Late Night Sports (LNS). Late Night Sports, Torrance California,(1995-present) is a sport-based (i.e., basketball) alcohol and other drug
prevention program that concomitantly administers life skills to high school
and college-age participants. LNS combines psychological, sociological, and
educational approaches to affect individual change, through the vehicle of
sport (Gervais, 2001).
The program was developed in 1995 and is currently funded by the Los Angeles
County Alcohol and Drug Prevention Program, through the administration of
the South Bay Children's Health Center. The South Bay Children's Health
Center is a non-profit organization that provides community-based counseling
services and implements positive alternative activities for youth in the
South Bay of Los Angeles California. The LNS curriculum was developed by Dr.
Gervais, High Performance Psychologist for professional and Olympic
athletes.
The primary objective of LNS is to prevent alcohol and other drug use for
youth in the South Bay of Los Angeles by providing life skills training via
a positive alternative activity, recreation basketball. This program is
offered during the “prime time” party hours of 8 p.m. to midnight on
Saturday nights (South Bay Youth Project, 2003). Program participants
receive life skills training on the following topics: conflict resolution,
goal setting, developing respect, positive self-talk, tools to manage
pressure, and alcohol and other drug education. The goals of the program are
to increase participants’ awareness of the effects of drugs, improve their
ability to effectively handle pressure and cope with adversity, and to
better resolve conflicts (Gervais, 2003).
Late Night Sports, through the vehicle of sport (basketball) uses an alcohol
and drug prevention model which is grounded in sport psychology theory as a
way to deliver life skills trainings. The dimensions of the model are
psychological and educational approaches that operate in a social context
for the target population. The aim of LNS was to develop a safe and sober
atmosphere that the target population would be interested in seeking-out.
The programmatic hours of operation are Saturday nights between 8 p.m. and
11 p.m. LNS is open to area residents, without a formal process to enter the
program, other than a liability release form and a behavioral contract.
There are no formal teams; players self-select their teammates. Part of the
end goal of LNS is for participants to learn and apply pro-health behaviors
and therefore, all operations are in accordance with player responsibility
and self-governed development. Following that thought, LNS does not include
referees or coaches. It is an operational aim to challenge participants to
be responsible for their own trustworthiness and responsible for their
actions.
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