Too many young people are leaving sport. And it’s not because of the game. It’s because of the experience. Research is clear: the quality of a young person’s relationship with their coach is one of the strongest predictors of whether they stay in sport or walk away.

That has to change. And it’s starting to.

Introducing Most Valuable Coach

CHJS has partnered with The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation and GameChanger to launch the Most Valuable Coach (MVC) campaign, bringing Healing-Centered Coaching tools to youth coaches everywhere.

For years, CHJS has been training coaches in brain science, working alongside leading researchers to understand how the developing brain responds to stress, relationships, and movement. Healing-Centered Coaching gives coaches a framework rooted in neuroscience, one that helps young people build regulated nervous systems, develop resilience, and experience sport as a source of healing rather than harm. The MVC playbook was distilled directly from our Nothing Heals Like Sport playbook. This isn’t new thinking for us. It’s years of research and training, now at scale.

Get Involved

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Sport, done right, is one of the most powerful mental health interventions we have. Throughout May, watch for MVC Coaching Tips across CHJS, DSGF, and GameChanger social channels, featuring coaches and trainers from our own community.

Healing-centered coaching shouldn’t be the exception. It should be the expectation.

Head to BeAnMVC.org to explore the resources and become an MVC today.