
Youth and Amateur Sports Grants Program
Announcing 2022 Youth Sports & Outdoor Recreation Relief Fund Recipients
King County Parks partnered with the King County Play Equity Coalition and more than 50 community reviewers to center communities most impacted by racism and the pandemic, developing solutions to invest in with a racial equity lens. The goal of a safe re-activation of youth sports and outdoor recreation was established with a priority on centering youth of color and organizations led by people of color with deep partnerships in communities across South King County. More than 50 community members across South King County served as first-round reviewers, 84% of which were people of color. In total, 45 nonprofits will receive $4 million in funding to increase equity of youth access to sports and recreation. List of Funding Recipients Below:
Organization |
Award Calculation |
Summary |
Aaron Brooks Drills |
$60,000 | Basketball program serving youth of color in South Seattle through school and community center partnerships |
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African Community Housing & Development |
$63,713 | Led by visionary women of color, ACHD provides holistic, culturally responsive support to African Diaspora immigrants in South King County and specifically girls access to outdoor adventures |
After-School All-Stars Puget Sound |
$73,560 | Sports & wellness programs offered after-school at 3 middle schools |
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AGE UP | $267,577 | BIPOC led, neighborhood-based organization leveraging the power of sports for a more just society. Sports-based youth leadership programs in partnerships with 6 Seattle Public Schools in South Seattle providing ultimate frisbee teams, summer camps, & social justice leadership cohorts |
Associated Recreation Council | $31,324 | Track & field program delivered in partnership with Seattle Parks & Recreation |
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Baseball Beyond Borders | $72,150 | Helping student-athletes of color connect their passion for baseball with their academic futures off the field |
Big Drip Hoops | $23,000 | Offers events, clinics, and programs around basketball and mentorship |
Bike Works Seattle | $113,191 | Promotes the bicycle as a vehicle for change to empower youth and build resilient communities through bike repair and ownership, outdoor activities, and leadership development. |
Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellevue |
$16,930 | Providing safe spaces for youth to develop healthy habits via swim lessons at 3 King County Housing Authority communities |
Boys & Girls Clubs of King County |
$66,645 | A variety of co-ed team sports serving K-12 youth in White Center |
Braided Seeds | $31,650 | Black led nonprofit working to remove barriers so Black, Indigenous Peoples, and youth of color can get outside to enjoy the outdoors reconnect to the land |
C2C Rams Youth Football & Cheer |
$30,175 | Providing low-cost access to football and cheer in South King County |
Camp Fire Central Puget Sound |
$67,112 | Provides youth with meaningful learning experiences, building peer relationships in a small group setting connecting to the natural world via summer adventure camps. Funding dedicated to providing scholarships to youth of color. |
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Children's Therapy Center | $48,890 | Adaptive fitness class for youth with physical and cognitive disabilities |
Communities In Schools of Renton |
$20,000 | $Surrounding students in Renton & Tukwila School Districts with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life through scholarships and financial support to participate in sports |
Congolese Integration Network | $150,000 | CIN's Youth program developed in response to the need for a program which promotes, healing, integration, and empowers Congolese and sub-Saharan refugee youth. Provides an integrated approach at no cost to youth to play soccer year-round |
East African Community Services |
$200,000 | Empowering youth through basketball furthering youths' positive social, academic, physical, and emotional wellness and resiliency. Program launched in direct response to parent concerns about declining fitness and emotional health caused by the pandemic |
Empowering Youth and Families Outreach |
$33,200 | Supporting academic success and character development through year-round golf and double Dutch program for youth of color |
Federal Way Sports Authority |
$272,000 | Dedicated to serving youth in Federal Way through football and cheerleading program serving elementary and middle school students in Federal Way Public Schools |
Game of Life Sports Mentoring |
$337,560 | Sports based youth leadership development and mentoring to address the disproportionality of Black and Brown youth in the County juvenile justice system and to give young people an alternative to violence via basketball and mentorship |
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Interim Community Development Association |
$36,580 | Wilderness Inner-City Leadership Development program fosters confident, informed, civically engaged refugee and immigrant youth leaders serving low-income Asian and Pacific Islander youth year-round environmental justice leadership development and outdoor recreation program providing hiking, snowshoeing, bouldering, kayaking, & camping |
Kandelia | $142,596 | Providing sports teams and clubs at Seattle World School to help immigrant and refugee students building connections with their peers/community |
Kent Youth and Family Services |
$129,978 | Promotes healthy development of youth in South King County by providing a variety of sports programs including: Basketball, flag-football, soccer, and multiple outdoor recreation excursions serving youth living in 3 King County Housing Authority communities. |
Level the Field Sports |
$35,000 | Provides scholarships and financial assistance to youth in grades K-5 who are unable to play team sports due to socioeconomic barriers |
Marvin Thomas Memorial | $20,000 | Unity in the community basketball camp offered at 3 schools in South Seattle |
Nomad Boxing Club | $22,000 | Utilizing boxing as a channel for youth to build confidence, discipline, and well-being so they can achieve goals in and out of the ring. |
Phenomenal She | $155,888 | Providing mentorship encouragement and empowerment to young women of color by building confidence through outdoor recreation |
Rainier Athletes | $120,000 | Sports based youth development mentorship program serving youth in Bellevue by partnering with over 40 community sports leagues, 12 Bellevue schools, and 300 teachers to holistically support some of the hardest to reach students |
Rainier Valley Corps/First Five Years & Beyond |
$20,892 | Based in South King County FFYB is contributing to closing the education and opportunity inequities for youth further away from education justice by providing no cost summer sport sampling program |
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ReJoyce Fundamentals Academy |
$199,198 | Black led nonprofit dedicated to supporting youth on and off the basketball court |
Renton Area Athletic Association |
$40,000 | Black run volunteer organization providing youth football and cheerleading programs serving unincorporated areas of Skyway/Bryn Mawr, Renton, & South King County |
Shunpike Arts Collective dba Capoeira Life |
$31,024 | Empowering youth through capoeira education (negative financial impact) |
Shunpike Arts Collective dba Capoeira Life |
$61,321 | Empowering youth through capoeira education (Youth sports program) |
Somali Health Board | $79,050 | Provides professional soccer training for boys and girls centered on the core principle of building the mental and physical health of the first young generation of immigrants from middle east, East Africa, and East Asia |
South Shore School PTSA |
$37,798 | Sports equipment for K-8 school is South Seattle to utilize during physical education |
Sports in Schools | $14,400 | Improve lives of under-resourced youth by increasing access and opportunities to sports by partnering with schools. Funding will support a middle school tennis program at 12 Seattle Public Schools |
Ta'alem Community Center | $49,094 | Creating a system of support for at-risk youth of color through a new soccer program serving East African youth |
The Passian Center | $100,000 | Construction of mixed martial arts facility to provide athletic opportunities for youth of color in South King County educating youth on what it means to have a champion mindset both in and outside of the ring |
The Service Board | $70,000 | Youth-led organization providing high school youth from marginalized communities an inclusive space where their voices are heard, and they develop life skills and increase confidence through outdoor activities with a focus on snowboarding |
Upower | $280,000 | Trauma informed physical education and fitness program serving youth attending alternative high-schools in Seattle and in juvenile justice centers in Seattle & Glen Echo |
Urban Family Center Association |
$75,221 | Monthly sports summit promoting physical activity in Skyway, Renton, & Tukwila |
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Urban Native Education Alliance |
$143,750 | UNEA emphasizes physical fitness to Native youth through a weekly basketball program, camps throughout year, an annual run/walk, and routine fitness challenges |
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Valor Soccer | $30,000 | After-school futsal program in partnership with Kent School District |
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Washington Youth Soccer | $75,000 | Year-round soccer program partnered with elementary and middle schools |
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Whitewater Aquatics Management |
$33,800 | Maintenance equipment & swim gear for pool serving youth in Burien, White Center, & Highline |
Why We Invest in Youth Sports
Physical activity is vital to youth development, physical health, mental health, and social emotional learning, and is also associated with better educational outcomes. The Center for Disease Control recommends that youth get at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily to stay healthy. However, only 19% of youth in King County meet this recommendation according to the Healthy Youth Survey.
Disparities in access to physical activity and health outcomes are evident by race, place, and income. By investing in organizations and agencies serving low-income youth and youth of color King County Parks is working to increase youth access to and participation in physical activity.
Interested in collaborating on a collective impact approach toward systems change? Check out the King County Play Equity Coalition.
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If you have questions about the grant program, please contact Minerva Humphrie.