LYMAN — Athletic coaches in Lyman spent part of the afternoon of Tuesday, Aug. 13, in training for programs launching in town schools this year designed to help build a positive culture, set norms, challenge stereotypes and combat violence and sexual assault.

The programs, Coaching Boys Into Men (CBIM) and Athletes As Leaders (AAL) are programs designed to leverage the influence of both coaches and student athletes in the lives of youth.

Offered to Wyoming school districts through grant funding and support from the Wyoming Dept. of Health, Wyoming Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault and Futures Without Violence, CBIM, designed for young men, and AAL for the girls focus on helping youth better identify harmful behaviors, helping youth and coaches feel more comfortable stepping in when they witness harmful behaviors and, ultimately, decreasing violence and sexual assault.

Designed as evidence-based multi-session programs, both CBIM and AAL are set up to become part of regular practice for sports teams, starting and finishing within the span of one season. Through 15- to 20-minute sessions one time per week, coaches and mentors cover topics such as personal responsibility, insulting language, gender stereotypes, disrespectful behaviors (including online and digital behavior), rumor spreading, aggression, bullying, healthy relationships and boundaries, self-image and consent.

Trainer Bob Vines, out of Worland, said he has been involved with the programs for three years, after Worland was selected to pilot the program for rural schools. He has now helped train approximately 150 coaches in nine schools across the state, not including the Aug. 13 session in Lyman and a training scheduled for Rock Springs later in the day.

Vines said the program has been developed for use by coaches because one individual coach can have an impact on the lives of many kids, with coaches consistently ranking as one of the top positive influences in student lives, and because student athletes themselves tend to have a lot of social capital and influence in their schools.

“Athletes are leaders, especially in rural Wyoming small towns where the whole community supports the school teams,” he said. The general idea is that if athletes embrace healthy behaviors and the values of respect, nonviolence and integrity, it can impact entire schools and communities through a proactive rather than reactive approach.

By discussing what it really means to be a good man as opposed to popular cultural ideas about manhood, said Vines, coaches can foster the growth of healthy masculinity.