The Jamestown Sense of Belonging: Norma’s Journey ⚽️

Norma started at Jamestown as a soccer player when she was a youth. Her participation grew from young player to coaching, to now managing all the programs in the Sports department. As part of her Jamestown journey, and now in her current role as Interim Sports Manager, Norma is continuing to support soccer access for all.

Norma understands that adult mentors, like sport coaches, can play an important role in the development of youth and their athletic performance. She strives to connect coaches with additional training to help players reach their full potential. Soccer teaches life lessons in addition to creating great leaders and has the power to bring people together, no matter your background. Norma has worked with kids with disabilities, different income levels, and a variety of cultures and genders.

Norma enjoys supporting all groups and abilities that most people might not traditionally work with. Her passion for creating a space of belonging is inspiring.

Part of riding the waves in our work is recognizing the importance of needed social change. Title IX helped create access for girls and women and there are still issues for women of color that Norma and the Sports Department are actively working to address. “It is really important to be there for players who identify as non-binary or trans and create inclusive spaces to support them and provide them with opportunities to be leaders and to think outside the box.”

Thanks to Norma for empowering our youth through Sports and growing her vision at Jamestown. Help us continue to create spaces of belonging for all youth by donating today!

To learn more about Norma and her vision for supporting our community, please read below

How have your past experiences helped you with working with youth sports at Jamestown? 

Working with different groups and populations has helped me be mindful about differences. I had the opportunity to work with kids with disabilities, different income levels, and different backgrounds. Wherever I work, I like to create inclusive spaces and high quality programming, to help youth and families be on the same level as other families with more resources. I like supporting groups that most people don’t usually work with - it is more rewarding. I appreciate when these kids start thinking about other opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t be possible for them. In coaching, I try to support and build a culture of being included and to give kids the space they need to see what they can become. 

In my role as Interim Sports Manager, I want to provide more youth development in addition to sports by investing more into coaches. I believe the more you invest in folks who work with youth everyday, the more it adds to the program and the youth’s education. The more coaches stay learning, the more they improve. It’s better all around and the kids stay in soccer longer. 

What was your entry into Jamestown? 

I played Jamestown soccer when I was younger and when I got older I became the managing coach. I worked at Jamestown Summer Sports Camp “Movement, Voice and Play” (or MVP). There I led activities that involved other skills, like math. You have the kids count, where the game's points change every round. You help them keep track of their score card and then help them add it all together. I’m excited about this year, I’m taking training to think of other ways to implement these kinds of activities.

What’s the strongest part of Jamestown?

Everyone, including our coaches that are in front of the kids everyday, keep everything running and form the biggest relationships with the kids. Jamestown would not be possible without our quality people, especially people that look like them and speak their language – that shouldn’t be overlooked, it matters. The work isn’t easy and not everyone can do it well!

How did we “ride the waves” of change in Jamestown in the past year?

For Girls Got Girls (GGG), we offered condensed programs and it gave them a sense of community in their schools, and it worked very well! Even seeing the teams coming together, they bonded. The schools that did not make it to the finals come to cheer the other teams and that created a sense of community. Now we added fall seasons to the elementary team because now we have that sense of community. 

We want to introduce soccer to players - we don’t prioritize winning, even though it's great. We teach youth healthy ways to compete and work together with other people, and how to support each other. Of course there is competition in it but that’s not the only point. Sending more female leaders out into the world is needed. 

Anything else you want people to know about Jamestown?

Jamestown Sports is really affordable for families compared to soccer clubs that cost about $2,000 or more per kid. But Jamestowns provide a quality program that helps give all youth the opportunity to play soccer without money being a barrier. 

Supporting players who identify as non-binary or trans is really important. It has not been that long since Title IX passed. We give these players opportunities to be leaders to think outside the box, and to help families understand that these youth are going to take those skills and become their own leaders in whatever fields they choose (it does not  have to be in soccer). We are sending these players out into the world back to family and community, hopeful that they will continue to give back.