Skip to main content

Youth Team Sports (YTS) Funding

The Erie County Youth Bureau administers state funding (OCFS) which supports organizations providing competitive, team sports to youth in Erie County to support the health and well-being of our children and youth. Sports play a big role in the lives of young people by promoting positive social, emotional, health and educational outcomes. Participation in sports teaches teamwork and leadership while fostering supportive relationships with other youth and positive adults. Supporting broad opportunities for all youth to participates in sports is one of the many ways OCFS and youth bureaus promote positive youth development.

Similar to the Youth Sports and Education Opportunity Funding (YSEF), YTS is grounded in the principles of positive youth development. It is intended to provide support to local team sports programs across New York state in communities where such programs may be scarce or under-resourced. Unlike YSEF, YTS has a sole focus on team sports.

For the purposes of YTS, a “team sport” is defined as an organized physical activity in which groups of two or more individuals are in competition with two or more opposing individuals. Sporting activities where individuals engage in competition on behalf of an organized group (such as singles tennis, team golf, or racing sports such as swimming or skiing) are included in this definition. YTS may be used to fund programming that provides opportunities for youth in under-resourced communities to learn and participate in team sports activities. This may include educational instruction necessary to prepare youth to participate in team sports. 

To ensure that funding is going to the intended population, municipal youth bureaus must distribute funds based on local need,  considering factors including, but not limited to:

  • Historically under-resourced communities.
  • High rates of public housing and/or family homelessness.
  • Opportunity zones or neighborhoods/cities/areas deemed “low-income” via externally available tools like the New York State Council on Children and Families Kids’ Well-being Indicators Clearinghouse.
  • Marginalized communities or groups with higher barriers to participation in team sports (e.g., youth with disabilities; girls; transgender/gender non-binary youth; and youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or questioning).
  • Federally and/or New York State-recognized tribes and tribal organizations.
  • Neighborhoods that experience higher rates of crime and violence and low-performing schools. 

All funded programs must aim to foster:

  • Physical health and well-being – Increasing physical activity and positive relationships to one’s body.
  • 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.

Approved costs include but are not limited to: 

  • Coaches/instructors/direct service staff/mentors (including training/professional development).
  • Referee fees.
  • Purchase of equipment or uniforms.
  • Capital investment (e.g., swimming facilities, fields, fences, storage, lighting).
  • Instruction or coaching necessary to support youth’s ability to participate in team sports.
  • Facility/field space.
  • A maximum of 10% of the total allocation may be used to support administrative/overhead costs by the municipal youth bureau. 

Programs eligible for funding must: 

  • Provide team sports activities for youth under age 18 in under-resourced communities.
  • Serve youth in New York state.
  • 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 a manner that allows for accurate reporting of anonymized aggregate data. 

Organizations and activities not eligible for funding: 

  • 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. 

Touchstone Life Areas and Services, Opportunities and Supports (SOS) in the Quality Youth Development System (QYDS)

The Life Area and SOS selections that will be required in QYDS for the YTSA are: 

  • Life Area: 2PEH Physical and Emotional Health
  • SOS: 0232 Year-Round/Seasonal Activities
  • Performance measures:
    • How Much: 0232A.1 # of youth participating (unduplicated)
    • How Well: 0232B.4% of youth completing the program
    • Better Off: 0232C.1 #/% reporting they have improved their ability to socialize/interact with peers/family/other members of the community

Funding

Funding is available via the Request for Proposals (RFP) process. To check if an RFP for YTS is currently open, please visit our Erie County Purchasing website.

The next RFP for this funding stream is scheduled to be released in 2026.

Resources for Local Sports Programs: