What does it mean to be a leader on and off the field? The one thing that all players have in common is having a coach. But coaches are never just coaches they are role models and they are mentors. Mentorship can impact the most powerful people - consider Mike Tomlin the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Coach Tomlin shares that he would not be where he is today if it was not for the mentors in his life. In his profile, he accredits many coaches who helped him to direct his path in coaching; it has made a remarkable difference in getting him to climb the ranks into a head coaching position for a highly-ranked professional football organization. Perhaps most impactful is that he does not list simply one person for mentoring him; his list is extensive. This reiterates the value of the “village concept” where it’s not simply one person that can make a difference in someone’s life - it’s an entire village.
Mentoring is not only showing but doing. Mentors are and possess so much power in developing Black youth into becoming productive men in society. And this could either way, young men could have mentors that positively push them to do good in school and other interests, or they can have mentors that reinforce negativity and quickly turn them on the wrong side of the law. Nonetheless, if young African-American males have positive mentors and role models (coaches), then they will be directed towards paths that can also enable them to be leaders in a variety of ways.
What Impact Can Mentors Have on Young African American Males?
According to David L. DuBois, mentoring programs have been conceptualized as potentially affecting youth in a wide variety of areas, including emotional and behavioral functioning, academic achievement, and employment or career development.2 Mike Tomlin challenged 1,500 men to become mentors for urban youth. He saw an increasing epidemic of young males who lacked mentors and attempted to do something about it.1 And, he was on to something. Consider Texas’ school-to-prison pipeline epidemic where students who fall short academically are pushed into the penal system through harsh zero tolerance mandates, school suspensions, and expulsions.3
And as students get older, the percentage of African-American youth who drop out of school continue to increase. Tamika Thompson stated that 54% of African-Americans graduate from high school, compared to more than three quarters of white and Asian students. Nationally, African-American male students in grades K-12 were nearly 2½ times as likely to be suspended from school in 2000 as white students.4 The power of a mentoring network can have a direct impact on these students, and push them further to their own goals for success, just like Mike Tomlin, and many other decorated coaches and leaders. It is critical that young African American males have community, academic, and/or religious role models in their lives to help shape their trajectory. In this sense, sports coaches play an integral role in developing young minds; students need to be of witness to how coaches are leaders, mentors, and role models both on and off the field.
References:
1Belko,M. (2016,June.5) Tomlin on a mission, challenges 1,500 men to mentor young
people.Retrieved from
2DuBois, D. L., Holloway, B. E., Valentine, J. C., & Cooper, H. (2002). Effectiveness of mentoring programs for youth: A meta-analytic review. American journal of community psychology, 30(2), 157-197.
3Sanders,K.(2013,July 16th) Private Prisons Use Third-Grade Data To Plan For Prison Beds. Retrieved from
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