This study evaluates Meet Me on the Pitch (MMotP), a community-based intervention that integrates sports, schools, and behavioral health with the goal of improving the behavioral health, well-being and academic performance of youth. MMotP is a novel approach that builds on evidence-based practices by using sports as a means to foster social-emotional development and address barriers to academic, health, and social services. The study assesses feasibility, acceptability, and short-term outcomes through a randomized controlled trial comparing MMotP to standard sports programming. The intervention will be implemented by the non-profit organization Soccer Without Borders and evaluated by the University of California, San Francisco.
Meet Me on the Pitch (MMotP) is an innovative community-based intervention designed to improve the behavioral health, well-being and academic performance of youth (ages 14-21). The six-session intervention combines soccer-based activities with behavioral health education using the DNA-V model, a youth-focused adaptation of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). By training trusted community members, specifically soccer coaches, to deliver a tailored behavioral health intervention, MMotP addresses barriers to academic, health, and social services while fostering social-emotional development.
This study evaluates MMotP through a parallel randomized controlled trial. Youth participants will be randomized within their soccer teams to either the supplemental MMotP intervention or just standard sports programming. The study will assess changes in primary outcomes, including mental health (psychological flexibility and self-efficacy) and academic support-seeking behaviors, as well as secondary outcomes related to social connection, school engagement, and access to services. Youth will complete surveys at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months to measure these outcomes.
MMotP will be implemented by Soccer Without Borders in the San Francisco Bay Area and Colorado and evaluated by the University of California, San Francisco. This study is funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research.
