The Million Coaches Challenge (MCC) today announced a milestone shaping youth sports: their cohort of partners, including Little League® through its Diamond Leader Training Program, has trained one million youth coaches across the United States in evidence-based youth development practices.
Launched in 2021 by the Susan Crown Exchange, MCC brought together 18 partner organizations to address a critical gap: fewer than one-third of the six million youth sport coaches in the U.S. had ever received training in positive youth development. Now, thanks to a national effort, one million coaches have been trained, and the initiative has proven what’s possible when the field unites behind a bold vision.
“Training one million coaches marks a turning point in ensuring every young person has access to a coach who helps them thrive on and off the field,” said Susan Crown, founder of the Susan Crown Exchange. “But this milestone is not the finish line. We know that great coaching can change lives. And this next chapter is about building on this momentum to make quality coach training the standard, so that every young person, everywhere, has the coach they deserve.”
New Resources for the Field
As part of the milestone, and in response to the lessons they’ve learned through research conducted by the American Institutes for Research, MCC is releasing two new resources for coaches and leaders designed to sustain momentum and expand the movement to train coaches. These include:
- The Million Coaches Challenge Practice Guide: 12 Practices Every Youth Coach Should Know – A practical, research-backed playbook offering simple, actionable strategies that coaches can implement right away to create safe, inclusive, and empowering environments for young athletes.
- The Million Coaches Challenge Calls to Action: A Vision for Youth Sports Coaching in the United States – A bold agenda for the future of youth sports, organized around policy, organizational practice, narrative, and research. They set a shared vision for making youth-centered coaching the standard nationwide, backed by systemic investment and accountability.
“These new resources are the bridge from milestone to movement,” said Vincent Minjares, Ph.D., Program Manager of the Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program. “The Practice Guide ensures coaches at every level can have access to proven strategies they can bring into their work. The Calls to Action align leaders, funders, practitioners, and policymakers to change the system around them. When we invest in coaches, we invest in kids, communities, and the future of sport.”
Why This Matters
Evidence shows that trained coaches are changing the game for young people:
- 93% of trained coaches feel more confident in their ability to support youth.
- 94% believe every coach would benefit from youth development training.
- Athletes coached by MCC-trained coaches report more joy, stronger relationships, and are more likely to stay in the game.
With 38 million kids participating in organized sports each year, the potential ripple effect of training one million coaches will help young people build resilience, belonging, and confidence that lasts far beyond the playing field.
The Little League Diamond Leader Training Program has helped train more than 183,000 coaches as part of the Million Coaches Challenge, providing a FREE educational resource that offers coaches an understanding of the impact that mental, social, and emotional well-being has in youth sports through detailed information, interactive scenarios, and a variety of additional resources. Through this course, which navigates Little League volunteers through real-life scenarios that are being faced in local leagues all around the world each year, coaches will have a better understanding of the impact they have on their players, both on and off the field.
What’s Next
The Million Coaches Challenge and its partners will host a national webinar on November 4, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. ET to discuss what meeting the one million coaches milestone means and how the field can carry this work forward.
About the Million Coaches Challenge
The Million Coaches Challenge is a national initiative launched by the Susan Crown Exchange in 2021 to transform youth sports by training one million coaches in evidence-based youth development practices. Backed by 18+ partners, including the Aspen Institute’s Project Play and research led by the American Institutes for Research, the Million Coaches Challenge is transforming youth sports by equipping coaches with the information and tools to create positive, inclusive environments that help young people build confidence, belonging, and life skills through sport.
Million Coaches Challenge partners include:
- The California Governor’s Advisory Council on Physical Fitness and Mental Well-being
- Center for Healing and Justice through Sport
- CoachUp! Washington
- Girls on the Run International
- How to Coach Kids
- Laureus Sport for Good USA
- LiFEsports at The Ohio State University and the Ohio High School Athletic Association
- Little League International
- MCC State Learning Cohort of Maryland, Indiana, and Kansas, facilitated by LiFEsports at The Ohio State University in partnership with the OHSAA
- National Recreation and Park Association
- Positive Coaching Alliance
- S. Soccer Foundation
- United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee
- USA Weightlifting
Learn more and access the new resources at www.MillionCoaches.org
About the Susan Crown Exchange
The Susan Crown Exchange (SCE) supports nonprofits that prepare youth to thrive in a rapidly changing world. Guided by values of daring, respect, curiosity, transparency, and gratitude, the Susan Crown Exchange invests in bold ideas and collaborative partnerships that equip young people with the skills, mindsets, and opportunities they need to succeed. From youth sports to digital well-being, the Susan Crown Exchange works at the intersection of research, practice, and innovation to create systemic change. Learn more at www.scefdn.org
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