Miami Dolphins' youth initiatives cultivate the next generation's male and female leaders, on and off the field

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As part of Women's History Month each year since 1997, the Miami Dolphins host a girls high school football clinic at the team's facility, teaching over 450 ladies from South Florida the basic fundamentals of football. Then in April, the Dolphins host a girls' flag football jamboree presented by Under Armour and AT&T, where over 1200 high school girls are divided into teams and face off on the field.

Photo courtesy of Miami Dolphins media relations

It doesn't stop there. The Dolphins youth department also partners with local high schools to implement the NFL ATLAS & ATHENA Schools Program, a nationally-acclaimed initiative designed to promote healthy living and reduce the use of steroids and other drugs among high school athletes. The ATHENA portion is designed to reduce disordered eating and use of body shaping and other drugs among young women, while promoting healthy nutrition and exercise.

Today, we were honored to have the Dolphins Director of Youth Programs, Twan Russell, on our show. In his role, Russell oversees all of the team’s youth programs including school programs, football clinics and camps.

During his seven-year career as a player, Russell saw action in 78 games and registered 35 tackles, while serving as a special teams standout. In 2001, Russell was named special teams captain and won the prestigious Nat Moore Community Service award which recognizes a Miami Dolphins player for his involvement in the South Florida community. Upon his retirement from the NFL in 2003, Russell quickly made his mark in community service. He created and serves as Chairman of the Russell Life Skills and Reading Foundation, Inc. The Foundation currently serves more than 1,000 youth in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties annually and is dedicated to providing young people with the fundamental tools essential to success.

Today, Russell and I talked about the future of women's football. "I truly believe this will be a college sport in less than 10 years," stated Russell. He isn't kidding. "It's good for the game of football for women to participate." He goes on to discuss the satisfaction of seeing girls not only enjoy playing football but excelling at it.

"These girls are like sponges. They listen to every single thing you say and then execute it. They are so technically sound," remarks an impressed Russell. He also admits to have been out-juked a time or two. "I tried to say I was old and my knees are bad but she did me in," he recalls, laughing.

Listen below as Russell and I discuss the future of women and girls in football, the future of our next generation of girls AND boys, and why it all matters.

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There are 4 comments on this post. Join the discussion!

Jewell06 says:

Ann, this is a very interesting and informative article and thank you. Also, thank you Mr. Russell for thinking about America's next generation in sports as this is a topic that is generally left behind on the table. We are so wrapped up in what's going on now, we forget these sports men and women will move on and we have to start preparing the next generation or else we will be left behind. This is evident in our current Tennis situation, thus the reason the world is leading us right now leaving us to play catch up. So anyone that is about the future generation I applaud you. Thanks Ann.

Sunday, April 10, 2011 at 9:46pm EDT

anngaff says:

Jewell06, thanks for your kind words. I really enjoyed this interview, and Twan's perspective is so refreshing. Can you expound on our current tennis situation? What are the issues you see there? Would love to hear more.

Monday, April 11, 2011 at 9:46pm EDT

Jewell06 says:

,,

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 at 2:19pm EDT

Jewell06 says:

Ann, the biggest issues that are facing today%u2019s young up and coming American tennis players are the high cost of training; the lack of a proper training facility for young/old professionals to train and the lack of Sponsorship available to our young players. So it%u2019s an economic issue as well as an exposure issue.

While programs engineered by the USTA like First Serve Initiative are making a difference in the lives of our youths they only enable young people to attend college on college scholarships and they don't give enough support for those over 18 to be adequately prepared to go on tour with a tennis professional.

Training a young professional tennis player cost anywhere from $75,000 to $100,000 a year, not including the costs of airfares, hotels, equipment, clothing and a Chaperone. Until a new organization steps forward or the front office people at the USTA begin to address this situation, talented American players will continue to be ignored or dissuaded from succeeding in professional tennis.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 at 2:20pm EDT

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