A Better Way to Play
Co-Ed Recreational Sports. Delivered by Teens for Teens.
At a Glance
Why Co-Ed Sports?
Bringing girls and boys together in play opens up opportunities for the kinds of psychological and social development that is otherwise absent in traditional single gender sport environments.
A recent study conducted by Amanda J Visek Ph. D., an associate professor of exercise and nutrition sciences at George Washington University Milken Institute of Public Health indicated that girls and boys are more similar than they are different when it comes to what makes playing sports fun. What seems to count most for both are things like; 'trying your best', 'working hard' , 'staying active', and 'playing well together as a team'. These findings are similar for athletes at younger and older ages and across recreational and more competitive levels of play.
Why Recreational Sports?
In a brilliant campaign from the Aspen Institute Project Play titled: #DONTRETIREKID
This video and others pointed out and brought to life the #1 reason we are seeing such a steep decline in kids participating in sport; it's just not fun for them anymore. Drills and skills, conditioning, overzealous coaching and over stressed parents have taken play and made it a profession from which our kids are eventually retiring from even before they reach their teenage years.
Everybody Plays
We understand gaining access to quality sport experiences is challenging
We aim to be accessible for all, and are set up to put together small groups and individuals to form teams that will play together as part of our programs.
We understand that one of the frustrations for teens is that they have minimal to no say in who they play with on a team. They are assigned rather than sign on with a group to play with. We will allow for as much self selection of team environments as possible by seeking to remove barriers to team formation around age, gender or skill level that exist in most organized sport environments.
Finally, as a not for profit organization, all funds generated from a program go back into funding more programs and we will seek to remove financial barriers to playing with us for any participant applying to play. We believe; "I can't afford it", should never be the reason you don't get a chance to play.