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At home in Merseyside, England, 17-year-old Zach had progressed from simply attending sports sessions to volunteering and supporting younger participants as an assistant coach. In New York, he was asked to take the lead.
Zach was one of 22 young people from HYPE Merseyside who traveled from northwest England to New York City this summer for a week of coaching, leadership and cultural exchange.
“Even though I’ve had experience coaching over the years, nothing’s been like this,” he said. “I’ve always been sort of an assistant to someone. Here, I took a session and it was my session—a half-hour session that I created on my own.”
Standing before an unfamiliar group brought a new challenge. Zach had to communicate with children from a different country, adjust to their needs and make decisions in the moment.
“I had a group of kids listening to me and had to work out how to communicate with them,” he said. “I’ve got a different accent, a different everything to them.”
HYPE Merseyside supports young people aged 7 to 24 across the region, particularly those living in communities where opportunities are limited. Through tailored youth activities and learning programs, the organization uses sport, volunteering and leadership to help young people build skills, reach their potential and contribute to their communities.
The New York exchange grew out of that work. Through HYPE’s The Bridge initiative, the group connected with local sports clubs from Flag Nation, Harrison FC, Englewood Eagles and Monroe University, coaching local children and learning from coaches and mentors across the city while the New York/New Jersey region hosted the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Finding new routes through sport
All participants were between 16 and 18 years old and already involved in sport, predominantly football (soccer). But as HYPE Founder and Chief Executive Matthew Hougton explained, playing professionally is only one way to build a future in the game.
“They’re looking at other opportunities to stay in the game, to make a career out of it,” he said. “Coaching, being a mentor or potentially getting a scholarship could be that route for them over the next few years.”
Over six days, the group explored different approaches to communication, coaching and session planning.
“We’re saying to these guys: you’re in this window of six or seven days in New York, so absorb everything and learn from everything,” Matt said. “Use it during the trip, but most importantly, when you get home.”
Reuben saw that exchange in action while working with Flag Nation. He and his fellow coaches watched the HYPE group deliver a session, offered feedback and then challenged them to try something unfamiliar.
“They gave us feedback and advice, but they also challenged us by giving us a new practice that we’d never done before,” Reuben said. “It was good to learn and develop as a coach with inspiration from the other coaches.”
Another young leader, Ruby, found that the challenge required the group to communicate and adapt together.
“We wanted to try something new and we were pushed to be challenged,” she said. “We worked on it, adapted and just went for it.”
For George, a young person from the group who was coaching children for one of the first times, their enthusiasm stood out.
“They seemed quite bright and interested in what we were trying to teach them,” he said. “They paid a lot of attention, they worked hard and it went well.”
New York also gave the group a wider view of where their interests and skills might take them.
“It’s so much bigger than you’d think,” George said. “There are so many people, so many buildings and so many opportunities. You look around and see loads of businesses, jobs and workplaces. It’s nice to get a feel for what a big city like this is like.”
Asked to describe the week in three words, he called it a “multi-door opener.”
Growing into a team
Since 2023, HYPE has received support through Beyond Sport’s partnership with Under Armour, funded by customer donations in stores across Europe. For the New York trip, Under Armour provided playing, coaching and travel uniforms, as well as balls and other equipment needed to facilitate sessions.
The matching kits helped the group look professional when they arrived at sessions, but Matt felt it also helped bring them together.
“It makes our young people feel special, feel important and feel together as a team,” he said.
That connection took time. Although the participants came from the same region, they represented different communities, cultures and backgrounds. Some had met only once or twice before traveling.
Zach felt more time together before the trip would have helped the group arrive with stronger relationships. Still, he could see those connections forming as the week progressed.
“Over the days, I think we’ll become more together,” he said.
Under Armour also connected HYPE with the Travis Manion Foundation, whose staff and volunteers led activities on character, resilience and service.
For Eliza, another young participant, the sessions reinforced the need to stay flexible when plans change.
“It made me realize how we need to push ourselves,” she said. “It gave us the resilience we need in case you need to adapt your session or something goes wrong and you just need to change it.”
Bringing it home
HYPE deliberately asks participants to do things that may feel uncomfortable, particularly speaking in front of groups and leading sessions. It also encourages them to support one another because they arrive with different levels of playing and coaching experience.
Matt wants the group to include the New York trip on their CVs/resumes and be ready to explain what they learned from it. More importantly, HYPE remains part of their lives after a particular program or trip ends.
“At HYPE, the door’s never closed,” he said. “I can guarantee at least half of these young people over the next three or four years will come back, whether that’s as a volunteer, a paid coach, a mentor or just to check in with us.”
Sometimes, he added, the effect becomes clear only years later.
“You may not hear from them for four or five years, but at some point they will come back and say, ‘That was one of the best trips. Do you know where that ended up taking me?’”
For Zach, one change was already visible. He arrived with experience assisting other coaches. In New York, the session—and the responsibility for making it work—was his.
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