The Los Angeles Rams supported and invested in a training cohort led by the Center for Healing and Justice through Sport (CHJS). According to a release from TheRams.com, the program trained 30 local youth coaches who work in boys' and girls' flag and tackle football.
The training aimed to help coaches support their athletes' mental health on and off the field. It used healing-centered sport and brain-based coaching, with a focus on the brain science of stress, connection, and self-regulation. The goal was to help coaches build safety and trust with their players.
The cohort started in the Rams' Locker Room at SoFi Stadium. TheRams.com reports that Chad Hogancamp, CEO of the Orange County youth sports organization OC Waves, started talking with his own coaches and parents after the first session about how to combine the fun of sport with skill development.
The fourth session took place at YouTube Theater, where coaches discussed implicit bias before the Rams' preseason game against the New Orleans Saints. They stayed for the game. At halftime, one coach's flag football team took the field at SoFi Stadium. According to the release, he later told CHJS Director of Partnerships Chris Reed that he used regulation activities from the cohort to settle his excited players. By the second play, the kids were calm and running their routes.
CHJS shared post-training survey results from coaches who completed the survey. All of them said they felt more confident in their ability to be a healing-centered coach. The share reporting high or very high knowledge of youth development, adversity, and the brain went from 27% before the training to 100% after. Confidence in creating a sport environment that maximizes benefits for young people rose from 45% to 100%. Every respondent said they gained new tools to support youth mental health.