Cleveland Indians President Mark Shapiro to serve as Board Chair of Positive Coaching Alliance Cleveland Chapter

Cleveland, OH--The Cleveland Indians have provided financial support for the establishment of a Cleveland chapter of Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA).

Indians president MARK SHAPIRO, who sits on PCA's National Advisory Board, spearheaded the PCA-Cleveland effort and will serve as the PCA-Cleveland board chairman. He'll be joined on the board by Cleveland Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant and Daniel Hurwitz, CEO of Beachwood-based DDR Corp.

The PCA Cleveland chapter will launch formally at an event open to media at Progressive Field on April 9, before the Indians' game against the New York Yankees.

"I have been so impressed with PCA's work in youth sports that I wanted to help establish a Cleveland chapter," Shapiro said. "Cleveland has a rich sports tradition and youth sports in particular have the potential to play a pivotal role in character development of the kids who participate. Youth athletes and their families in our community will benefit from the way PCA partners with schools and youth sports organizations throughout the U.S. to train and educate coaches, parents and student-athletes."

PCA, whose motto is "Better Athletes, Better People," was founded by Jim Thompson within the Stanford University Athletic Department in 1998. It conducts live group workshops and online courses for youth and high school sports coaches, parents, student-athletes and school/organizational leaders.

"Thanks to leadership from Mark, Chris and Dan, PCA-Cleveland was established very quickly," Thompson said. "We also expect to grow very quickly and that we will soon impact tens of thousands of Cleveland-area youth and their families."