Sports Change Lives

The threat to youth sports

Sixty Three Percent

63% lack the funding

63% of public school sports budgets are stagnant or decreasing.***

33% Fewer Sports

High-poverty schools offer 1/3 fewer sports than low-poverty schools.***

Forty Two Percent

42% limited by cost

42% of families of middle- and high-school students who do not participate in sports but are interested in doing so cite cost as the main reason.***

Thirty Percent

30% participation gap

30% participation gap between children of lower and higher income families.***

How The DICK'S Sporting Goods Foundation is Helping

$80M

Since 2014, the Sports Matter program has donated $80 million to support young athletes.

1 in 21 schools

1 out of every 21 public schools has received funding for sports programs from The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation.

+1.1 Million Kids

Our support has kept over 1.1 million kids in the game across all 50 states through the Sports Matter program.

+34 Sports

Because we believe all chances to play are beneficial, we have provided grants for more than 34 different youth sports, and counting!

75for75 Grant Recipient: Westinghouse Football

Resources

* Women Sports Foundation. (2019, July). The State of High School Sports in America: An Evaluation of the Nation’s Most Popular Extracurricular Activity.

** Aspen Institute Project Play. (n.d.). Youth Sports Facts. Retrieved July 2021.

*** Whitaker, A. A., Baker, G., Matthews, L. J., McCombs, J. S., and Barrett, M. (2019). Who Plays, Who Pays? Funding for and Access to Youth Sports. RAND Corporation.