Last month, it was announced that Up2Us Sports was one of 18 organizations awarded a grant from the LA84 Foundation. The grant aims to bolster play equity initiatives, benefiting over 64,000 young athletes across five Southern California counties. This initiative aligns with the LA84 Foundation’s ongoing commitment to enhancing youth access to sports and physical activities.
“We are thrilled to receive continued funding from the LA84 Foundation to support the growth of our She Changes the Game® initiative in Los Angeles,” said Paul Caccamo, founder and CEO of Up2Us Sports. “We’re working to create more gender equity in sports and coaching. The Foundation’s support will be instrumental in helping us keep more girls in sport and increase opportunities for female coaches across LA.”
Up2Us Sports will use the $150,000 grant to broaden the reach of its She Changes the Game® initiative in under-resourced communities in Los Angeles after a successful pilot in Philadelphia in 2023. The grant will enable the recruitment, training, and placement of up to 10 female coaches who will deliver Sports-Based Youth Development (SBYD) programming across a variety of Olympic sports. Furthermore, the initiative will introduce coaching as a viable career path to up to 10 female high school students, providing them with foundational training in SBYD.
“We celebrate the commitment of Up2Us Sports to serve young people, and we are thrilled to support the She Changes the Game initiative, which aligns with our efforts to increase the levels of participation in sports for young women and girls.””
“We celebrate the commitment of Up2Us Sports to serve young people, and we are thrilled to support the She Changes the Game initiative, which aligns with our efforts to increase the levels of participation in sports for young women and girls,” said Sandra J. Martinez, Chief Impact Officer of the LA84 Foundation. “This program is important in helping level the playing field for girls by increasing opportunities for young women to learn coaching skills and grow the number of female coaches. For four decades the LA84 Foundation has helped bring programs like this to life by creating access to sport and play for the kids who need it most.”
The grant implementation will begin this fall, with newly trained coaches starting their term in September. If you’re interested in learning more or would like to host one of the 10 female coaches at your organization, please contact Billy Lister at blister@up2ussports.org.
—————————————--
About the LA84 Foundation
The LA84 Foundation is a national leader in support of youth sport and public education about the role of sports in positive youth development. For four decades, the LA84 Foundation has supported thousands of youth-serving organizations in Southern California through grants, funding facilities and fields of play, training coaches and commissioning research. The LA84 Foundation takes on critical issues as a national thought leader by elevating youth sports and play as an integral to lifelong well-being. Visit la84.org and @LA84Foundation on X and Instagram.
