INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana Sports Corp impacted more than 70,000 Indiana youth through its Inspiring Sports initiatives in 2018. As part of Indiana Sports Corp’s mission to create opportunities for youth in our community, the non-profit organization develops youth programming throughout the year and surrounding each of its hosted events. In 2018 alone, Indiana Sports Corp administered 12 different programs that impacted and provided opportunities for youth.
Indiana Sports Corp and the Big Ten Conference partnered on youth initiatives for the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament and Big Ten Football Championship Game. Free youth programs such as the Middle School Curriculum Program, Girls Basketball Clinic, Inspiring Sports Tickets, Youth Football Clinics, Traveling Banner Program, among others impacted 11,375 youth throughout the year.
The 11th annual Inspiring Sports Equipment for Kids Gear Distribution, which provides new sports gear to underserved youth organizations throughout the state, had more than 100 organizations take part this past October. The Gear Distribution distributed 20,000 items that more than 50,000 youth will reap the benefits from. Over the course of the program, 745,526 youth have been impacted, providing more than $2.25 million in budget relief for participants from approximately 320,000 pieces of sports equipment given out.
Two Youth Officials Clinics - soccer and football - took place this past year in addition to a Youth Lifeguard Certification course. These initiatives focused on youth in the Indianapolis Public School District to create job opportunities and combat the shortage of officials and lifeguards in the Indianapolis area. The Clinics, alongside free ticket offerings throughout the year given out by Indiana Sports Corp, impacted 2,000 youth.
In 2018, 25 youth-serving organizations throughout Indiana were selected as Inspiring Sports Grant recipients, awarded by Indiana Sports Corp. These organizations provide programming opportunities for children in more than 50 counties throughout Indiana that serve nearly 15,400 youth. The most recent set of Grant Recipients include Outside the Box, Play Ball Indiana, Damar Services, Girl Scouts of Central Indiana, Agape Therapeutic Riding Resources, Inc., Camptown Inc., Nine13 Sports, Horizons at St. Richard’s Episcopal School, Boys and Girls Clubs of Porter County, American Foundation for Preventative Medicine, Boys and Girls Clubs of Muncie, Happy Hollow Children’s Camp and Playworks Indiana.
Inspiring Sports Grants support organizations that provide underserved youth with the opportunity to participate in sports, fitness activities and life-skills programming. A total of 236 different youth-serving organizations have received more than $2.3 million in Inspiring Sports Grants since the start of Inspiring Sports.
Inspiring Sports Youth Programs for 2019 and a list the Inspiring Sports Grant recipients are currently available and can be found at www.IndianaSportsCorp.org. For those wanting to get connected to youth-serving organizations with Indiana companies and individuals who have sports equipment, volunteer hours, facilities, and other resources to donate, register on the Indiana Sports Corp Exchange at Exchange.IndianaSportsCorp.org.
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Founded in 1979 as the nation’s first sports commission, Indiana Sports Corp is a not-for-profit organization focused on bringing premier sporting events to Indiana to drive economic vitality, facilitate a vibrant community with civic pride and garner positive media attention. Because of this, Indiana Sports Corp is able to provide positive, sports-related opportunities for youth in the community. For more information, please visit IndianaSportsCorp.org.