by Mary McVeigh
Every year, soccer coaches, clubs, associations, organizations, and supporters come together at the Urban Soccer Symposium (USS) hosted by the US Soccer Foundation. During this four-day event, we are able to examine and share best practices for delivering effective programs and growing exceptional organizations. SWB Founder Ben Gucciardi has presented at the Symposium in the past, and SWB Baltimore's Jill Pardini was among the presenters this year. Personally, I had the pleasure of attending this event for the first time this year and could see what an incredible effort the US Soccer Foundation and Soccer Shots put forth to realize their vision.
While listening, sharing, observing, and experiencing these workshops, speakers, and trainings, two particular themes emerged for me:
1. When working with youth, relationships are everything.
2. A lasting impact requires a long-term investment.
Etan Thomas, a retired NBA player, drove home the first point in his closing address on Monday, "If you want to work with youth, you have to build a connection first. If there is no connection, they aren't going to hear you."
His voice resonated as I attended a youth development workshop by the DC Children & Youth Investment Trust Corporation, which reiterated the same, "Every young person needs maybe just one adult, one person who believes in them. That's what coaches can be. "
The idea of connection, trust, and showing youth that you believe in them is not revolutionary, but given the circumstances in which many of programs operate, it does not happen by accident. With this idea top of mind, I thought about the ways that programs can prioritize this connection:
-Low coach-to-participant ratios. 
-Retaining effective program leaders over time.
-Recruiting program leaders and coaches from within the community they serve.
-Providing avenues for young leaders to emerge out of the program.
-Investing in on-going training for coaches and leaders.
-Ensuring that program youth have a voice and that their voice is heard.
...to name a few. The list is long, and takes great care and intention to implement consistently and effectively.
With that trust established, there is still a question of how to maximize the impact of your program in the long run. Long-term impact means a long-term investment, which requires patience and a true appreciation of the process it takes to get there. In his opening speech, Darrin Smith (retired NFL) said of his Super Bowl championships, "It wasn't winning the Super Bowl that was significant, it was the process leading up to it. The lifting weights, the playing in the hot sun, the relationships...the process was what mattered."
That process isn't always glamorous, nor is the perfect outcome immediately clear or always achievable, but the commitment, cooperation, effort, problem solving, and conflict resolution along the way are skills that youth can apply to any goal, any field, any arena.
As I made my way back to Boston from the Symposium, these two themes echoed in my mind and reaffirmed my commitment to the SWB's core values: authenticity, focus on the whole person, and process-oriented. Without the first two, we could never build genuine relationships and earn the trust of those whom we aim to serve. Without the third, we might let the desire and pressure for outcomes trump the process. Our daily actions, patience, investment and belief in our young people are most important. Only through these means will we inspire the ends: growth, inclusion, and personal success.