SPORTS-BASED YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

Connecting service-learning and leadership with your sports programs

We will be working on creating a national sports-based youth development (SBYD)resource binder with the overall strategy called “Play It Forward.” Ideas which you might want to consider implementing this year include:

Teaming up with the Special Olympics:

Special Olympics host events throughout the year.

  • It would be great to meet with them, have your teams volunteer with their Special Olympics athletes playing the same sports. Volleyball helps out with volleyball, etc

Fixing-up Local Fields, Gyms and Courts:

Instead of organizing big cleanup days elsewhere, if you’re going to have sports teams do clean up – have them either fix up, re-paint and clean their own local school fields, gyms and playgrounds.

  • Additionally, you can organize field and court refurbishings each season at nearby local public parks. If you arrange it in advance with your parks department, they usually can give you all the supplies, paint, brushes, garbage bags, tape, etc., you’ll need.
  • Professional sports teams like to sponsor these field / court cleanups as well by paying for supplies and giving out t-shirts. Don’t forget to ask the store managers from Home Depot or Lowes hardware for mini-supply grants too.
  • Kaboom is a great non-profit which organizes projects to build and fix up playgrounds. Call them. There might be a local build run by another group which may need manpower where your students and coaches can join in. Check out

Play for a Cause:This was the idea we discussed earlier where you ask each team to research, debate and select a local charity they want to dedicate their season to. After students have selected the charity, you can have the captain or coach call or write an email to the charity explaining the situation. Then the team can support the charity throughout the season by:

  • Making posters explaining the relationship and play for a cause program and then putting out flyers about the charity and raising money on their behalf at all games
  • Volunteering as a team one day at the charity instead of only having a practice
  • Having a staff person from the charity come to a practice and explain what they do
  • If the team wins, the whole team can present their trophy to the ED of the local charity at the end of the season. They can also present a check of what they raised to the charity ED

Running Programs for younger siblings at Parent Teacher Nights: One main challenge for parents attending parent – teacher conferences is how to provide daycare for younger siblings.

  • If you have coaches teach middle school students how to lead drills and games, teams could go to elementary school principals and offer to run fun practices and drills for younger siblingswhile parents meet with teachers
  • You can also have staff from Sports4kids (now called Playworks) run a workshop to teach staff and kids how run games. They’re bay area based. Check out

Play It Forward: Middle School Athletes helping to Coach or Referee Elementary School Games

  • Have some of your 8th grade athletes go through trainings with PCA Team Up for Youth and have them help out with elementary school sports programs.

Community Health & Fitness Expo:This is what we’ve applied for funding for on behalf of our chapters from United Healthcare. One day at the end of the year, you hold one big day event for kids and their families:

  • Through JP, you may be able to secure sponsorship support from Kaiser for such a day
  • The way this typically works is you organize a field day with Olympic-style games or a carnival style- sports game stations i.e. football toss, hoops shot, jumproping, climbing wall etc These games can be planned and led by your student athletes and you can give out little prizes.
  • Invite local health groupsRed Cross, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society etc. to have booths and pass out their education materials.
  • Invite ASAS staff or local personal trainers lead family yoga or workout classes
  • Invite restaurant or supermarket cooks to hold and teach healthy community cooking classes

Life and Leadership Skills:Sports provide a great opportunity for students to learn and practice leadership lessons. You have information from PCA and Team Up for Youth training coaches and we will provide some sample curriculum but you can:

  • Have coaches run leadership themed practices once per week where they introduce a theme like teamwork, resilience, discipline or teamwork and run specific drills which re-enforce them. You can also have coaches lead a discussion afterwards about these topics.
  • Sports Current Events: Have coaches and students bring in articles where a leadership lesson is highlighted and then they can have a group discussion before or after practice.
  • Give coaches excerpts of sports stories with life and leadership lessons from books by famous athletes and coaches such as Bill Russell, Bill Bradley, John Wooden and Coach K.
  • Sports Movie nights: Rent and some inspiring sports movies i.e. Hoosiers, Miracle, Coach Carter etc.; have the team and coaches watch and lead discussionsabout lessons from the movie
  • Guest Speaker Series: You can invite college or local professional athletes, coaches and administrators to speak to the teams and parents about their careers and the importance of learning leadership skills through sports