Boys' Empowerment Group: Spring 2024

Have you noticed that your 9-to-13-year-old boy is going through changes and experiencing challenges?

Perhaps he is easily frustrated by everyday challenges, or struggles to connect with other children, or he is exploring defiant behavior with his teachers or family?

For many boys in today’s day & age, they can feel trapped by the expectations placed on them by school and family, and yet they don’t quite have the words to explain what’s bothering them. The expectations placed upon them are building each year, and yet they still just want to play and be childlike. They DO enjoy some of the perks that come along with more responsibility, but they’re not always ready to step up in quite the way that their world asks.
These boys aren’t defective, they’re just regular pre-teen boys who are starting the transition from child to adolescent, and that can be hard and scary for them. Thankfully, there are good ways to help these young guys navigate that transition successfully!
Connecting with other boys of similar age, regularly meeting to practice social skills in a fun, trusting environment, and doing so alongside a compassionate mentor, these boys can build their abilities and confidence dramatically. But where can they do such a thing???
Read on to learn more about the Boys’ Empowerment Group!

(or click below if you're ready to get started now!)

About This Group 

The group is geared for boys currently in upper elementary and middle school to gather weekly for fun, positive bonding, and growth; while guided by a professional coach and educator. Boys will be empowered to build a group that they LOVE and trust, by choosing their own adventures and rules, and with room to stumble and learn from their choices. Support will come from an adult who remembers what it’s like to be a boy, and who knows what activities can lead to the most fun and learning, (while still being safe).

Eric Starkweather will lead this group through a process where each boy will be valued, supported, and challenged, both by their leader and each other. A key part of the process will be for the boys, with Eric’s guidance and support, to choose their activities each week. 

Options may include: 

• Name Games
• Team Challenges
• Sports
• Wilderness Activities
• Beach Day (Northshore Beach) 
• Bike Ride To The Pier

The boys will hopefully grow their ability to respectfully advocate for their choices/needs, as they learn to compromise and negotiate with each other. Each week there will be a learning theme that will build on the previous weeks. Themes may touch on topics including:

• Creating guidelines to keep teammates emotionally and physically safe.
• Identifying and developing personal values.
• Enhancing frustration tolerance. 
• Using effective coping skills. 
• Developing conflict resolution skills. 
• Improving communication skills.
• Talking about the challenges in boys’ daily lives.
• Navigating peer pressure.
• Brain development: how does the brain work, and how does it change as we grow?

Logistics

Location: North Shore Park, 901 Northshore Dr. NE, St. Petersburg 

Day/Time: 2 options! 

1. Tuesdays 5-630pm
   1. February 27
   2. March 5, 12, 19, 26
   3. April 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
   4. May 7 & 14
2. Wednesdays 5-630pm
   1. Dates TBD. Groups forming now!

 12 total evenings in February, March, April, and May. 

Cost: $300

Questions? Feel free to ask Eric, at (813)695-0944

Additional logistical details will be shared prior to first session!

About Coach Eric 

Eric Starkweather has been helping younger people get more out of life since 1991, and as a full-time professional since 2008. He offers health & wellness and adventure coaching to youth and adults who want to become the best versions of themselves.

Previously, Eric worked for many years as a Senior Facilitator and Tree Climbing Trainer with Pathfinder Outdoor Education, as well as co-leading the hugely popular Pioneer Camp and Pioneer Nights programs at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve. A skilled outdoorsman, naturalist and educator; he has led small and large, multi-day groups of youth and adults through technical outdoor adventures including Canoeing, High Challenge Course, Tree Climbing, Archery, and Primitive Skills. These technical pursuits were often just the vehicles for addressing bigger interpersonal and emotional skills like self-awareness, communication, conflict resolution, creativity, and effective collaboration.  As a leader and trainer of clients and staff, he creates environments where people feel autonomous, competent, and connected. He blends his deep interest in Psychology and effective communications with a commitment to compassion and patience that parents and kids alike find remarkable. 

Also known as “The PUNisher” at PioCamp, he can create a terrible DadJoke on just about any topic. He uses that humor and creativity to build an environment where people know they can have fun, even as they face difficult challenges in personal growth. He is experienced in working with folks from many backgrounds, and his leadership creates spaces where anyone can feel like they belong -- regardless of age, gender, income, race, sexual orientation, medical diagnosis, or disability. 

Eric is a military veteran who has been an academic high-achiever and 2-sport athlete through college and beyond, and he has lived and worked in enough different areas to make him interesting (annoying?) at parties. He loves to read (especially sci-fi and nonfiction with a compelling narrative), exercise (yoga & weights), spend time in nature, and play with his family (wife, 2 teens, 1 toddler, 1 infant, 3 big dogs, and 6 cats).

Yes, he does sleep!