The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) is partnering with GameChanger to tackle the nationwide coaching shortage with a grant opportunity. Five park and recreation agencies will be awarded $10,000 to develop, implement and evaluate innovative approaches that build long-term pathways into coaching—specifically youth leadership and early employment opportunities, promoting coaching and sports-related roles as viable career paths.
In addition to the grant funding, selected agencies will receive access to no-cost, high-quality coach training to build coach and volunteer skills in youth development, social-emotional learning, culturally responsive coaching and welcoming practices.
Park and recreation agencies play a critical role in providing youth sports and out-of-school time programming nationwide, reaching more than 50 million young people each year. Coaches and caring adult leaders are often the most important factor in ensuring that young people have positive, developmentally supportive experiences in sports. However, research shows that by age 13, 70% of kids drop out of organized sports, citing negative experiences as a reason for leaving.
“We know the lasting impact a great coach can have on a child’s life,” said Kristine Stratton, NRPA president and CEO. “Programs led by well-trained staff and volunteers create meaningful experiences that extend far beyond the playing field. Through this partnership, we are proud to create new pathways that invite more coaches into the youth sports system and continue equipping park and recreation leaders with the training and resources they need to make a positive difference in the communities they serve.”
Across the country, park and recreation agencies cite a common challenge in meeting the growing demand for youth sports: recruiting and retaining enough qualified coaches. A persistent shortage of women coaches continues to limit participation opportunities for girls. At the same time, coaches consistently express a desire for more training in youth development, highlighting the need to strengthen, expand and better support the coaching pipeline.
Since 2023 through the Youth Sports in Parks and Recreation initiative, NRPA has provided funding to more than 200 communities and is on track to increase access to high-quality, affordable, fun and welcoming multi-sport opportunities for over 480,000 youth and train more than 24,000 coaches nationwide. Through these efforts, NRPA developed a set of promising coach training, recruitment and retention strategies for park and recreation agencies to implement, highlighting a unique opportunity to establish and scale sustainable, impactful and continuous coaching pipelines nationwide.
Grant applications are due April 10. For more information, visit https://www.nrpa.org/our-work/partnerships/initiatives/youth-sports/game-changing-grants-to-increase-access-to-sports/.