Jim Schmedding
A former professional football player for the Chargers, Coach, Businessman, and Chairman of the American Youth Sports Foundation shares his thoughts:
I have discovered something that could save your child’s life – or at the very least, make them successful!
My name is Jim Schmedding, a San Diego native, former San Diego Charger, and College All American. I have raised four of my own children. Each has his or her individual strengths and weaknesses; providing me with very unique experiences and bringing me to new levels of learning how to be a father.
Beyond my immediate family. I have worked with young people (ages 6 to 18) for the last 25 years as a friend, a coach, a volunteer, a businessman, an athlete and a concerned community member. I have seen all kinds of kids—good, bad, short, tall, fat, skinny, loud, quiet, strong, weak, long-haired, skinhead, violent, loving, ADD, comatose, gay, straight, clumsy, athletic, and every combination thereof. I have seen these kids at their highest level of achievement and their lowest level of hopelessness.
On my journey, I discovered something—so unique and yet so simple—that some may scoff while others will see its brilliance. I stumbled upon an educational process that, if completed and utilized, will insure success for your child no matter how you define success.
Let me tell you how I know this too be true! Six years ago a friend introduced me to a man who was helping severely addicted, (normally drugs and alcohol), dysfunctional, and non-productive individuals. It became obvious to me that this man was doing something that left a profound impression on people. He explained that he had developed a new technology that accelerated learning –even if the person was resistant to the process—and allowed students to learn HOW to develop a new perspective on their lives.
After observing 3 men go from being sick, dirty, and hurting people who looked like they had been run over by an “18 wheeler”; to cheerful, alert, and dressed in three-piece business suits within one week, this man’s learning process got my attention.
I asked this man, who I now affectionately refer to as ‘Yoda’, to explain his concepts and plans for this accelerated change process. He was very interested in perfecting his technology and continuing in his quest to help addicted man and women break the chains of their bondage.
Then one of my children had a crisis, which manifested itself in the form of an eating disorder. As a top athlete at a major university and a former youth national team player, she was diagnosed with bulimia. After talking to a number of professionals and looking at all the recovering information available (none of which satisfied my inner self), I called ‘Yoda’.
After one weekend of intense education and a couple of weeks of ongoing coaching, my daughter called to inform me that she was ‘cured’. In retrospect, she was not completely cured but was vastly improved and not moving in a downward direction.
It became clear to ‘Yoda’—the author of this unique learning process—that it was time to properly document the result being achieved by this new technology.
Therefore, a pilot research program was developed and implemented in San Diego, California. Classes involving 40 students were given pre and post testing and the results evaluated by a team of PhDs. The results indicated that the self-esteem of individual students was measurably increased as a direct result of this new educational process.
Soon thereafter, ‘Yoda’ began to work with a program that allowed homeless and institutionalized men re-develop the ability to make decisions and become part of the workforce of a community. Nine months after the program was instituted the, once almost bankrupt, program was on the verge of becoming financially independent of outside financing.
During the past years, I have worked closely with ‘Yoda’ to tailor this process for children and youth. I approached a girl’s club volley-ball team to see if our efforts could be of assistance to them. After meeting with their coach and parents, a workshop we scheduled for the first week in June. Upon completion of the 9-hour class, the coach was overwhelmed by the changes in her team. The team then traveled to the Midwest and participated in a national qualifying tournament, placing first. All of the member of the team, their parents and the coaching staff returned and shared the positive impact of the workshop had on their efforts—on and off the court.
Immediately following this turn around with the girl’s team, I watched my son play on a men’s team at the Junior Olympics. The difference between the two teams was so obvious—it was spooky. My son’s team worked just as hard but lacked that ‘something’ that separates TOP teams and players from good teams and players.
I knew that I had discovered something special. I had found a way to prevent young people from suffering from low self-esteem, negative peer pressure, and losing their life to addiction or self-inflicted mental or physical abuse.
The years ‘Yoda’ had spent perfecting the educational process, testing it with many different life issues, and now my personal successes converged and have resulted in my becoming a faculty member at Life Skills U.
You see, this man I call ‘Yoda’ is the founder and chief executive officer of Life Skills U. His name is Richard Jorgensen.
My mission at Life Skills U is to offer families the educational tools that bring together, into one learning process, all the ingredients for emotional maturity. Utilizing sports, I want to teach our youth how to integrate self-authority, self-responsibility, self-accountability, and self-control into their lives and how to create teamwork in their all their relationships—at home, work, worship, and play.
