Sports & Recreation Manager
- Job Title
- Sports & Recreation Manager
- Job ID
- 27650340
- Location
- Chicago, IL 60619
- Other Location
- Description
-
Reports to: Program Director
Status: Full Time, Salaried, Permanent
Schedule: 40 hours/week, generally Monday to Friday with some weekends, schedule will vary based upon programmatic needs
Gary Comer Youth Center: Having opened its doors in June 2006, the state-of-the-art Gary Comer Youth Center (GCYC) offers positive extracurricular alternatives in a welcoming and safe environment. The mission is to provide the support for all of our youth to graduate from high school, prepared to pursue college and careers. Located on Chicago’s South Side, the Gary Comer Youth Center draws its primary membership from the youth residing on the South Side of Chicago with a focus on Grand Crossing residents. GCYC is the oldest and largest institution sitting on the Comer Education Campus which includes our organizational partners Gary Comer College Prep High School, the South Shore Drill Team and Gary Comer Middle School. For more information, please visit: www.garycomeryouthcenter.org.
Comer Education Campus: With a comprehensive approach to education and youth development, the Comer Education Campus is devoted to guiding young people to and through college and into adult life. The campus constitutes a unique partnership between Gary Comer Youth Center, Gary Comer College Prep, Gary Comer Middle School, and the college success initiative UtmostU. The campus serves over 2,000 youth from across Chicago’s South Side, offering out-of-school time enrichment, academic enhancement, and college success programs. Working with best-in-class partner organizations, the Comer Education Campus empowers young people with the tools they need for post-secondary and life success. For more information, please visit: http://comereducationcampus.org/
Position Summary
GCYC is looking for a creative, action-oriented, and resourceful youth development professional to lead our Sports & Recreation department. The department is essential to the daily operations of our after school programming and is ready to seize its full potential with the right leadership in place. With this unique opportunity to cultivate a department at a premier youth development organization, we are seeking a hustler full of big ideas with strong project management skills.
The Sports & Recreation Manager will act as an ambassador for health, fitness, and athletics on the Comer Education Campus. Through their vision and leadership, the department will offer a variety of high quality programs exposing youth and families to a variety of sports and wellness activities leading to opportunities like improved overall health, college scholarships, career pathways and improved social skills.
The programming run and supervised by the Sports & Recreation department happens primarily in the afterschool hours: afternoons and evening, with some special programming going into the late evenings and a monthly event ending at midnight.
Essential Functions and Responsibilities:- Oversees the creation, development, implementation and growth of programming for middle schoolers, high schoolers, and young adults in sports and recreation
- Evaluates and updates programming regularly based on available data and organizational goals
- Meets set goals for outcomes, outputs, and deliverables through tracking, evaluation, and management
- Manages departmental staff and is responsible for the quality, consistency, and delivery of required program documents, evaluation and materials for the department
- Participates in the development and management of departmental budget and all expenses related to assigned programs
- Seeks out and coordinates partnerships and relationships to help progress projects, opportunities, and programming
- Responsible for the management of records, statistics, and production of reports for sports and recreation participants, guests and volunteers
- Manages fitness room, gym, outdoor fields, and equipment inventory, including purchasing and maintenance of equipment
- Assist in the development of other written communication such as donor appeals, marketing collateral, and web content
- Manage initiatives related to the tracking and reporting of organizational outcomes
- Develop goals, logic models and outcomes for grant submissions
- Other duties as assigned
- Responsible for maintaining a physically and emotionally safe environment to further ensure proper youth supervision and managing conduct issues and incidents.
- Attends required staff meetings and trainings.
- Works with other staff to execute effective outreach, recruitment and retention strategies.
- Responsible for accurate data collection and data entry for grant and program compliance.
- Supports the mission of GCYC.
- Works collaboratively in a team setting serving the needs of youth.
- Is committed to the safety and development of all GCYC members.
- Takes on other duties as needed.
- Serves as a role model for youth and community.
- Abides by the employee handbook and established GCYC policies and procedures.
- Ability to deliver age appropriate programs and activities that lead to positive youth development in the areas of sports and recreation
- Ability to utilize positive youth development practices
- Ability to report outcome measurement and evaluation activities related to sports and recreation programming and efforts.
- Ability to develop program plans and curriculums.
- Ample knowledge of popular sports (eg basketball, football, soccer, volleyball, etc), familiar with and enthusiasm to expose youth to other sports and athletics (eg swimming, rowing, fencing), knowledge of nutrition and health
- Is organized, process driven, and solution oriented
- Has high expectations of yourself, your team and your colleagues
- Possesses the ability to think big and relay or present your vision concisely to others
- Is consistently well prepared, provides clear objectives and expectations, and has the ability to explain difficult topics in multiple ways
- Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology, Exercise Science, Coaching, Recreation Management, Athletic Training, or related subjects a plus
- 3+ years experience in youth development or instruction
- 2+ years management experience
- Grant management and compliance experience preferred
- Experience with writing and developing curriculum for out of school time programming
- Experienced positive youth development professional
- Training in trauma informed support, SEL, or Mental Health First Aid a plus
Core Competencies- Must possess genuine care and concern for youth – especially pre-teens and teens.
- Program area management skills that are engaging, non-oppressive and age appropriate.
- Strong project management and organizational skills. Must be able to initiate and finish projects.
- Able to communicate effectively with youth, co-workers, stakeholders and families in a respectful and culturally competent manner via written and verbal communication.
- Must enjoy working with teams but can also work independently.
- Enjoys being the leader but is also confident enough to take directions from others.
- Must be able to take initiative and problem solve. Must be a creative thinker.
- Demonstrates strong accuracy in all areas of work.
- Must possess adaptive vitality.
- Demonstrates understanding of the positive youth development philosophy.
- Demonstrates an understanding of guidance and discipline principles & conflict resolution strategies.
- Must demonstrate cultural competency, dedication to working with youth, families and community members in our care.
- Must have basic computer literacy skills – including Microsoft Office, independent use of the internet and ability to learn and properly utilize software systems.
Physical Work Requirements & Environment:
The GCYC environment is consistently bustling with youth and community members. The Center’s work is fast paced and varied. Our work is done on site where our youth and families are. Therefore, it is required that team members meet these requirements:- Have the ability to lift up to 25 pounds.
- Possess the ability to walk during field trips and to complete building and program rounds.
- Be able to stand and move with youth during programs, field trips and special events throughout the day.
- Must be able to ride various modes of transportation including school and coach buses, airplanes, cars, vans and public transportation.
- Can operate in crowds or with small groups.
- Able to complete administrative work in a shared office space within a youth center.
- A flexible schedule for evening and some weekend hours is required during school year. Summer hours have a more traditional work schedule.