Due to efforts to improve the lives of children in the community through sport, JTCC has been awarded the 2022 Project Play Champion designation.
One of 20 local and national organizations selected for the honor this year, JTCC was chosen due to the growing presence of its Neighborhood Youth Outreach (NYO) program.
With only a limited number of out-of-school activities in the Washington, DC metropolitan area offering access to tennis equipment and instruction, NYO serves nearly 800 under-resourced youth in schools and recreation centers. NYO sites operate in neighborhoods with high poverty levels, crime and unemployment, and low high school graduation rates bringing new opportunities to families in the communities.
Created in 2013, Project Play is an award-winning initiative of the Aspen Institute’s Sports and Society Program that involves more than 20,000 organizations trying to “build healthy children and communities through sports.”
Through a collaborative effort from leading organizations and leaders in the industry, Project Play assesses obstacles in the current youth sports landscape and provides exclusive reports to improve the delivery of youth programs.
These ideas are then discussed and evaluated at the Project Play Summit, an annual event for leaders at the intersection of youth, sport, and health.
The 2022 summit took place on May 4 at Audi Field in Washington D.C. and featured notable speakers in the sports industry, including U.S. Soccer Federation President Cindy Parlow Cone, Monumental Sports Vice Chairman Sheila Johnson, National Federation of State High School Associations CEO Karissa Niehoff, and former NFL Pro Bowl star Greg Olsen.
Topics discussed during the presentation included “What Kids Want and Need,” “Activating Children’s Voice and Rights,” and “How to Revitalize Your In-Town Rec League,” which energized the audience.
“It is great to be affiliated with other leading organizations committed to developing similar youth programs, and this reinforces the importance of the mission of JTCC’s Neighborhood Youth Outreach,” said Community Outreach Manager Ava Todd. “We are proud to be recognized and look forward to continuing to grow.”
