Save the Date: InSideOut Returns to Colorado in February

AURORA – The InSideOut Initiative – a non-profit aimed to inspire, catalyze and equip school leaders, ADs and coaches to transform lives through Purpose-Based Sports – will relaunch in Colorado in partnership with the Colorado High School Activities Association, the Denver Broncos and the NFL Foundation on Feb. 5, 2024.
 
Co-founded by former NFL standout Joe Ehrmann and Jody Redman in 2015, the Initiative works to develop leaders and implement effective strategies to help reclaim the educational and social-emotional value of youth and high school sports. Funded by a grant through the NFL Foundation, InSideOut has partnered with 20 NFL teams in 17 states to connect student-athletes to transformational coaches, in a culture of belonging, for their social-emotional character development.
 
In advance of its relaunch in Colorado, CHSAANow.com sat down with Joe and Jody to discuss InSideOut’s return to Colorado, why Colorado was an initial pilot state, how InSideOut has evolved over time and how school administrators – coaches, athletic directors, principals and superintendents – can get involved.
 
Q: Looking back, many people will remember that Colorado was one of only two states that were given the unique opportunity to pilot the InSideOut Initiative in 2015. Can you tell us why Colorado was chosen to be a pilot state?
A: Colorado was identified as a perfect partner due to Jody Redman’s high school association work with former CHSAA Commissioner Paul Angelico – a transformational leader – and because of the community outreach initiatives led by Bobby Mestas of the Denver Broncos.
 
Since the pilot year in Colorado, the InSideOut Initiative has grown to become a transformational movement in over 5,400 school communities across the country, positively impacting hundreds of thousands of athletic administrators, coaches and student-athletes.
 
Q: The Initiative has gone on to be hugely successful, now in 17 states and with 20 NFL teams across the country. How has the Initiative changed over the past eight years and since the initial launch in 2015?
A: We have grown exponentially since our launch in 2015 through collaboration with school community stakeholders, having to deal with and survive a world pandemic and through the ongoing work with our evaluation partners at the University of North Carolina – Greensboro. Today our strategies are grounded in science and are evidence-based. Colorado ADs, who were a part of the inaugural experience, played a critical role in shaping the organization that we are today.
 
Q. What has changed in your approach?
A: Initially, we conducted only in-person training every 6 to 8 weeks without any support or learning between the live sessions. When the pandemic struck in March of 2020, we pivoted and became very effective at online training. In addition, we developed the InSideOut Community of Practice, an online platform that allows us to provide both synchronous and asynchronous learning experiences, provide ongoing support between trainings, deliver resources and curriculum and connect ADs to one another to share best practices and support.
 
In addition, with turnover rates so high in athletic administration, we now have a pathway for ADs who are new to the profession or who do not get involved during the first year of the grant. We were a three-year initiative and now are serving school communities for five years through both statewide and national professional learning communities.
 
Q: What do you feel has made this Initiative so successful?
A: Our success comes from our passion to lead a movement that transforms people’s lives from the InSideOut. The InSideOut Process takes people on a journey to examine their own experiences; the good and the bad, and looks at how these experiences have shaped how they lead and live today. People, by nature, want to make a positive difference in the lives of others. InSideOut meets them where they are and not only inspires them to want to work towards a higher purpose but also equips them with the tools and strategies to intentionally make it happen.
 
Q: Why is this message and the values and principles shared through it needed so desperately in high school sports today?
A: Youth and high school sports are now a 43-billion-dollar professionalized industry where winning is the primary purpose. Sports that take place in a school setting must be centered on teaching and learning outcomes that go far beyond the skills of the game, and result in better people – not just better athletes.
 
InSideOut is an adult intervention that works to develop the five competencies of social emotional learning (social awareness, self-regulation, relational development, social awareness and ethical decision making) in the adults that are responsible for the human growth and development of their students. Character is learned; therefore, it can be taught. But it can’t be learned if it isn’t modeled. We must ensure that the adults we are putting in front of our students understand their role in this development.
 
Q: The InSideOut Initiative certainly offers incredible education and resources for coaches and athletic directors. Why is it also vitally important that superintendents and principals are involved?
A: For the value of sports to go beyond winning to student learning that aligns with educational outcomes, the Principal, Superintendent and School Board must view sports in the school as teaching and learning. Coaches are teachers when they are in front of the students in your school. The game is the curriculum where the goal is to win. Students play, plan and prepare to win every game they are in, but winning isn’t the purpose of sports in the school setting. The purpose is the human growth and development of the students who participate. This intentional purpose needs to be valued and affirmed by the school administration for coaches to utilize the game’s teachable moments.
 
Q: This initiative is graciously funded by the NFL Foundation and is supported by NFL teams, but it is not only available to football programs or coaches. Who can participate in the training provided.
A: The NFL Foundation and NFL teams have graciously made the InSideOut Initiative available to school administrators, and to coaches of all sports, both male and female, at no cost. The entire school community will benefit from this professional development opportunity.
 
Q: What will the relaunch day programming cover and what does implementation look like for school communities that are interested in getting involved?
A: We hope to see all of Colorado’s athletic administrators at the relaunch of the InSideOut Initiative on February 5th at Mile High Stadium. If you’ve previously been engaged, know that we are a different organization today than we were eight years ago. Certainly, we are still grounded in the same philosophy that’s contained in Joe’s book – InSideOut Coaching: How Sports Can Transform Lives – and what we provide is a new and engaging professional learning experience based on the growth that we’ve experienced over the past eight years.
 
Q: Is there any cost to schools or school districts to get involved?
A: There is no cost for a school to be involved, but it’s also not free! For InSideOut to work – ADs must make a commitment to attend training and engage in the InSideOut process. All lasting, and meaningful change starts on the InSide. There is no financial cost for schools to be involved, though. The NFL Foundation and the Denver Broncos underwrite the cost for schools to participate.
 
Q: What is the time commitment for school leaders in terms of “training and implementation”
A: InSideOut Leadership Part One kicks off with an in-person event at Mile High Stadium on Monday, Feb. 5 from 9:30 to noon. We will follow this with a monthly 2-hour training via Zoom in March, April and May.
 
In the fall of 2024, we will provide InSideOut Leadership Part 2. This 4-part training is conducted via Zoom and focuses on building consensus around the school’s Purpose Vision and Definition of Success.
 
The InSideOut System training contains 8 one-hour Zoom trainings that take place over year two. These trainings assist ADs in creating InSideOut Systems, evidence-based strategies, tools and resources that align the athletic administrator’s job responsibilities with their Purpose Vision and Definition of Success resulting in a Transformational Culture. Along with the ADs professional development, year two brings online training for Coaches – InSideOut Coaching, and the second in-person training event at Mile High Stadium for School Implementation Teams.
 
In year three, ADs will participate in the InSideOut Professional Learning Community that will support them in overcoming the obstacles they are facing that are specific to their role in their school community.
 
Q: How can Athletic/Activities Directors and other interested school leaders get involved?
A: CHSAA will email the registration information to Athletic Administrators in January. ADs will only need to register and attend the event on Feb. 5 to get involved.
 
Q: Is there anything else you would like to share as the InSideOut Initiative returns to Colorado in February?
A: The InSideOut Team is excited to be returning to Colorado. We have many friends that have been on this journey with us for the past eight years. We would like to invite those who have been on the journey to come back and for those who we have yet to meet, we send a special invitation to join us to learn more. To be a better leader, you must be a better you.