We've been talking about this great event over the past two weeks and hope to see a lot of you (coaches, men and sons) when you meet
"America's Most Important Coach" this Friday night, March 10 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall - 4141 Fifth Avenue in Oakland. Here are more details.
If you come, you'll hear from Joe Ehrmann - an amazing man. Joe is a former NFL Pro Bowl Defensive Lineman, high school coach at the perennial national power Gillman School in Baltimore, a national speaker on manhood issues and an advocate for the family and at-risk youth.
In August, 2004, Joe was named by
Parade Magazine as
"America's Most Important Coach" because of the strong message he offers to other male coaches that transforms their view of coaching, building and leading young men. If you're an athletic coach at any level and/or a father with sons in sports we encourage you to attend.
I (Tunch) will be the emcee along with
Larry Johnson, Penn State's Defensive Line Coach.Seating is limited, but you can email Leo Wisniewski at
ljwiz@aol.com for more information.
Tickets are only $5.00.
Proceeds benefit
Family Guidance of Pittsburgh. Come out for a welcome change.
Here's a little more information about Joe's
"Building Men for Others" program (taken from his Web site):
Building Men for Others (BMO) was created out of an awareness that one of the greatest crises in America centers on the issue of masculinity and its correlating themes of boyhood, manhood, husbandry and fatherhood. America is increasingly becoming a toxic environment for the development of boys into men. The absence of men as father-mentor-coach role models is the leading cause of declining child well-being and is the engine driving many of our most urgent social problems.
Tonight over 40 percent of American children will go to bed in homes in which their fathers do not live. In addition, 68 percent of all black children and 30 percent of all white children are born outside of marriage. Of the fathers in the home, and the male-mentor-coaches involved in our boy's lives, many have been given little or no specific instructions in defining masculinity or in understanding what a man is and what a man does.
TRANSFORMING SPORTS, COACHES AND PARENTSSports, coaches and parents often play a significant role in delivering the false messages that boys receive about their masculinity. Approximately 20-30 million children play recreational sports with another 10 million playing interscholastic sports. On top of that it is estimated that 90% of American boys regularly or often watch televised sports programs, with their accompanying commercials that influence and improperly define masculinity. Recognizing the extraordinary numbers of boys who consume a "
sports masculinity formula" and its exceptional power to influence and define, there needs to be a countering message that correctly defines masculinity, and the proper role of coaches and sports so that they can positively influence the development of boys to men.
VISION: BUILDING A MEN FOR OTHERS MOVEMENTBMO will assist boys, men, parents, families, schools, communities, sports programs, coaches, religious institutions and anyone desirous of helping young boys and damaged men become whole and healthy men. Joe Ehrmann has outlined six steps in preparing for a movement.
His six steps which will discussed Friday night are:Step 1. Be PropheticCritique the cultural ideology and social constructs that individually and systemically define masculinity and manhood.
Examine, exegete and expose the media, marketing, messages, and modeling of false masculinity in America.
Step 2. Personally and publicly, embrace and articulate the pain and problems of men and boysEmbrace the pain and problems of men and boys which result from our cultural paradigm of masculinity. Connect personal stories and problems with social, systemic, and cultural realities.
Step 3. Build a holistic and inclusive agenda centering on three primary areasFirst Area: Issues of Men - Manhood, fatherhood, husbandry and boyhood *Create a clear and compelling definition of masculinity
*Code of conduct for men
*Cause - helping men find their own unique transcendent cause centered on making the world better place
*Curative - healing wounded masculine souls
Second Area: SportsTransform the culture of sports and harness the power of sports to transform boys into men; men who can transform culture. A strategic and intentional focus to help coaches, parents, players, agencies, leagues and organizations
Third Area: Child Advocacy Issues*Child abuse, neglect, poverty
*Child sexual abuse
*Domestic violence
*Culture of rape
*Issues of abusive power and violence
Step 4. Build a creative working partnership of diverse people and organizationsBuild a working partnership of people who can share a common vision, share ownership of the vision and share accountability by training leaders, implementing programs and creating a national campaign. Creative dialogue must take place among business, philanthropic, academic, athletic and religious leadership across racial, social, geographical and economic divisions.
BMO desires to dramatically expand the numbers of people and organizations working on this issue by being a focal point of shared information, so that various agencies, neighborhoods, ministries and municipalities can exchange ideas, provide mutual support and generate integrated resources and services to Build Men for Others.
Step 5. Influence and alter public dialogue, debate and definitions regarding manhood and masculinityInfluence comes through public, speaking, preaching, teaching, seminars, clinics and inter-agency relationships. At the core of much of America's social chaos are three lies about masculinity that need to be addressed. These three lies are:
*Athletic ability, power, aggression Creates culture of violence and unhealthy competition. Violence is not inherent to masculinity; men and boys are taught to use violence to resolve conflicts, or to control interpersonal relationships.
*Sexual conquest Creates culture of rape, violence and the objectification of women. Each year in America between one and three million women are physically abused and/or raped by intimate partners alone.
*Economic success Creates culture where possessions are more important than people and self-worth is too often based on net-worth
Step 6. Release and enact a new visionEnacting vision is to invent the future, guided by values, and unrestrained by present ideological assumptions and status quo. Individual change and social transformation is possible behavior/beliefs in the face of the right information and impetus.
We sure hope to see you Friday!
Steelers
Penguins
Pirates![Pitt Panthers](http://tunchandwolf.com/images/teams/pitt.gif"){kind=small}
Pitt Panthers
W & J
Penn State
WVU
Duquesne
Robert Morris
Carnegie Mellon
IUP
MSA
NFL
NHL
MLB
NCAA Football
NCAA Basketball
Other volunteer opportunities are available for face painters, artists, clowns, musicians and mascots if you've got a special talent to share. Or, you can help by joining a set-up and cleanuup crew, a registration team, be a food server, a course marshals and more.
