Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula Partners with LEMO Foundation

Two stalwart San Mateo County non-profits are teaming up to benefit the youth they serve. Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula (BGCP) and LEMO Foundation are piloting a program that brings nearly 100 BGCP middle-school students to LEMO Foundation’s state-of-the-art athletic training facility for free volleyball training.

Each Friday from January 24 through February 7, the BGCP students benefited from learning skills and drills with LEMO Foundation’s coaches, many of whom have played and coached collegiately and at the elite club level. At one session, former U.S. Men’s National Team player Benjamin Patch visited with students to explain for a question-and-answer session. The pilot program also had the students compete in organized team matches.

“At Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula, we want to offer our students every opportunity possible,” said BGCP Athletic Director Chris DeTrinidad. “The program with LEMO Foundation exposes our kids to a level of sport-specific coaching in volleyball and to technological training tools that they otherwise could not access.”

For example, LEMO Foundation’s Recharge suite of recovery services includes Cryotherapy, Red + Infrared light stimulation, Vasper, Shiftwave, Beemer, and other modalities to aid athlete recovery between training sessions. “LEMO’s facility is not only home to state-of-the art recovery, but also a space for a comprehensive STEM education department,” DeTrinidad said. “Our students gain not just physically from these innovative recovery techniques, but also from learning about these technologies themselves. It is a balanced dose of all the best parts of LEMO, while having fun and learning about career options related to sports and fitness.”

Meanwhile, LEMO Foundation benefited from an influx of students that helps advance the organization’s mission to close the opportunity gap for low-income communities and ensure that all student athletes have access to high-quality enrichment and development supports. No fewer than six of the BGCP students are pursuing further involvement with LEMO Foundation’s club volleyball program.

“We always look for ways to expand our reach and impact,” said LEMO Foundation Co-Founder Ali Magner. “Knowing that most BGCP students are socioeconomically disadvantaged, and that BGCP's mission mirrors ours, it makes perfect sense that we knit our communities together. We look forward to welcoming students who bring different talents and perspectives to the diverse environment we continue to foster.”

One such student is Xkylehr Pautin, an 11-year-old sixth-grader, who is a regular at one of BGCP's clubhouses and joined the group at LEMO Foundation. "I knew Xkylehr would be a great candidate for this Lemo opportunity," said Kelly White, a BGCP Athletics Program Manager. "Every time I saw her at the club after that first night at LEMO, she would literally light up and give the biggest smile ever."

Xkylehr said she appreciated the LEMO coaches helping her practice her serve "and how to do it correctly and get it over the net. The coaches were really nice and friendly, and it was fun playing. I kept on getting really sweaty.

"For practicing our serves, we would have a ball and toss it up and catch it with one hand against the wall. It was kind of hard. I learned a lot. Because I’m a lefty, I hit different than a lot of the other kids, and they taught me a different way to run up, right-left, right-left and then jump. They helped me practice the steps to make sure I felt comfortable with it."

Xkyler's parents, Grace and Rey Pautin, also appreciated the LEMO coaches' approach, from the simple to the sublime. "It was nice to hear the way they gave kudos to her at one point," Grace said. Rey noticed that even in LEMO's large facility and within a group of students from far-flung points on the Peninsula, "Xkylehr acclimated fairly quickly. What helped with that were the coaches. They were very interactive. There were a lot of kids, but the coaches were able to take their time with each individual. They were well organized. There was something that lit a fire in her. She embraced volleyball more than ever before and built up a ton of confidence. She was all in. She had no fear."

(Video from the volleyball training sessions appears at https://www.instagram.com/p/DF... Shot and edited by: Sammie Castillo, sammiecollab@gmail.com)