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PCA Updates

D-Backs Game Changers: Positive Coach and Student Athlete Recognition Program

04.09.2021


Each month during the 2021 season, the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation, in partnership with the Positive Coaching Alliance (501c3) and Steward Health, will recognize a coach and a student-athlete that exemplifies positivity, winning, leadership, sportsmanship, fair play, healthy living, respect, and integrity.

Coach Recognition Selection Process

Working in tandem with the Positive Coaching Alliance and through the nomination process at dbacks.com/gamechangers, the D-backs and Steward Health will identify one (1) coach each month from youth sports that meet the criteria outlined in the Positive Coaching Alliance Double-Goal Coach® Program. The criteria include:

  • Takes a mastery approach to sport rather than a scoreboard orientation, teaching athletes to put forward maximum effort, continuously learn and improve, and not let themselves be stopped by mistakes or fear of mistakes.
  • Fills Emotional Tanks of athletes, refusing to motivate through fear, intimidation, or shame. Recognizing that a player’s “Emotional Tank,” like the gas tank of a car, must be full in order to go anywhere, the Double-Goal Coach provides a fuel mixed of five specific, truthful praises for every specific, constructive correction.
  • Honors the Game by respecting ROOTS (Rules, Opponents, Officials, Teammates, Self).
  • Sets an example by promoting healthy living and exercise.

Student-Athlete Recognition Selection Process

Through the nomination process, the D-backs and Steward Health will recognize a student-athlete each month that exemplifies winning, leadership, sportsmanship, fair play, respect, and integrity. The recognition is open to all student-athletes, high school age and younger.

The Diamondbacks Foundation, Steward Health, and Positive Coaching Alliance will recognize each recipient in a monthly social media post and on-field pregame recognition during a D-backs home game.

“We are extremely grateful that the Arizona Diamondbacks Organization and Steward Health are committed to supporting and recognizing the importance of the principles that a Double-Goal Coach® and a Triple-Impact Competitor® exemplify,” said Rich Tomey, PCA Arizona Regional Director.

“Sports Teaches us so many valuable life lessons that are critical in the development of these young athletes to become the leaders of tomorrow.

About Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation

The Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation was established in 1997 before the D-backs ever played a Major League game. The mission of the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation is to support three main areas of need: homelessness, indigent healthcare and children's programs of all types, including education and youth baseball and softball field building and renovation, outreach programs and equipment. In addition, the Foundation has created strategic programs that address the needs of our community including veterans, police, teachers, firefighters and first responders - just to name a few.

The organization coined the phrase "D-backs Give Back" in 2012, a simple and concise phrase to explain the dedication and combined giving of the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation. To date, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation have made charitable contributions totaling more than $70 million to non-profit organizations and charitable programs across Arizona.

Of the $70 million total, $55 million has been distributed through the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation. The majority of funds are raised through events and programs such as the annual Evening on the Diamond Gala, 50/50 Raffle, D-backs Celebrity Golf Classic, D-backs Race Against Cancer, Diamonds Back Field Building Program, License Plate Program, D-backs Authentics, Chase Field Tour Program, Mystery Ball, Online Auctions and major gifts from our players and partners in our community.

About Positive Coaching Alliance

As a catalyst for a positive youth sports culture, Positive Coaching Alliance provides research-based training and resources for coaches, parents, athletes, and leaders to ensure a positive youth development experience for ALL kids, in all communities across the U.S., through sports. PCA ensures sports are ‘done right’ with programming that is research-based and designed to have impact at three levels in a youth sports organization or school:

  • YOUTH experience improved life skills and character development.
  • COACHES become more positive and increase their focus on using sports to teach life lessons.
  • YOUTH SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS AND SCHOOLS see their cultures become more positive and everyone involved has more fun.

PCA believes that all youth can benefit from a positive, inclusive sports culture that develops social and emotional skills, molds character, and prepares them for competition and life. In more than two decades of work, PCA expanded from a small local nonprofit to a strong, nationwide organization that provides programming in all 50 states, reaching thousands of organizations around the country and positively impacting millions of youth athletes every year. PCA has now partnered with roughly 3,500 schools and youth sports organizations nationwide to deliver more than 20,000 live group workshops, reaching over 20 million youth.

About Steward Health Care

Steward Health Care is the largest private, for-profit health care network in the United States. The company is owned and led by a management team of Steward physicians.

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Steward employs more than 37,000 health care professionals and operates 36 hospitals across the United States and in the country of Malta which regularly receive awards for quality and safety. The Steward network includes multiple urgent care centers and skilled nursing facilities, substantial behavioral health services, more than 7,000 beds under management, and approximately 2.2 million full risk covered lives through the company's managed care and health insurance services.

The Steward Health Care Network includes more than 5,000 physicians across 800 communities who help to provide more than 12 million patient encounters annually. Steward Medical Group, the company's employed physician group, provides more than six million patient encounters per year. The Steward Hospital Group operates hospitals in Malta and nine states across the U.S., including Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Utah. For more information, visit www.steward.org.