Flexing philanthropic muscles for Youth Sports Alliance

Students learning XC skiing with YSA at the 2002 Olympic venue Soldier Hollow (SOHO) in Midway. Photo: YSA

PARK CITY, Utah. — Yesterday, the Youth Sports Alliance (YSA) created another way for people to support ongoing youth sports programming in Park City. A monthly, streamlined, simple, new opportunity now exists to provide financial help: donors can just click and choose from a monthly donation of $10, $20, $30 or $50 per month.

“YSA launched our monthly giving program, Play for All, to create an ongoing campaign for dedicated donors and those new to Park City to give back in smaller monthly increments and in turn help build a community of sustainability and lasting support. A dependable stream of income will have a large impact on YSA’s ability to provide scholarships to low-income students and expand our programming opportunities into new areas,” said Jana Dalton, Youth Sports Alliance development director.

One of the programs YSA offers is Get Out And Play (GOAP), which specifically serves elementary- and middle school-aged athletes. GOAP introduces students from the Park City, South Summit (Kamas), and Wasatch (Heber) School districts to sports and other activities like theater, photography and cooking classes.

GOAP facilitates win-win partnerships with all the venues where Parkites recreate, including but not limited to the Utah Olympic Park, Deer Valley Resort, the Park City Ice Arena and the White Pine Nordic Center. Equipment companies provide gear for use by GOAP scholarship recipients, and the above-mentioned spots provide coaching and instruction.  

YSA also provides supplemental funding to older, more established athletes, most of whom got their start in GOAP. Travel, registration, and coaching fees can cripple the day-to-day-realities of many Park City families as they attempt to provide their children the same social activities as their peers; YSA’s goal is to level that playing field.

These things don’t come cheap, and prior to COVID, YSA had perfected its charitable giving opportunities via periodic fundraising events like Jan’s Winter Welcome. As of yesterday, YSA is evolving overall timing with this newly-structured “Play For All” program to benefit all stakeholders.

 The monthly donation system can be accessed here.