CWRU helped launch one of the first university-based National Youth Sports Programs (NYSP) with the backing of a government grant through the Congressional Black Caucus and Cleveland’s own Congressman Louis Stokes.
Viewed as a model among its nationwide peers, the NYSP at CWRU exemplifies the university’s commitment to improving our local community. The program provides an enriching five-week summer camp experience each year that offers sports activities, education, nutrition, and health services to more than 500 economically disadvantaged Greater Cleveland youth aged 10 to 16. Since its inception, the NYSP has served more than 15,500 local children.
Despite the elimination of federal funding for the program in 2006, CWRU has maintained its program through philanthropic and public support, as well as nominal service fees. Donate today to help us continue this vital tradition.
Sports Participation
The program uses sports participation and competition to promote active, healthy lifestyles, enhance self-esteem, foster respect, and reinforce the importance of education.
Children can participate in up to twelve different sports, including swimming, basketball, dance, golf, and baseball. Since swimming is a personal safety skill, campers must participate in swimming activities; beyond that, campers can rotate between four other distinct sports to give them a great breadth of experience. NYSP additionally promotes ways to stay involved in sports after the conclusion of the program.
As part of the health and wellness initiatives of NYSP, all campers receive free physicals and free meals during the program.
Educational Programming
The NYSP campers also participate in educational programming to enhance academic skills and social awareness. Sessions include personal health, nutrition, drug, and alcohol prevention, disease prevention, personal hygiene, grooming, career opportunities, computer skills, math, and science. The math and science component incorporates hands-on activities to cultivate positive attitudes toward math and science education and career opportunities.
Mental Health Focus
Many children that participate in NYSP deal with a multitude of family and living situations that are not only difficult for children to handle but to understand. We work with our nursing students on developing programming to focus on and enhance the well-being of our children through mental health education, awareness, and discussion.
Thank you to our NYSP Friends!