Sports4Kids
Putting the Play Back In School Playgrounds
This entry has been selected as a winner in the
Sport for a Better World competition.
Project Street Address
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Project Country
Sport
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Year the initative began (yyyy)
1996
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Which of these barriers is the primary focus of your work?
Sport is trivialized
Which of the principles is the primary focus of your work?
Leverage the fun factor
If you believe some other barrier or principle should be included in the mosaic, please describe it and how it would affect the positioning of your initiative in the mosaic:
This field has not been completed
Name Your Project
Sports4Kids: Putting the Play Back In School Playgrounds
Describe Your Idea
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence?
Sports4Kids places a full-time coach at low-income schools to harness the power of play to engage children in physical activity and social development
Describe your innovation. What makes your idea unique and different than others doing work in the field?
Sports4Kids uses play to address two problems faced by low-income urban children – a severe lack of opportunity for physical activity and conflict-ridden school environments - by effectively meeting a critical need for principals to have qualified staff at recess. We gain entry to schools by offering a full-time, trained person to organize and lead games at recess, a service for which principals are willing to pay nearly 50% of the annual cost. Once the Sports4Kids coach is on the playground teaching the rules to games like four-square, kickball, and double-dutch, recess is transformed from chaos to safe, organized, and active play. The presence of the coach, who arrives with a hundred games in their back pocket, effectively solves principals’ recess problem and then inspires all of the children to get involved. By combining fun games with conflict-resolution skills like rock-paper-scissors, Sports4Kids creates a positive environment on the playground that ripples into the classroom.
What are the existing barriers, the biggest problem, your innovation is hoping to address/change?
Children often come to school not knowing how to play. They haven’t had opportunities for unstructured play due to concerns about safety in their neighborhoods. This reality is exacerbated by a growing emphasis on standardized tests, effectively squeezing out time for physical activity. As a result, childhood obesity is on the rise, playgrounds have become a source of conflict and strife, and ultimately learning is compromised as teachers spend valuable class time resolving playground issues.
Delivery Model: How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing?
Sports4Kids works exclusively in low-income public schools, where poor health outcomes and lagging test scores are most prevalent. At each school we place a full-time coach who implements five program components during and after the school day:
- Recess: Coaches teach games every day at recess to create a structured, safe and inclusive environment on the playground.
- Class Game Time: Coaches partner with teachers to deliver a play-based physical activity curriculum based on youth development principles and focused on basic skill development.
- Junior Coaches: Teachers identify students to participate in leadership development activities. These students become playground leaders during recess.
- After-School Program: Coaches coordinate after-school physical activity and academic enhancement programs.
- Interscholastic Leagues: Coaches facilitate interscholastic sports leagues after-school that emphasize basic sports skills, teamwork and healthy competition, and involve families.
How do you plan to grow your innovation?
Sports4Kids serves 50,000 students in 130 schools across the US. We are launching a 5-year growth plan that relies on two critical factors for scaling impact. First, we’ll continue to emphasize direct service by expanding to more schools in our current geographies while adding new cities. We can achieve rapid growth because principals are willing to pay nearly half the program cost. This earned income validates the value of the service and provides a solid foundation for achieving financial sustainability. Second, we’ll complement the direct service model with a technical assistance business that serves non-Sports4Kids schools. By training educators and others who work with children, Sports4Kids can exponentially increase its impact. Specifically the 5-year growth strategy calls for:
- Expand school programs from 130 to 650 schools.
- Expand geographies from 4 to 27.
- Increase the number of non-Sports4Kids schools receiving training for teachers and other staff to 4,000 schools.
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact.
Sports4Kids increases children’s physical activity, reduces playground conflict, and creates a fun, engaging recess so kids are able to learn.
What impact has your innovation had to date/or what is your intended impact? Exactly who are the beneficiaries?
Sports4Kids has grown from 2 schools in 1996 to 130 schools in 2007. Our programs reach 50,000 children including a minimum of 45 minutes of daily physical activity for every child during recess and class game time. 80% of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
- 96% of principals in their first year with Sports4Kids credit the program with decreasing the number of students standing or sitting at the side of the playground.
- 73% of these principals say fights on the playground have declined since Sports4Kids came to their school.
- 68% of teachers report that playground conflicts are less likely to continue in the classroom and 73% say Sports4Kids has improved their ability to facilitate physical activities with their students.
- Finally the impact on the young adults who serve as coaches is noteworthy. As the nexus of play at their schools, they have a transformative experience that instills in them a belief in their own power as changemakers.
How many people have you served directly?
Over the past twelve years, Sports4Kids has directly served 107,000 unduplicated youth, many for multiple years. Sports4Kids has also directly served the 5,300 teachers who taught those students through class game time. Projected growth over the next five years will find us serving 650 elementary schools in 27 cities in 2013 or 260,000 students in that school year alone. In 2013, Sports4Kids will be serving 13,000 teachers.
How many people have you served indirectly?
Indirectly, Sports4Kids has served 100,000 families. We expect to reach more than 200,000 families in 2013 when expansion enables Sports4Kids to serve 650 schools.
Please list any other measures reflective of the impact of your innovation?
Sports4Kids has responded to requests from across the globe to collaborate in the development of high-quality play-based programs for kids. Our staff have worked with the Magic Bus in Mumbai, India and EMEP in Capetown, South Africa, to provide trainings for local youth workers. Sports4Kids also coordinated an emergency-response effort in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina sending ten teams of staff to Houston to lead games during recess at schools serving children displaced by the disaster.
What are the main barriers to creating or achieving your impact?
1. Growing from 4 cities to 27 will rely heavily on attracting and training capable staff in each geographic region. We’ve already learned that local staff are critical for effective programmatic replication.
2. We must refine our technical assistance model so that we can succesfully convey our deep knowledge of the power of play to teachers and other staff in schools where we don’t have a full-time presence.
This Entry is about (Issues)
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)?
Sports4Kids has developed four main sources of financial support:
1. Sports4Kids collects school fees, ($22,000-23,500 per school per year). Earned income is approximately 45% of income.
2. The Corporation for National Service funds half of our coaches through AmeriCorps.
3. As Sports4Kids grows, we are increasingly focused on corporate partnerships that offer benefits to the corporations and their employees. We expect corporate support to provide 12-15% of income.
4. Foundations have long been a source of support. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has provided significant funding for national expansion. This strong national partnership is helping us establish local foundation relationships in each of our expansion cities.
If known, provide information on your finances and organization.
• Annual budget: (2007-08) $8,874,694
• Annual revenue generated: (2007-08) $8,894,224
• Number of staff: (2007-08) Full-time - 184, Part-time - 2, Volunteers - 200
What is the potential demand for your innovation?
According to interviews with principals, the potential demand for Sports4Kids in urban areas is significant. At schools where Sports4Kids doesn't operate, principals overwhelmingly identified recess as the worst time in the school day and the source of fights, discipline issues and suspensions. Staffing recess is especially challenging because teachers are not typically on playground duty. For schools designated as Title I schoolwide there are funds available to improve school climate.
What are the main barriers to financial sustainability?
Sports4Kids main barrier to financial sustainability is securing enough individual and corporate support as the program grows in each city to replace the foundation dollars that are typically available for the “start-up” phase in a new community.
What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story.
As an only child, Sports4Kids’ Founder, Jill Vialet eagerly sought out playmates at Macomb Street playground near her home in Washington, D.C. She was willing to play anything – kickball, basketball, football, whatever was going on. Fortunately the recreation activities were led by a large, gregarious man named Clarence, who made sure Jill got to play, despite protests from the boys that a girl couldn’t keep up. It was Clarence’s dogged advocacy on her behalf that shaped Jill’s passion for play. This was the genesis of Sports4Kids – an organization dedicated to making sure every child has a Clarence in their lives.
Jill says: “One test of a good idea is the degree to which it solves a difficult problem. There is a deceptive simplicity to the idea that play can solve several of society’s most troubling challenges. We’re proud of the significant impact our program has in schools. Our clients, principals and teachers, are thrilled with the transformation of recess from chaos to organized fun and the ripple effect in the classroom. But this good idea is only as powerful as the number of people it reaches, either directly in schools or indirectly through training. Sports4Kids has proven it can replicate in new cities and we have a sustainable financial model. My vision is that Sports4Kids will systematically change the way schools utilize play, increasing opportunities and supporting play as critical for improving children’s cognitive, social and physical development.
Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material.
Jill Vialet, Founder/President, has focused her entrepreneurial skills on building two successful organizations. Jill launched Sports4Kids in 1996 with two schools. She believes Sports4Kids will redefine what it means to play in America. Prior, Jill founded the Museum of Children’s Art (mocha) in Oakland, CA, where she served as Executive Director for 9 years. In 2004 Jill was awarded an Ashoka Fellowship. Jill graduated from Harvard University and attended public high school in Chevy Chase, MD.
How did you hear about this contest and what is your main incentive to participate? (this is confidential)
Ashoka first brought the Changemakers competition to our attention, though we also were encouraged to apply by staff of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. We are committed to creating a model that achieves its full impact so we see the Changemakers competition as an opportunity to communicate with more people about our unique brand of play.
Affiliation (please list all that apply)
jill Vialet is an Ashoka Fellow, and a graduate of Harvard University, Sports4Kids is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grantee.
 | Víctor Daniel García said: really, when i read this blog you lift me with no breath!.. i worked like a year in a middle school.. as a basketball coach and i know ... about this idea. - 277 days ago read more > |
| manha alabane said: __________________________ Password Manager? about this idea. - 356 days ago read more > |
| Samit Shah said: Dear Ms. Vialet: Thank you for participating in this collaborative competition. We value the time and effort you’ve put forth and we ... about this idea. - 651 days ago read more > |
 | Sports4Kids: Putting the Play Back In School Playgrounds has been chosen as a winner in Sport for a Better World. - 708 days ago |
 | Sports4Kids: Putting the Play Back In School Playgrounds has been chosen as a finalist in Sport for a Better World. - 722 days ago |
| Suzanne Steffens said: Dear Jill, Thanks for your entry – we really enjoyed reading about your program. It provides one of the most critical resources ... about this idea. - 791 days ago read more > |
| Brian Schmaedick said: Sports4kids makes a difference! As principal of a rapidly improving, but as yet woefully underperforming elementary school in East San ... about this idea. - 821 days ago read more > |
| Jill Vialet said: So I've been traveling a lot of late and haven't had a chance to keep up with the discussion as much as I would have liked, so I'm going ... about this idea. - 826 days ago read more > |
| ziba cranmer said: Lindsey, I love your self awareness! It would be an interesting question to put to some of the organizations originating from some of ... about this idea. - 833 days ago read more > |
| ziba cranmer said: I'll second Lindsey's recommendation of the Sir Ted videocast on Ted.com - its awesome. He's hilarious! About the volunteering issue ... about this idea. - 833 days ago read more > |
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