Social activists from all over southern California were enthusiastic yesterday while taking part in the first day of the YouthNoise/Nike Training Camp held in Culver City.  It was inspiring to listen and witness everyone brainstorm ways that sports can impact our communities and change the world.  

The objectives of the training camp are as follows:

• To serve as the initial step in a year-long internship for 50 emerging social entrepreneurs in the greater L.A. area, who will organize themselves into approximately ten teams, each of which will use sport to achieve social change in one or more projects or programs.

• To engage in the broader movement to turn L.A. into a “Play City” by engaging other young people in their developing programs and/or in creating their own sport for good projects in the city.

• To form tightly-knit corps of sport for good activists in the area, assisting and supporting each other as their project take shape.

As I walked around taking pictures and talking with these social entrepreneurs in-the-making, I wondered what would happen if our top dignitaries, political leaders, and celebrity athletes carried with them as much determination to make a difference as these PlayCity activists.  (I guarantee that paradigm shift we've all been waiting for would certainly take form!).

I got a chance to speak with Tanez Henderson (pictured below) of Cal State at Long Beach.  Tanez is currently double-majoring in Philosophy and Finance.  I asked her how does she think her education can help facilitate her work in social activism.  Though she admitted that the finance industry is currently taking a serious hit, she says that her educational background teaches her “time management and paying attention to detail.  These are skills I can use behind the scenes for the community.”  She envisions a project that will get more women and girls involved in sports while empowering them at the same time.

Various ethnic, socio-economic, and cultural backgrounds were represented at the LMP boot camp – proof positive that we can convene for the good of our communities despite our socially constructed differences.

What was most inspiring about the entire day was to observe ideas and ideals morph into effective strategic planning and collaboration.

Some of these ideas include organizing a community-based program that enables celebrities to mentor youth.  This particular group (pictured below) seeks to “change the definition of celebrity [to mean] teachers, doctors, and coaches.”

Another group, lead by Jerry Darko's initial idea (below), devised a strategy to implement exchange sports programs into local high schools.  The objective of the program is to bring people and cultures together by participating in various athletic activities like indigenous sports.

One other group comprised of Audie Diggs, Rachel Campbell, Ryan Macabasco, and Renard Smith (all pictured below) wants to help kids through various sporting activities.  This group decided to set up their goals first, one being to follow the “unity through sports” theme.  This group will focus their efforts on children ages 12-14 and conflict resolution.  They want to bring kids together through sports “who usually don’t agree.”  By attending sporting events and unifying youth through athletic competition, this group is confident that bridges can be made in the community.

Seth Allison (pictured below), of Pepperdine University, majors in Telecommunications and Production.  Arguably the most lively and humorous person of the collective, Seth and his group (also pictured below) developed the “Shoeless Footrace.”  This 5k, run, walk, “or crawl” event encourages people to come together and donate shoes to homeless shelters, Tom Shoes, and/or the Nike/Play City organization.

Another cool idea comes from a group who wants female athletes from Division I universities to help support younger females athletes in the community.  This group, which includes Alana Bagby-Leonard (picture below), hopes colleges from all over will adopt the idea because it means, “schools care about kids and makes kids care about schools.”

Since there was lots of learning going on, I thought I'd share with you some of the things I learned from yesterday's event.

• These social leaders-in-training love to use the Latin phrase “i.e.,” meaning “that is” to further explain their ideas!  I too am victim of this qualifying statement particularly while writing blogs (i.e., while writing this blog!).

• Franklin Levert loves to run, especially with his dog!  Levert came up with a cool idea to organize a footrace that allows us animal lovers to bring along our furry pets.

• I learned that these strategies can, and will, be turned into actual events and/or sustainable projects within local—possibly global, communities.  YouthNoise and Nike will provide these activists with the networking and strategy tools to help turn ideas into tangible actions that can impact the world around us.