The West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information and Services WVFRIS is sponsoring a statewide rollout of Coaching Boys Into Men (CBIM) Program throughout West Virginia for all male middle and high school coaches.
Coaching Boys into Men (CBIM) is a violence prevention program developed by Futures Without Violence for athletic coaches to inspire them to teach their young male athletes about the importance of respect for themselves, others, and particularly women and girls. The three pillars of CBIM are respect, integrity, and nonviolence.
CBIM is the only evidence-based prevention program that trains and motivates coaches to teach their young male athletes healthy relationship skills and that violence never equals strength.
CBIM was developed for coaches to be easily incorporated into regular coaching strategy and practice sessions. Over the course of a season, CBIM coaches lead their players through brief weekly activities that address themes such as personal responsibility, respectful behavior, relationship abuse, consent, and resilience. Participating coaches receive a set of 12 training cards, each with a weekly topic and guidance for discussion.
CBIM has been proven to work! In 2012, CBIM underwent a rigorous three-year evaluation funded by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that found athletes who participated in the program were significantly more likely to intervene when witnessing abusive or disrespectful behaviors among their peers, and were also more likely to report less abuse perpetration. CBIM has its own website where you can learn more – www.coachescorner.org.
Are you a coach interested in being trained on CBIM? For more information, contact Family Refuge Center’s Director of Community Education, Jessica Bender, at 304-645-6324 or jessicab@familyrefugecenter.org.
“If we’re only teaching them how to play the sport, then we’re failing them big-time,” – Mike Berg, Former High School Football Coach.