The BYSI was started by the Barr Foundation in November 2003 and as of March 2005 operates under the umbrella of Boston After-School and Beyond. Boston Youth Sports Coordinator Chris Lynch and Project Manager Beth Beard lead the initiative. They are supported by a diverse Advisory Council representing Boston’s big clubs, the city, program providers, intermediaries, and a network of experienced consultants.

The mission of the Boston Youth Sports Initiative is to promote youth sports as a positive youth development and physical fitness approach. Working with and for Boston’s urban youth sports programs and supporters, the BYSI encourages, strengthens, and builds network connections, with the goals of improved information sharing, quality, scale and sustainability in the sector.

In order to better accomplish these goals, the BYSI has joined Boston After-School & Beyond ( Boston Beyond). Boston Beyond was formed in 2004 as the successor to Boston's After-School for All Partnership and the Boston 2:00-to-6:00 After-School Initiative. Boston Beyond is a public/private partnership to organize the many networks and organizations that make up the Out-of-School Time (OST) field into a coherent system with the goal of expanding access to high-quality programming for all of Boston's families.

BYSI in Action! Follow the links below to read about how we use network building to support scale, quality, sustainability and communication in the youth sports community:


BYSI Staff

Chris Lynch , Youth Sports Coordinator,
617.345.5322 (ext.13)

Lynch has been with the BYSI from its launch in October of 2003. He has spent the past seven years in urban youth sports. Prior to joining the BYSI, Lynch was the Managing Director for MetroLacrosse, an out of school time program for middle and high school students from Boston, Cambridge and Chelsea which uses lacrosse to teach youth development skills. Lynch spent five years prior to this working with SquashBusters, a Boston-based youth development program which works with middle and high school students to learn the sport of squash, receive academic tutoring, become involved in community service and mentoring.

Lynch was an elementary school teacher and middle school coach for over ten years before becoming involved in urban youth sports. He has a B.A. from Bates College and a MEd. from Lesley University.

Beth Beard , Project Manager,
617.345.5322 (ext. 17)

Beth has been with the BYSI since January of 2004. She has a long history of supporting children and youth in a variety of capacities over the last fifteen years. She holds a B.A in Philosophy and a MEd. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Massachusetts and spent six years as an after-school director and clinician for high-risk adolescents and families.

More recently her focus has expanded to include organizational development consulting and advocacy in the nonprofit sector. At Action for Results, a strategic change management company, she worked as an International Education Consultant and Project Manager focused on team building and best practices. Most recently Beth advocated for educational equity as the University Admissions Analyst for FairTest, a civil rights organization based in Cambridge.

Learn more about the Boston After-School and Beyond Staff .


BYSI Advisory Council

Marilyn Anderson Chase

Senior Vice President of Community Investments

United Way of Mass Bay

Dean Conway

Former Head

Mass Youth Soccer

Kathy Fitzgerald

Executive Director

New England Scores

Melissa Harper

Executive Director

Good Sports

Curtis Jones

Executive Director

Roxbury YMCA

Marion Kane

Executive Director

Barr Foundation

John McCarthy

Director, Institute for Athletic Coach Education at Boston University

Boston University

Deb McLaughlin

Former Managing Director

After School for All Partnership

Dishon Mills

After School Programs Coordinator

Boston Public Schools

Steven Pratt

President

Boston After-School and Beyond

Peter Roby

Director

Northeastern University Center for the Study of Sport in Society

David Shapiro

Executive Director

Mass Mentoring

Kevin Stanton

Director of After School and Out-of-School Time Services

Boston Center for Youth and Families

Jerry Steimel

Vice President, Operations

Boys & Girls Club of Boston

Richard Ward

Program Officer

The Boston Foundation

For more information contact:

Chris Lynch, Youth Sports Coordinator
clynch@bostonyouthsports.org or
Beth Beard, Program Manager
bbeard@bostonyouthsports.org
89 South Street, Suite 402
Boston , MA 02211 -2651
617-345-5322

For submissions and comments email:
newsletter@bostonyouthsports.org .