A Funding Boost for Nonprofits That Help City Youth

Players on the Vaux Big Picture High School football team call Valencia Peterson “Coach V,” but unlike the team’s other coaches, she’s not drawing up X’s and O’s.

Peterson trains the coaches in a specialized curriculum to teach their players how to recognize domestic abuse and prevent it in their homes and schools through her organization, Open Door Abuse Awareness & Prevention.

About 21% of men in the U.S. reported being victims of intimate partner violence before age 18, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When Peterson gathers the boys at Vaux to take a knee, she tells them she wants to create an environment where they’re comfortable talking about problems in their lives.

ODAAP is a small nonprofit that brought in about $141,000 in revenue in 2023. It works with a handful of boys’ athletic programs in the area and operates a separate non-sports mentorship program for high school girls as well as one for all genders.

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Philadelphia Youth Sports Collaborative hosts 'Philly Girls Got Game' for second year

Hundreds of teen girls enjoyed a basketball clinic on Saturday, all thanks to the Philadelphia Youth Sports Collaborative.

The second annual Philly Girls Got Game is all about inspiration and addressing the disparity in athletic opportunities.

"Today I feel like it's a great opportunity to be here. We're balling out, we're hooping today. Great experience, very grateful," said Amia Etreie.

Players from Big 5 women's basketball teams take time to spend with younger players.

"It feels good because I look up to them. Like, I pray to be like them so it's great," said Etreie.

Etreie is 14 years old. The Women's Sports Foundation says that's the age when girls are twice as likely as boys to drop out of sports.

Philly Girls Got Game Day is trying to combat that statistic with this clinic, particularly in underserved communities.

"It makes me sad because you shouldn't give up," Etreie.

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PYSC Partners with Parks and Rec for Citywide Swimwear Drive

Philadelphia Parks & Recreation and Philadelphia Youth Sports Collaborative  are leading a citywide campaign to collect and distribute new swimwear and swim accessories for Philly’s youth. Our public pools will open soon, and we want to ensure our kids are suited up for the summer.

This summer, Parks & Rec, in partnership with Philadelphia Youth Sports Collaborative is collecting new swimwear and swim accessories at six sites. All donated bathing suits and accessories will be distributed to children at the City’s outdoor pools.

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Prioritizing the well-being of Philadelphia’s youth: Investing in youth sports infrastructure

As leaders of the Philadelphia Youth Sports Collaborative, we are deeply invested in the well-being and development of our city’s young people. With a membership of over 85 nonprofit organizations dedicated to using sports as a tool for connection and growth, we commend Mayor Parker for acknowledging a fundamental truth: that sport and play are not just recreational activities, but fundamental rights that must be adequately supported for our children.

Over the past eight years, PYSC has been at the forefront of supporting the youth sports community while studying the state of youth sports in our city. Through our efforts, we have seen firsthand the incredible work of hundreds of providers who tirelessly deliver sports programs to over 100,000 children. However, as we engage with these providers, we consistently hear about their challenges, namely, the lack of space and resources.

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Build More Sports Fields for Kids

In Philadelphia, space is a precious commodity. Specifically, quality playing fields are in short supply in neighborhoods across the city.

We see it every day: Maura, as CEO of Fairmount Park Conservancy, and Dontae, as director of community engagement for Philadelphia Youth Sports Collaborative. Below South Street, where 21,000 kids ages 5 to 18 live, learn and play, there is just one regulation-size turf field in the Philadelphia Parks and Recreation system.

That shortage is a direct threat to a cleaner, greener, safer Philadelphia. Our kids need more fields — now.

Traditional neighborhood grass fields get easily worn out, quickly becoming unplayable dirt bowls that take copious amounts of water, herbicides and pesticides to maintain. Those fields suffer tremendous stress when they face the constant use that Philly’s youth teams demand.

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