Cenex®, the energy brand of CHS Inc., and Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) partnered to provide 30 coaches training workshops in rural schools across the Midwest. These workshops help coaches learn how to foster positive coaching outcomes on and off the field.

Coaches play an incredibly important and formative role in their local communities. Those who participated in the training now have more tools to create positive environments for young people to succeed in sports competitions, in the classroom, at home and in the community. Not only does participating in a workshop benefit the local community, but it also helps to extend the Million Coaches Challenge – a program meant to train coaches in Positive Youth Development – in rural communities, contributing to PCA’s commitment to train 400,000 coaches by 2025.

“The Cenex brand is proud to support an inclusive youth sports culture aimed at teaching teamwork, accountability and emotional intelligence — the traits our communities need to thrive,” says Mandi Goplen, Cenex brand and marketing supervisor. “Community involvement is a large part of what makes Cenex unique. We could not be more excited to offer workshops to help PCA in its valuable mission as an anchor partner of the Million Coaches Challenge.”

The coaches trainings through this partnership will serve coaches at schools, youth sports organizations and park districts located within 20 miles of a Cenex retail location. There are more than 1,400 locally owned and operated Cenex convenience stores across the Midwest, including stores in Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Each location is unique to the community it proudly serves.

"Pequot Lakes Coaching staff would like to thank Cenex for bringing in PCA workshop to our school. The information learned by coaches, shared by PCA trainers will give us valuable teaching tools to create a positive culture for our students. Thank you to Cenex for granting us this opportunity." - Byron Westrich, Workshop Attendee

"Brian Swan did a great job leading our coaches, players, and parents through the PCA program. He established the foundation of what we want within our athletic program by leading all through the 'double gold' framework we want to establish within our programs. We look forward to continuing our PCA program with future workshops and trainings. We appreciate PCA and the Cenex Grant to make this possible at St. Francis High School." - Brian Julson, Workshop Attendee

About Cenex 

Cenex, the energy brand of CHS, provides high-quality refined fuels through over 1,400 locally-owned convenience store locations across 19 states. Consumers depend on Cenex fuels, lubricants, propane and renewable energy products to power homes, businesses and communities. CHS, Inc. (www.chsinc.com), which owns the Cenex brand, is a leading global agribusiness owned by American farmers across the United States with domestic and international operations including energy, agronomy, grain trading and food processing.

About Positive Coaching Alliance

As a catalyst for a positive youth sports culture, Positive Coaching Alliance provides research-based training and resources for coaches, parents, athletes, and leaders to ensure a positive youth development experience for ALL kids, in all communities across the U.S., through sports. PCA ensures sports are ‘done right’ with programming that is research-based and designed to have impact at three levels in a youth sports organization or school:

• YOUTH experience improved life skills and character development.
• COACHES become more positive and increase their focus on using sports to teach life lessons.
• YOUTH SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS AND SCHOOLS see their cultures become more positive and everyone involved has more fun.

PCA believes that all youth can benefit from a positive, inclusive sports culture that develops social and emotional skills, molds character, and prepares them for competition and life. In more than two decades of work, PCA expanded from a small local nonprofit to a strong, nationwide organization that provides programming in all 50 states, reaching thousands of organizations around the country and positively impacting millions of youth athletes every year. PCA has now partnered with roughly 3,500 schools and youth sports organizations nationwide to deliver more than 20,000 live group workshops, reaching over 20 million youth.