{"id":2037,"date":"2019-02-05T23:20:33","date_gmt":"2019-02-06T07:20:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.playworks.org\/southern-california\/?p=2037"},"modified":"2019-02-06T08:36:40","modified_gmt":"2019-02-06T16:36:40","slug":"coach-lahni","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.playworks.org\/southern-california\/2019\/02\/05\/coach-lahni\/","title":{"rendered":"A Confidence Game for Girls: Coach Lahni Leads the Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you grow up playing sports with your four brothers, you learn to be tough. At least that\u2019s the way it worked out for Alondra Almeida, a third-year Playworks AmeriCorps Coach who\u2019s known as Coach Lahni.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt helped me not to give up, not to quit, and it also taught me a lot of patience,\u201d Lahni says. \u201cI learned early on the value of taking turns, that even though I was the only girl, it didn\u2019t mean I got to go first. I earned respect from my brothers playing sports. I learned I could demand respect from anybody, just because of my childhood with boys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lahni went on to become a scholar-athlete. She played soccer in college, and she still plays in club soccer leagues and tournaments. As a Playworks AmeriCorps Coach currently serving at Jefferson Elementary School in Lennox, Lahni uses her experiences to help girls feel confident when they\u2019re playing sports. The first step, she says, is teaching girls some of the basic skills of the game.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Get in the game<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“With girls, they don\u2019t want to be embarrassed in front of a crowd if they don\u2019t know how to do something.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Coach Lahni and her Junior Lakers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So I think having developmental leagues is a perfect opportunity to really push those girls to be more active and\u00a0put themselves out there. When they do join developmental leagues, I see a higher percentage of interactions on the playground during recess time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lahni coached two co-ed soccer teams in Santa Ana in her two previous years as a Playworks Coach. Last fall, she coached a girls basketball team at Jefferson Elementary. At first, many girls were reluctant to join because they didn\u2019t know how to play. But Lahni was able to recruit a full team, and each week she focused on teaching the girls a different fundamental skill. It worked\u2014now that league play is over, Lahni sees more girls playing basketball at recess.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Nice Try and Good Job!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She remembers one girl in particular who often sat on the sidelines at recess. By the end of the basketball league, things had changed for the 5th<\/sup> grader as she started shooting hoops during recess.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw her confidence coming out. She wasn\u2019t giving up, even though she might be the only girl who was\u00a0playing with the boys. That helped her be more open to trying other sports at recess time. Seeing her now, it\u2019s a huge difference, from standing off in the corner watching everyone else play to being fully engaged in various activities during recess time.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s this kind of impact on the kids she works with that has led Lahni to serve as a Playworks Coach for three years. It\u2019s a bonus when her job lets her be active and use her lifelong love of sports, but just being around kids is something she finds \u201cempowering.\u201d And bottom line, Lahni says, \u201cAt the end of the day, you feel good. You\u2019re helping the community, but you\u2019re also helping yourself grow and learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Coach Lahni and her Junior Coaches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Interested in Becoming a Playworks AmeriCorps Coach?<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n

Learn more<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you grow up playing sports with your four brothers, you learn to be tough. At least that\u2019s the way it worked out for Alondra Almeida, a third-year Playworks AmeriCorps […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":117,"featured_media":2072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"region":[],"class_list":["post-2037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-updates"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Confidence Game for Girls: Coach Lahni Leads the Way - Southern California<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A female Playworks coach uses her own experience of growing up with brothers to teach girls league players confidence on the field and off.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.playworks.org\/southern-california\/2019\/02\/05\/coach-lahni\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Confidence Game for Girls: Coach Lahni Leads the Way - 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