"Also, my youth background with the Ministry of Social Development as a case worker painted a pretty grim picture around engaging youth.
"Normally disengagement in sport at a secondary school level can lead to disengagement in the classroom, [being] removed from the school, removed from peers therefore out in the community.
"Then disrupting the community leads to police involvement and spirals downhill from there," he says. "That's the trend we have seen over the last three years."
Pou says that sport is the most powerful way to re-engage youth.
"From [sport] we have a culture of expectation, goals set and we put them on that track. We use sport to re-engage positively back into the community," he says.
"Examples of that are working with St Vincent de Paul, giving back to the wider community by helping out at events, right down to individuals cutting trees for old people and mowing lawns for people who have come out of hospital. That is an important aspect of developing our youth.
"Sport is the engagement component, then we develop their motivation, their attitudes and then we lead them back into the community."
Building leadership skills is a key component of the programme.
Before they volunteer at schools and community sport days, all participants have to do a "How to Coach" course that is delivered through BayTrust Coach.
"On Wednesday we had six running activities at Tauranga Girls' College to develop their leadership skills, and another six in Rotorua with us running the primary schools athletics champs.
"They are giving back to the community and also developing some vital skills," Pou says.
"I am a driven person, but for me when I see the youth making an effort then that drives me to push them further and develop them more, so they can lead the life they want to lead.
"We do hold a lot of pride in what we do and how we do it."
Pou's slogan, "It takes a community to raise a child", is fundamental to the programme's ethos.
"There is less impact on the health system through drug and alcohol abuse associated with those health outcomes.
"They are contributing financially to the community with gaining employment. We work with Labour Works based in Mount Maunganui to help find jobs for them."
Youth activities co-ordinator Cameron Andrews, 21, is a recent university graduate who has joined Pou's team.
"Watching [young people] come in and transforming into something totally different is the biggest thrill for me," Andrews says. "It's like they are covered in this shell and you are slowly cracking at the shell, and they come out as a totally different person. That is the joy in what I do.
"It is a weird thing about sport. You totally pressure them in a fitness sense and they love it and they come back. Sport is involved in their lives now."
Being pushed hard to achieve, improve their fitness, health and general well-being gets endorsement from those going through the programme.
Joseph Thompson, 23, says he is far more confident and open with people after seven months of being involved.
"I never used to talk to people before I came here. I was a really shy person and then I met these fellahs, and now they are like family," he says. "I can see a real future. I have a job now and am really happy with it."
Cleveland Kahotea, 19, began the programme in May and says it has made a huge difference in his life. "Before I started here I was doing nothing with my life and I didn't have any goals," he says.
"On the first day I was here, Paul (Pou) asked me what I wanted to do with my life and I said 'nothing'. He asked me what did I like doing and I said 'nothing'.
"He then asked if I had ever had a dream. I always had a dream of building my parents a house, so I said I wanted to be a builder.
"Alright, [Pou] said, we are going to the [Bay of Plenty] Polytech. And now I am doing Level 3 carpentry, and he has got me an apprenticeship lined up for next year.
"It is an awesome programme and I try to tell everybody about it," says Kahotea.
