastate a child. In the heat of competition, an angry remark can turn a child off of sports for life,

"Youth sports are a protective factor for children, and promote resiliency. They are an opportunity for children to build the positive childhood experiences that can help prevent adult mental health problems," Sipp added.

Up2Us Sports is the nationwide leader in engaging and training sports-based youth development coaches, practitioners, and organizations to address the most pressing issues facing youth in under-resourced urban communities. Up2Us Sports does this through the following programs: Up2Us Coach, Up2Us VISTA and Up2Us Training.

The Rev. Dr. Clifford Barnett is a pastor, Wilmington, NC city council member and a former coach. Barnett became a certified CRM® trainer in 2018. Since that time he has provided a number of CRM trainings for families, faith based groups, schools, and many others.

Carey Sipp works as a regional community facilitator for PACEs Connection -- formerly ACEs Connection. In this role she coaches community-based resiliency initiatives in 11 Southeastern states, supporting grassroots efforts to prevent and heal trauma, and create and build on positive childhood experiences (PCEs)  -- such as sports, arts and community traditions -- that lead to individual, family, and community strength and resilience.

Allison Wine is behavior specialist for New Hanover County’s Early Childhood Education Program in Wilmington, NC. Alison was trained in the Community Resiliency Model (CRM)®  in January 2019 in Wilmington and has worked with fellow CRM® trainers to provide trainings for over 1,000 people locally and globally.

Kelly Purcell is a certified Community Resiliency Model (CRM)® trainer. Kelly has shared the CRM® model with more than 1,000 people from around the country, working in a variety of professions including webinars for PACEs Connection and Darkness to Light Annual Conference.

During the one-hour webinar, followed by 15 minutes of questions and answers, the CRM trainers will share CRM skills coaches and players can begin to use immediately to help regulate their central nervous systems.

They'll also share resources and concepts coaches can model for their players. Among them?  Resourcing and grounding; sensing in as ways to regulate themselves so they don't escalate a problem -- or a player -- in the midst of a game.

Registration for this Zoom lunch and learn is available at: