The National Youth Sports Program鈥檚 lasting legacy at CWRU
For more than five decades, the 杏吧视频 campus has hummed with the summertime energy and enthusiasm of more than 300 participants in the National Youth Sports Program (NYSP)鈥攁n annual five-week experience that helps shape young lives.
Attendees, ages 8鈥16, play basketball and soccer, take swimming and dance lessons, experience campus life and participate in educational and enrichment sessions to help build their confidence, sense of identity and life skills.
鈥淪ports aren鈥檛 for everyone, but our program is,鈥 said Dennis Harris, who directs the camp and has been involved in it since 1988.
NYSP began as a federally funded program and, at its peak, was offered at more than 200 sites across the country. But as financial support ended, so did all the camps鈥攅xcept the one at CWRU, which is committed to the program and, along with the and others, continues to fund it.
The impact can be life-changing.
鈥淚 honestly owe my life to the National Youth Sports Program,鈥 said Kevin Peeples, a 鈥91鈥撯94 NYSP participant and U.S. Navy veteran who nearly drowned while stationed in Italy. 鈥淭he dead man鈥檚 float I learned at NYSP helped me conserve my energy.鈥
Illustration by Rinee Shah