From day one, our focus for our FIT Women and Girls initiatives has, of course, been centred around female empowerment, nutrition, health and sport. It’s not that we don’t love the boys, of course we do! But we are two women who have experienced life in sport from only our perspective. The struggles that face girls and women in sport and fitness are not the same as they are for boys. We know that boys and men also struggle with body image, sport participation, bullying and more. And that is why we are super excited to introduce you to Sean Kingswell, and Rising Sons Coaching.
In June, Sean approached us after seeing our work with our FITGirls Directory and Events in the media. Based in Toronto, he could see the obvious passion similarities in the work that we do. Rising Sons Coaching is an online comprehensive wellness program that teaches confidence, mental health (stigma reduction, awareness and skills), fitness, wellness, mindset, character development and life skills to teen and preteen boys. It is also an initiative to create a community for boys to develop and grow their mind, body and spirit.
Sean’s background is truly in helping others. As a wellness coach and personal trainer he has gained coaching certifications in working with adolescents on confidence and self-esteem coaching, lifestyle coaching, personal training, nutrition, and stress management coaching. And with all of his spare time (yikes!) he is a professional firefighter, and has 3 sons.
The Rising Sons Coaching program is geared for boys in that it is based on the learning style of teen boys. For parents who are looking to build good building blocks for their sons and ensuring that these topics are effectively understood is vital for long term health, success and happiness.
The program is completely online and can start anytime. Their goal is simple – to help build boys who are resilient, capable, strong and kind. They want to reduce mental health stigma and coach stress management, teach long term fitness, and enact our G.R.E.A.T man principle (Gratitude, Respect, Empathy, Altruism and Tolerance). Rising Sons Coaching facilitates components of wellness including sleep, nutrition, injury prevention and more, as well as life skills such as responsibility, risk management, attitude, goal setting, and problem solving.
For us to truly build up the next generation, we need to ensure that boys have a solid understanding of these subject areas, and are learning from mentors in the community. Boys face numerous challenges in this day and age including issues with motivation, resiliency, self-care, poor mental health consequences, antiquated or confused outlooks on confidence or masculinity, drug use, goal orientation, risky behaviours, poor body image, obesity and more. Programs like Rising Sons is helping put a positive light in some dark arenas.
Boys and girls do not learn the same. They are faced with different challenges and have different strengths. If you have ever taught in a classroom or on a playing field, you know this first hand. We can’t teach them the same way, but we can have the same goals in mind. To help the next generation of young people to be strong, confident, kind, intelligent amazing humans.
For more information on Sean or to register for the Rising Sons Coaching program, follow this link.
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