Youth Sports and Education Opportunity Funding & Youth Team Sports (Competitive Sports)

Rensselaer County Youth Department administers Youth Sports Funding Funds received from the New York State Office of Children and Family Services. The funds are to be used in the NEW calendar year (October 1, 2023 – September 30, 2024), to provide community-level services designed to promote physical/emotional health and well-being in youth and young adults

Funding Distinctions

Youth Sports Educational Funds (YSEF) and Youth Team Sports (YTS) are similar allocations, however there are several important distinctions:


Youth Sports Education FundingYouth TEAM Sports
Entities eligible for funding Local organizations, municipalities, and/or local or municipal youth bureaus Community based organizations
Nonprofit entities
Municipal youth bureaus under certain circumstances
Activities eligible for fundingCosts associated with facilitating sports, athletics, and physical movementCosts associated with facilitating team sports
Infrastructure investments to support youth team sports
Which organizations and activities are NOT eligible for funding?

All entities that do not fit in the categories articulated above and

-    Private foundations, as defined in section 509(a) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.
-    Organizations that discriminate based on age, ethnicity/race, political affiliation, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, physical or other disability, national origin, or any protected characteristic under local, state, and/or federal law.
-    Research or project-planning activities.
-    Support for elite or private sports camps, programs, or teams.
-    Endowments, memorials, budget deficits, or fundraising activities.
-    Religious organizations whose sports programs do not have a secular and community focus
-    Lobbying, political, or fraternal activities.
-    School Districts 

All entities that do not fit in the categories articulated above and
-    For-profit organizations or businesses
-    Private foundations, as defined in section 509(a) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code
-    Organizations that discriminate based on age, ethnicity/race, political affiliation, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, physical or other disability, national origin, or any protected characteristic under local, state, and/or federal law
-    Research or project-planning activities
-    Support for elite or private sports camps, programs, or teams
-    Endowments, memorials, budget deficits, or fundraising activities
-    Religious organizations whose sports programs do not have a secular and community focus
-    Lobbying, political, or fraternal activities
-    Capital projects* 



Ability to issue multiple awards to a single entity
“Municipal youth bureaus will contract with local nonprofit or community-based organizations, directly for up to $50,000 per award. Organizations may receive multiple awards.”
“Municipal youth bureaus will contract with local organizations, municipalities, and/or local or municipal youth bureaus directly for up to $50,000 per program. Organizations that serve multiple areas through different programs may be funded above $50,000.” 
Allowable administrative/ overhead
“A maximum of 10% of the total allocation may be used to support administrative/overhead costs by the municipal youth bureau”
“A maximum of 15% of program funds may be used to support administrative/overhead costs”

 

Sports Opportunity Funding awards are guided by the following principles:

  • Sports are effective tools in positive youth development and family engagement. 
  • Sports improve the lives of young people by promoting positive social, emotional, health, and educational outcomes and have important life-long effects. 
  • Sports enable opportunities for young people to thrive through leadership roles. 
  • Coaching education greatly improves young people’s sports experience and development outcomes.

 Funded programs must provide a variety of sports for a broad range of youth in under-resourced communities. OCFS encourages a wide and flexible definition of sports that includes organized activities with movement, including physical fitness activities including but not limited to yoga, hiking, dance, and active outdoors pursuits.

All funded programs must aim to foster the following:

  • Educational connection and achievement – More youth attending and completing school with increased attainment, including programs that have collegiate placement success
  • Physical health and well-being – Increasing physical activity and positive relationships to one’s body and physical activity
  • Mental health and well-being – Improving outcomes related to youth mental health and social and emotional skills development and connectedness
  • Employment – Increasing qualifications and skills, such as collective problem solving, teamwork and dispute resolution, which help prepare youth for suitable employment
  • Community cohesion – Breaking down barriers to reduce discrimination, crime and violence in communities and help young leaders emerge

Funds can be used to cover:

  • Coaches/instructors/direct service staff/mentors 
  • Equipment
  • Educational programming costs
  • Facility/field and/or space cost
  • Youth TEAM Sports - Maximum of 15% of funds for administrative/overhead costs
  • Youth Sports Education Funding - Maximum of 10% of funds for administrative/overhead costs

Programs Eligible must meet the following criteria:

  • Provide structured sports activities for youth ages 6-17.
  • Serve youth in New York State.
  • Be certified as tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.
  • Be in good standing with the New York State Charities Bureau. 
  • Demonstrate basic competency in the areas of governance, monitoring and evaluation, partnership, and financial stewardship.
  • Have a child protection policy in place that includes adherence to local city, agency, school district, and state child protection guidelines.
  • Collect registration data, including participant demographic information as required by OCFS in such a fashion as to be able to accurately report anonymized aggregate data.

Organizations and activities not eligible for funding are the following:

  • For-profit organizations or businesses.
  • Private foundations, as defined in section 509(a) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.
  • Organizations that discriminate based on the age, ethnicity/race, political affiliation, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or other disability, national origin or any protected characteristic under local, state and/or federal law.
  • Research or project planning activities.
  • Support for elite or private sports camps, programs, or teams.
  • Endowments, memorials, budget deficits, or fundraising activities.
  • Religious organizations whose sports programs do not have a secular and community focus.
  • Lobbying, political, or fraternal activities.
  • Capital projects.

All funded programs will receive an unannounced monitoring visit by the Department for Youth 

All programs seeking funding must track outcome measures and provide data to the Youth Bureau using the OCFS Program Annual Report Form. 

Annual Performance Report
Annual Performance Report (XLSX)
Annual Performance Report Instructions (PDF)