afh fit Archives - Athletes for Hope

AFH News

Posted: September 19, 2023 Updated: September 25, 2023 by Hannah Bronkema

AFH Transforms Popular AFH Fit Program

As Athletes for Hope continues to evolve and adapt to the ever-changing needs of students across the country, we are thrilled to announce that the AFH Fit Program has undergone a transformation this summer and will now be known as the CHAMPS Program.

Originally created to address the critical issue of childhood obesity, AFH Fit has been a part of hundreds of classrooms nationwide, impacting hundreds of thousands of kids. As the need for mental wellness in schools grows, AFH Fit has combined with our H.E.A.R.T. Curriculum to put children’s mental and physical well-being first.

Only one in four children in the U.S. is getting the recommended amount of physical activity each day. Getting kids moving – no matter the time of year – is important now more than ever as rates of depression and anxiety in youth have surged, a trend that has only intensified due to changes and stressors since the COVID-19 pandemic (www.childrenscolorado.org, 2023). According to Mental Health America, as of 2022 over 10% of America’s youth have severe major depression with approximately 15% having experienced a major depressive episode within the previous year.

Leveraging the structure of AFH Fit, the CHAMPS curriculum will integrate mental wellness lessons alongside our existing physical movement and leadership activities, creating a holistic approach to youth well-being. Program participants can expect to see brand new on-demand videos, student workbooks, and teacher guides that pair with each of the 6 sessions following the curriculum brought to them by professional, Olympic, Paralympic, and collegiate athletes.

The monthly sessions reinforce the importance of physical activity, and children’s mental wellness, help to identify helpful behaviors and practices that promote daily mental health, and create a setting for open conversations about what wellness means for kids.

If you are a teacher who is interested in bringing an athlete to your classroom this fall (virtually or in-person), please fill out this signup form by September 29, 2023.

Athletes In Action

Posted: February 24, 2023 Updated: February 24, 2023 by jbelinkie

February 2023 AFH Fit Recap

Each month AFH Athletes are connected to schools and after-school programs where they teach the next generation critical leadership skills through our C.H.A.M.P.S Curriculum and the importance of living an active lifestyle during an in-person or vritual visit.

February’s word of the month was mindfulness. Our AFH Fit partners across the country learned how to be aware of their thoughts, feelings, and the people around them.

Our student-athletes and professional athletes had so much fun this month educating and engaing with their classes!

Los Amigos Elementary School

A team of six student-athletes led by Brandon Bounds from the University of Arizona Track and Field team visited Los Amigos Elementary School for an in-person AFH Fit Visit! The visit included an interactive discussion about courage as well as games and finished with a Q&A session with the student-athlete role models.

Get Active With Us!

Our AFH Fit videos are free to everyone to view! This month, hear from Denver Broncos Dalton Risner and professional beach volleyball player Katie Dickens on the importance of mindfulness and take part in our C.H.A.M.P.S. Challenge at the end of each video.

AFH Fit Mindfulness Video #1: Click Here

AFH Fit Mindfulness Video #2: Click Here

Palm Beach County Schools

As a part of our new AFH Fit pilot program that explores AFH Fit visits with an entire school district at a time, Palm Beach County Schools (PBCS) word of the month was accountability.

During February, our AFH Fit partners in the PBCS district learned how to be accountable for your words and actions.

Our PBCS had a great virtual visit with NFL Detroit Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone. Alex spoke to the kids about being accountable for what they say and do, using personal examples of accountability that has allowed Alex to play football at the professional level.

Get Active With Us!

Our AFH Fit videos are free to everyone to view! This month, hear from former Team USA softball player Monica Abbott on the importance of accountability and take part in our C.H.A.M.P.S. Challenge at the end of the video.

AFH Fit Accountability Video #1: Click Here

Pauls Pujats, Community Hero Of The Week

Posted: August 17, 2022 Updated: August 17, 2022 by jbelinkie

Pauls is this week’s Community Hero!

Pauls Pujats is a Latvian Olympic Pole Vaulter who has focused his attention on the AFH Fit program, a program we created to tackle the issue of childhood obesity.

Pauls is passionate about encouraging kids to adopt healthy lifestyles, and consistently visits with schools via the AFH Fit program. Every month Pauls visits with his partner school to share his athletic experiences and promote active lifestyles with the help of the CHAMPS curriculum.

First, spreading and sharing joy, which leads to the second – love and passion for what you do, and the third is sharing valuable information that can help others to live their best life.
Pauls Pujats on his favorite moment giving back to his community

AFH Program Highlight

Posted: August 12, 2022 Updated: August 12, 2022 by jbelinkie

Highlighting AFH Fit on International Youth Day

August 12 marks the United Nation’s International Youth Day, an awareness day intended to uplift the causes and issues that affect youth throughout the world. This year’s theme, Intergenerational Solidarity, focuses on the need to collaborate to “foster successful and intergenerational relations and partnerships to ensure that no one is left behind.” This sentiment is one Athletes for Hope firmly believes in and we exemplify through our AFH Fit program.

Using the power of sport and the athletic spirit, AFH Athletes make in-person and virtual visits to classrooms across the country to encourage physical and mental health through our AFH Fit C.H.A.M.P.S. curriculum. While the COVID-19 pandemic continued to derail many in-person visits, we were able to continue our virtual opportunities by sharing our program digitally.

To see the full impact of the program, take a look at the ’21-’22 AFH Fit Program by the numbers recap below.

“The AFH Fit program supplemented a critical need during virtual learning. Students were able to access the content at any time and I used the program materials as part of my students’ educational instruction.”
-AFH Fit Teacher Participant

We can’t wait for next year’s program to kick off in October! If you have any questions or want to bring AFH Fit to your school or youth program, let us know by sending a note here.

Our Impact in 2019

Posted: December 26, 2019 Updated: September 21, 2021 by Brooke McMillan

Athletes for Hope served more athletes and communities than ever before in 2019. Through our programs such as AFH FIT, AFH University and Global Gender Equality, we positively impacted tens of thousands of underserved people in communities around the globe, equipped hundreds of athletes with the tools to be effective community advocates, and connected those athletes to organizations they care about all over the world! A huge thank you to all of our friends, partners, and AFH’s network of more than 7,000 professional, Olympic and college athletes – the incredible 2019 highlights below would not be possible without you.

AFH FIT:

The AFH FIT program made huge strides in 2019. We developed a brand new curriculum called C.H.A.M.P.S (Courage, Honesty, Accountability, Mindfulness, Perseverance, and Sportsmanship), and we have utilized this new curriculum in reaching and impacting more than 100,000 underserved children this year through 200 school and after-school visits, and our virtual program which utilizes C.H.A.M.P.S. Challenge Videos.

AFH University:

In 2019 AFH U added two new campuses (UCLA and Georgetown), increased our overall service hours by 71% and expanded the number of community partners by 85%. Over 2,500 AFH student-athletes participated in visits with charitable organizations across eight different college campuses in the 2018-2019 school year, positively impacting thousands of underserved individuals. We also initiated our first national Student-Athlete and Team of the Year Award and held our first year-end service recognition events in Baton Rouge and Lansing, Michigan.

Global Gender Equality Program:

In July of this year, Athletes for Hope was selected as one of five sport specialists in the world to speak at the United Nations General Assembly on Gender Equality and the Sustainable Development Goals. We created and funded the premiere Gender Equality Summit at the 2019 World Cup that reached 63 million people on social media. We also developed a Gender Equality Curriculum & phase one research for the European Union SWinG Female Mentorship.

AFH Celebrates 13 Years at the 2019 Gala:

The AFH Gala this November was a smashing success! 320 guests joined us for a night of celebrations, as we honored philanthropic advisor Stephen Whisnant, Former NFL player and philanthropists Derrick and Emma Dockery, and professional soccer player Megan Oyster. We are very close to confirming an event date and location (most likely mid- November) for 2020. Stay tuned! Read this wrap up of the event and view pictures.

Focusing Our Eyes on 2020:

Thank you for all you’ve done to support AFH this year- we wouldn’t be here without you. With your continued support, we can make 2020 the most impactful yet. If you would like to make a year-end donation to Athletes for Hope, you can do so here.

AFH Announces New Pilot Project for Kids

Posted: January 14, 2019 Updated: January 14, 2019 by Brooke McMillan

In honor of those committing to healthier and more active lifestyles this New Year, we’re announcing our newest pilot project for kids called the AFH Fit Monthly Challenge Video Series.

Our AFH Fit program (link) incorporates all our AFH Member connections to physical activity programs like Marathon Kids, Active Schools and Power Up! and now, we are adding a series of videos. Although we connect hundreds of AFH Members to schools and clubs all over the country, the demand is greater than the number of available athletes. That’s where the new videos come in! Videos will feature professional, Olympic and college athletes performing a variety of warm ups, stretches and activities and will help bring an AFH Member visit to schools and clubs no matter of location or athlete availability.

Each month, AFH will release a new video with a new monthly challenge. Physical education teachers and classroom teachers can share the videos with their kids and perform the monthly set of activities. Children are encouraged to perform the monthly challenge activity and log their progress. Our hope is that these videos will increase physical activity levels in kids and keep them excited about getting fit.

The new AFH Fit Monthly Challenge videos are being produced as we speak! We’d like to thank professional soccer player, Megan Oyster for being the star of our first video. If you are a school or club and are interested in taking part in this pilot program, or an athlete interested in connecting with an AFH Fit program school, please contact us. We are excited to launch the project and reach even more kids in 2019.