Youth Sports
Each year, more than thirty-eight million young people play organized sports across the United States. This program works with youth sports organizations to help these kids succeed both on and off the field.
Combining physical activity, play, and collaboration, sports are a meaningful way to build social and emotional skills like teamwork, empathy, and problem solving. These foundational skills boost young people’s academic, career and life outcomes.
The wide reach of youth sports means that they have massive potential to transform kids’ lives. We support SEL-informed youth sports initiatives that prepare youth to thrive. Through this work, we hope to spark a movement of youth-serving organizations that use sports to build critical SEL skills and broaden the definition of winning.
Youth Sports
Each year, more than thirty-eight million young people play organized sports across the United States. This program works with youth sports organizations to help these kids succeed both on and off the field.
Combining physical activity, play, and collaboration, sports are a meaningful way to build social and emotional skills like teamwork, empathy, and problem solving. These foundational skills boost young people’s academic, career and life outcomes.
The wide reach of youth sports means that they have massive potential to transform kids’ lives. We support SEL-informed youth sports initiatives that prepare youth to thrive. Through this work, we hope to spark a movement of youth-serving organizations that use sports to build critical SEL skills and broaden the definition of winning.
Our Partners
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Ad Council
The Ad Council’s mission is to convene the best storytellers to educate, unite, and uplift — using the power of communications to build social-impact campaigns that create measurable change at scale.
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Adelphi University
Adelphi University is developing the nation’s first evidence-informed mental health guidelines for youth sports, working with athletes, parents, coaches, and administrators nationwide to help programs better support young people’s wellbeing.
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Aspen Institute Project Play
Project Play explores how youth sports can promote the development of social and emotional skills.
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California Governor’s Advisory Council on Physical Fitness and Mental Well-being
The Governor’s Advisory Council on Physical Fitness and Mental Well-Being promotes equitable and sustainable access to physical fitness and mental well-being resources for all Californians, prioritizing youth and families.
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Center for Healing & Justice Through Sport
The Center for Healing and Justice Through Sport’s mission is to make sport healing for all youth, everywhere, through training, consulting, and movement building.
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CoachUp! Washington
CoachUp! Washington aims to elevate the standards of school-based coaching throughout Washington State.
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FundPlay Foundation
FundPlay Foundation works to equalize the playing field for youth sports, providing support and technology to sports-based youth development organizations that serve kids in underserved communities.
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Girls on the Run International
Girls on the Run’s mission is to inspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running.
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How to Coach Kids
How to Coach Kids is co-created by the United States Olympic Committee and Nike and inspired by Aspen Institute Project Play.
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Laureus Sport for Good Foundation USA
Laureus Sport for Good Foundation was founded in response to Nelson Mandela’s challenge, issued at the first Laureus World Sports Awards in 2000, that “sport has the power to change the world.”
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LiFEsports at The Ohio State University
Since 2009, LiFEsports, held at The Ohio State University, has grown to address the ever-changing needs of our community’s youth and the field of sport-based positive youth development (PYD).
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Little League International
Founded in 1939, Little League International is the world’s largest organized youth sports program, with millions of players.
Youth Sports
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MCC State Learning Cohort
The mission of the MCC State Learning Cohort is to inform state-level policy improvements in Maryland, Indiana, and Kansas.
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National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA)
The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) is the leading not-for-profit organization dedicated to building strong, vibrant and resilient communities through the power of parks and recreation.
Youth Sports
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Positive Coaching Alliance
By 2023, PCA will directly train over 400,000 youth sports coaches to incorporate social and emotional learning and professional youth development into their coaching practices.
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The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS)
The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) is the national leadership organization that guides and supports education-based high school athletics and activities across the United States.
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The Sport Industry Research Center at Temple University
The Sport Industry Research Center at Temple University is a collaborative research center providing research and consulting services to enhance the economic, social, and environmental sustainability of sport.
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U.S. Soccer Federation
As the governing body of soccer in the United States, the U.S. Soccer Federation works to make the sport preeminent nationwide and to develop soccer at every recreational and competitive level.
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U.S. Soccer Foundation
The mission of the U.S. Soccer Foundation is to provide underserved communities access to innovative play spaces and evidence-based soccer programs that instill hope, foster well-being, and help youth achieve their fullest potential.
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United States Olympic & Paralympic Foundation
The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Foundation serves as the primary source of philanthropic resources for the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC). This critical financial support allows the USOPC to invest in areas that promote excellence and innovation for Team USA.
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University of Washington Center for Leadership in Athletics (UW CLA)
The University of Washington Center for Leadership in Athletics (CLA) is a nationally recognized academic center dedicated to strengthening the educational impact of sports by using research and research-backed practices to develop effective leaders, coaches, and sports programming
Our Challenge
Million Coaches Challenge Announces Empower Every Coach to Advance Systems Change in Youth Sports
If we want every young person to experience the benefits of quality coaching, we must also transform the systems that shape coaching itself. That’s why we’re excited to announce Empower Every Coach (EEC)—a new national initiative designed to advance systems-level change across youth sports and help make quality coaching the norm, not the exception.
Million Coaches Challenge Belief Statement
“Coaches can make or break the sports experience for kids, but many feel unprepared to meet the diverse and emergent needs of the young people they coach. To create a positive environment that helps kids get the most out of sport, coaches must be trained in youth development.”
Read the full belief statement hereBlog Posts
Four Years. One Million Coaches. A Foundation for What’s Next.
When we launched the Million Coaches Challenge in 2021, we did so with a hypothesis: that training coaches in evidence-based youth development practices at scale could change the experience of young people in sport. Not just …
Million Coaches Challenge Launches $1M Funding Call to Advance Quality Coaching for Youth Sports
The Million Coaches Challenge (MCC) announces Empower Every Coach, a $1 million funding opportunity designed to address the systemic barriers preventing millions of coaches from accessing the tools, training, and support they need to help young …