New Coaches!

GRS Kim is sad to be saying bye to some of our great Skillz coaches in the coming months, and we wish them only the best in their future endeavors.  However! We held a group interview for 25 of our favorite applicants this past Monday, and we were extremely pleased with the outcome.  Two separate sessions saw groups of 12 and 13 men and women interact with our staff in a fun and open environment.

We kicked off with a few energizers to get the juices flowing and a name game that revealed some monster senses of humor.  These activities showed the team the people who aren't afraid to be embarrassed and those who have the energy and enthusiasm to stand up in front of a classroom and engage with the kids.  We then asked the candidates some questions that gave them the chance to impart their understanding of the importance of sport in their community and their knowledge about the HIV/AIDS epidemic.  A few of the group members related personal stories regarding either topic and revealed to the staff how open they are about some sensitive subjects.

After the questions we broke the group into three smaller groups and presented the individuals with different scenarios that they had to write out solutions for and present to their group.  An example of one scenario is, "As a youth mentor, your players will see you as a safe, knowledgeable, and trustworthy friend.  How would you handle a situation in which a player disclosed a serious problem and asked you for help? (eg: story of rape, family member that recently contracted HIV)."  After the individual presents his or her solution the smaller group bounces other ideas off each other, creating an open dialogue about potential challenges as a GRS coach.  This activity allowed our staff to observe how these guys and gals would confront obstacles in the field and it certainly produced some standouts.

 

The larger group then came back together and discussed the activity and a final challenge was introduced for the group to solve as a team.  We presented them with the Survivor Challenge where their plane crashes, they are isolated on an island, and they have to come up with the 10 most important things they want to have with them.  This activity distinguished the leaders from the followers.  After a closing circle with a few more energizers, we bid our candidates farewell and were energized ourselves by the amount of potential we saw in the two groups.

The KimTeam met the next day to discuss our favorites and selected 18 to be trained as GRS Skillz coaches for the next 2 years, exciting!! Stay tuned to see how they're doing and look out for the coach spotlights being posted soon!