Yes, Coach! Launches to Train 100,000 Mentors by 2030

Alongside Stand Together Foundation at SXSW, we unveiled Yes, Coach!™, a new national campaign to harness major cultural moments—like FIFA World Cup 26™ and America250—to celebrate and train more adults as youth coach-mentors.

The goal: train 100,000 coach-mentors by 2030—who will in turn impact 3 million youth.

Yes, Coach!™ aims to celebrate and train more adults to positively contribute to their communities by becoming youth sport coach-mentors who will support and shape the next generation of thriving young people. By providing proven training and resources, Yes, Coach!™ seeks to equip more coaches with essential youth development skills—the most important tools needed by all coaches when working with youth.

Why this matters:

Today, 16 million young people—including 9 million from under-resourced communities—still lack a mentor. While traditional one-to-one coaching models are effective, they often don’t reach youth at the scale that’s needed. At the same time, volunteerism is declining, and most coaches don’t receive training in youth development. According to a national survey by the Aspen Institute and Ohio State, fewer than 1 in 5 coaches feel confident identifying off-field challenges or connecting youth to mental health resources.

Yes, Coach!™ addresses this gap by providing access to training, resources, and a growing community of support.

We were thrilled that FIFA World Cup 26™ Philadelphia and FIFA World Cup 26™ New York New Jersey joined us to launch this campaign and will support the training of coach-mentors across the three states.

Launching later this summer, a new online hub will serve as the central platform for resources, stories, and tools to help coaches build strong, lasting relationships with youth—and deepen their impact beyond the field and across the country.