Interval House of Hamilton and MentorAction are thrilled to announce the official launch of Coaching Boys Into Men! An evidence-based program from the American-based organization, Futures Without Violence, Coaching Boys Into Men (CBIM) seeks to prevent gender-based and sexual violence by supporting coaches in building positive and safe sports cultures. CBIM trains, motivates, and uplifts coaches from a variety of sports backgrounds, levels, and age groups to have meaningful conversations with their male athletes about healthy relationships, consent, mental health, peer pressure, and challenging attitudes and behaviours that might facilitate violence. Research emerging from the implementation of the program in Sacramento, CA, found that male athletes who participated in CBIM reported significant increases in their likelihood to intervene in violent situations, and reported lower rates of perpetrating violence. As a high school basketball coach from Portland aptly expresses in a testimonial, “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it 100 times, I firmly believe that CBIM brought my team together to where it is today.”
MentorAction is proud to also announce our official partnership with our longstanding community ambassadors, the Hamilton Tigercats, to bring CBIM to teams across the Greater Hamilton Area. In their extensive work with us, the Ticats have emphasized how meaningful it is when athletes and coaches come together to lead responses to preventing gender-based violence. As coaches are uniquely positioned to bring these messages to their teams, CBIM centres a community-based approach where coaches can use their influence, leadership, and respectful relationships with their athletes to have these conversations and promote safety among their teams.
What happens off the field, court, pool, track, or ice is just as important as what happens on it. CBIM gives us the tools to support athletes in becoming leaders in preventing violence in all its forms. Join us in celebrating this launch today, and please spread the word about the program. If you’re a coach who is interested in bringing the program to your team, club, or school, then get in touch with us! We’re excited to work with you.