The Collaborative Partners with the Office of Children and Families to Provide Sports Equipment, Curriculum, and Coach Training for Youth Summer Programming

The Philadelphia Youth Sports Collaborative is proud to partner with the Office of Children and Families as part of a citywide effort to re-engage thousands of youth through fun, high-quality summer programming. Through this partnership, the Collaborative will support over 50 sites throughout the city, engaging over 7000 youth in basketball, soccer, golf, and fitness/play activities throughout the 5-week summer program!

The Collaborative will supply OST summer programs with sports equipment kits, with over 100lbs of equipment, including basketball, soccer, golf, and physical fitness supplies. Summer program providers will also be supplied with a comprehensive curriculum to simplify sports instruction for coaches, as well as access to the Game On Philly app, including a new Summer 2021 Channel. The app will include hundreds of hours of various sports and fitness activities provided by Collaborative member organizations, local professional sports teams, and trained athletes and coaches.

Summer camp providers have also been provided with virtual “Coach Training” segments, featuring topics such as: “how to” be a coach and run a sports session; creating a team/cohort culture, and using game-based coaching. These videos were produced by our partners at Temple’s University’s School of Sport, Tourism, and Hospitality Management and presented by coaches from Collaborative member organizations: Philadelphia Youth Basketball, Legacy Tennis, and Squash Smarts.
A special thank you to Villanova Women’s Basketball, Drexel Women’s basketball, and a number of other volunteers who dedicated time and strength to sorting and assembling the 134 kits for distribution, ensuring a fun high-quality summer experience for Philadelphia youth!

The Collaborative is proud to be a part of this citywide effort and is confident that the equipment, curriculum, training, and ongoing support will prove the power of sport in connecting and strengthening community, social skills, and confidence in participating youth.