Description: 

Community Education and Recreation Services recognized that they have already experiences some success in creating ‘SPORT SAMPLE’ opportunities. Kids can come for a one-time or multi-session class to explore multiple types of sports. For example, community education at Brooklyn Center Schools is offering Zumba, Dance and Tumbling.

Offering this type of opportunity is a low-risk way for parents to expose their kids to a variety of physical activity options without a big investment. Providers could develop a template for this program design that could be shared with all providers. This could also include an Implicit Bias Training for providers to ensure service delivery meets youth and families where they are culturally. 

Also, the design may also include sport specific skills training and reflection on social and emotional skills learned.

Barriers Eliminated:

• Cost

• Cost for equipment

• Transportation; if delivered afterschool with busing, or via Rec On the Go

Potential Impact: 

• Entry points into sports

• Provide new types of activities to better connect with families

• Easier Registration – explore multiple sport opportunities

• Cross-Cultural communications, connecting and engagement 

• Solutions for transportation

Potential Costs:

• Bussing for afterschool community education 

• Transportation for city recreation services

• Equipment costs for recreation or community education programs

• Implicit Bias training costs

Description: 

Alliance partners will host “YOUTH SPORTS DRAFT DAY” at their college, school, or community center prior to leagues kicking off. This could be sport specific or could be for multiple sports. Youth and parents can explore different sport options and take care of all their registration needs on site – so they are ready to participate.

Most importantly, YOUTH SPORTS DRAFT DAY will include: 

1. Registration in English, Spanish, Hmong
2. Scholarship information in English, Spanish, Hmong
3. Equipment supplies on site: shoes, hockey equipment exchange

Potential Partners:  

Rec On the Go, Parks and Recreation staff, Play-it-Again sports, Sanneh Foundation, Leagues/Associations who want to boost recruitment.

Barriers Eliminated:

• Not knowing what’s available

• Cost

• Equipment costs

Potential Impact: 

• Easier Registration

• Cross-Cultural communications, connecting and engagement 

• Provide new types of activities to better connect with families

• Solutions for transportation

• Build resources to reduce or eliminate costs

• Entry points into sports

Potential Costs

• Event coordination

Description: 

Many providers, including schools, non-profits, leagues etc. do not have easy access to services that can translate materials into Spanish, Hmong, etc. Alliance partners could scan existing resources used for this purpose to understand what resources are available. 

We would also gather constraints – existing policies or procedures with public agencies related to translating materials. 

We could partner with experts in this discipline to find resources, connect them to providers, and improve communications to parents.

Barriers Eliminated:

• Not knowing what’s available 

Potential Impact: 

• Easier Registration

• Cross-Cultural communications, connecting and engagement 

• Build resources to reduce or eliminate costs 

Potential Costs:

• Coordination of bringing resources together

• Ongoing efforts to connect translation services to providers

Description: 

Alliance partners would establish a new team coordinated with existing resources at the Alliance to bring together community engagement experts from each Alliance partner. This may be different ‘titles’ for each partner, but might include the following:  School Equity Specialists, City Community Engagement liaisons, Parent Liaisons, or other. 

This team would be charged with organizing translations resources, and outreach to parents – where parents are – to connect them to opportunities throughout our community via an online program locator (sports included). Partners would mutually promote one another’s programs and services and build a calendar of outreach events that could include – Earle Brown Days, Tator Days, Back to School, YOUTH SPORTS DRAFT DAY, Motivation Youth Festival and other community events.  

This team would also participate in Implicit Bias training, and explore ‘train the trainer’ options for bringing this training back to their organizations.

The Alliance staff would manage a tool/website that all families/kids can see what activities are available, how to register, scholarship availability, and how to get there (transportation tool).

Together this team would seek to engage 1,000 parents: inform them of the online program locator and get their email/cell number to share updates on new programs and special events for youth.

Barriers Eliminated:

• Not knowing what’s available

• Cross-Cultural communications, connecting and engagement 

Potential Impact: 

• Cross-Cultural communications, connecting and engagement

• Entry points into sports

• Teen Leadership – if youth hired for outreach

• Build resources to reduce or eliminate costs for marketing

• Solutions for transportation

• Provide new types of activities to better connect with families

Potential Costs:

• Coordination of the Community Engagement Team (CET)

• Participation of members of the CET

• Additional staff resources to organize youth sport providers, not already in the program locator, to include these opportunities in the program locator

• Building capacity of providers to upload their program information to this online hub

• Implicit Bias training costs

• Maintenance and growth of the Online Program Locator

Description: 

Teens and older youth can help providers solve the shortage of coaches. Through an existing summer youth employment program – BrookLynk. Youth who are trained and support coaches can increase program quality. If children have positive, high-quality experiences they are more likely to continue in physical activity.

We would create professional internships in Recreation and Education settings that would include:

1. Employer hires 8 BrookLynk Youth Sports interns 

2. Interns learn about career pathways to recreation, community education, education, sports industry, and are trained in high quality coach practices

3. Manage a sports team for middle or elementary aged youth

4. Work together to develop league play over the summer

5. Work together to develop transportation plans with parents, co-located practices where youth live and using open space at college campuses to expose both the interns and participants to college campuses in our community

6. Organize playoffs for the 8 teams

7. Recognize all youth participants, recognize transportation/cost/communication champions

Or

Explore a partnership Between BrookLynk and existing leagues, swim teams, or associations to develop paid summer internships. 

Barriers Eliminated:

• Transportation

• Costs

Potential Impact: 

• Teen leadership

• Spaces and places for sports

• Entry points into sports

• Build resources to reduce or eliminate costs

• Solutions for transportation

• Provide new types of activities to better connect with families

• Cross-cultural communications, connecting and engagement

Potential Costs:

• Staff costs to supervise and support these interns

• Each BrookLynk intern salary ($3,000)

• Equipment costs for teams

• Transportation costs

Description: 

Parents could register their kids all at once – providing permission for release of information, income verification, address, etc. for ALL of their kids. One form across sports providers. 

There would be multiple phases of development needed for this common registration system. 

1. Gather all current registration forms

2. Determine commonalities

3. Determine constraints – policy requirements for collecting during registration

4. Determine gaps

5. Negotiate agreement on common form

6. Use common form at individual sites

7. Build online tool for ‘ONE STOP’ registration

8. Build link/e-verify/electronic transfer of registration data to provider

9. Monitor, support and manage online tool

This would REVOLUTIONIZE easy access to opportunity. It would also be used not just for sports, but for any youth program opportunity. Mirror the college “Common App” application process.

This would require significant investment and political leadership to change registrations processes. 

Barriers Eliminated:

• Not knowing how to navigate registration systems

Potential Impact: 

• Easier Registration for sports (#1 issue recommendation from parents)

• Potentially, easier registration for ALL afterschool and summer programs

Potential Costs:

• High; personnel and technology