In honor of National Volunteer Week, we are celebrating the heart and soul of the Girls on the Run afterschool program: our volunteer coaches. Check out 8 inspirational quotes from GOTR volunteer coaches about why you should sign up, give back, and lead a team!
Every season, Girls on the Run volunteer coaches step onto the field, track, or blacktop with smiling faces, heads held high, and open hearts, ready to make a difference. Inside every volunteer coach is a joyful, compassionate spark and a desire to extend it to the next generation. Dedicating their free time to girl empowerment in their communities, coaches spread their joyful spark, all while inspiring girls to nurture their light from within.
Prepped with new knowledge from coach training and equipped with the resources to effectively lead our evidence-based curriculum, these caring coaches begin making an impact the moment they greet their team. With a single wave, hello, and introduction to the program, they lay the groundwork for potential core memories that girls will refer back to forever. Simply by showing up and leading with enthusiasm, passion, and positive energy, girls immediately discover they are in a place where everyone belongs. They can be silly, make mistakes, and truly be themselves at GOTR. And when girls have this type of confidence, their possibilities are limitless.
What also often happens during these initial moments is something that many coaches do not expect: they begin a journey that enriches their lives in a variety of ways.
While our program is rooted in empowering girls to build confidence, foster healthy habits, and develop life skills, the long-term impact of GOTR is not exclusive to the participants. Coaching a GOTR team has its own catalog of benefits. From strengthening social-emotional skills to forming community connections and rekindling their love of movement, coaches often say they gain as much as they give (which you will read firsthand below). So, whether you are a teacher looking to empower girls outside of the classroom, a caregiver with a girl on the team, a community member who believes in giving back, or simply someone who believes in the power of positivity, coaching offers a space to inspire and be inspired.
In this blog, eight incredible Girls on the Run volunteer coaches share why they choose to coach, the lessons they have learned, and why you should consider joining this life-changing experience. Their words will warm your heart, ignite your passion, and just might convince you to lace up your sneakers and say yes to coaching a team of future changemakers.
Vella Hughes – Girls on the Run Greater Kansas City
Girls with role models are more likely to succeed and have strong self-confidence. We also help to change their outlook about leaders, which helps them develop good leadership skills. The benefits received by the girls and the coaches from this experience are invaluable.
Coach Vella (giving a peace sign on the far right) with her team at a 5K Celebration.
Rachel Nguyen – Girls on the Run DFW Metroplex
As an educator, instructor, coach, etc., you will be taught by your students just as much or more than you teach them. It’s an opportunity to broaden your perspective and put others before you. This was a key experience that opened up my eyes and heart.
Coach Rachel together with GOTR girls and coaches for a fun selfie moment.
Tongelita Balom – Girls on the Run Georgia
Being a coach gives you the opportunity to build up a girl’s self-esteem. It’s rewarding to see girls who start the program as quiet and shy, but blossom to be positive leaders and exemplify the character traits the lessons focus on.
Coach Tongelita (center in pink GOTR shirt) embodying the spirit of teamwork as she and her team come together for a cheer.
Jenny Follin – Girls on the Run Heart of Kansas
This program is more than just running. We give our girls tools to deal with stressful situations, build self-esteem, help others, and so much more! I truly believe in what this program is and the ways that it supports 3rd-5th grade girls going through life’s issues.
Coach Jenny (in the top photo, with sunglasses on her head and colorful earrings and in the bottom photo wearing sunglasses and bright earrings) exuding radiant positivity everywhere she goes!
Tori Grant Nash – Girls on the Run Upstate South Carolina
Girls on the Run helps young girls realize that they can do hard things. It helps girls build self-esteem and love themselves for who they are. The program has an easy curriculum to follow and gives you the tools needed to be successful.
Coach Tori spreading joy and inspiring more and more GOTR girls every season!
Lauren Cole – Girls on the Run Southern Tier
Coaching provides the opportunity to help girls reflect on themselves and their choices, but it also offers a chance for you as an adult to reflect on the same things. Having the privilege of spending so much time with these girls and watch them accomplish such a huge feat never fails to inspire. The best part is when you have a girl come up to you five minutes after the 5K has ended to tell you she will be there next season. It’s magical!
Coach Lauren ensuring every GOTR girl leaves the 5K feeling fantastic and with a hard-earned meal!
Stephenie Horne – Girls on the Run New Hampshire
I love EVERYTHING about this program. Seeing the kids make strong connections, get stronger, surprise themselves with their own abilities and learn lifelong lessons. I get as much or more out of coaching than my participants. It’s truly a magical experience. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Coach Stephenie capturing girls’ attention and inspiring them to reach new heights during a lesson at practice.
Olivia Baker – Girls on the Run Western Massachusetts
Girls on the Run completely changed my life. It is the program I wish I had when I was in 4th and 5th grade. I needed these social emotional skills as a child. Girls are forced to grow up too fast because of the world and social media. Girls on the Run gives them a space to be silly, make friends, practice social-emotional skills, and learn radical self-love at a young age. Seeing the impact this program has had on girls of this age, and on myself as well has radically impacted my life as well. I will always coach Girls on the Run. It will forever stay a part of my life.
Coach being bee-autifully embracing kindness and positivity at the 5K with a member of her team.
Are you ready to learn more about becoming a coach? Click here! Interested in additional volunteer opportunities? Check out this blog that features other ways to make a difference at GOTR!
