For this assignment, you will have the opportunity to apply your knowledge and skills in youth sports and recreation by developing a comprehensive project plan for a new youth sport or community recreation program in your local community. Your plan should incorporate the National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS) standards to ensure that your program promotes positive youth development, safety, and inclusivity.
The objectives for this assignment are:
Apply theoretical knowledge of youth sports and recreation principles to practical program development.
Demonstrate understanding of the NAYS standards and their significance in promoting positive youth sports experiences.
Develop a detailed project plan that addresses key components of program design, implementation, and evaluation.
Analyze potential challenges and solutions related to program development and sustainability.
Design a professional presentation for a new program proposal.
Assignment Components
Part 1: Program Design & Standards Alignment (Most of this information you already created in part 1. New requirement in this section is highlighted in yellow below)
Introduction & Needs:
Provide background information on the community you’re using for this assignment and the rationale for developing a new youth sport or recreation program (consider demographic factors, community resources).
Identify gaps and opportunities in existing youth sports and recreation offerings in your community (i.e. you should be proposing a program that they don’t already have! So, don’t propose, for example, a soccer league in Walled Lake – it already exists!).
Program Design
Describe the structure and format of your program, target age groups, classification for the type of program you’ll run (i.e. non-profit, community recreation, club/travel team, etc.).
Example: recreational boys and girls lacrosse, ages 6-12, southwest Detroit, MI).
Specify the sport or recreational activity you will focus on and justify your selection based on community factors and resources.
Program Goals and Objectives:
You’ll need to create a general program structure based on Core Area #1, Standard #2 (program organization), items a, b, c, and d (depending on the age range of your program). Describe how your program structure will meet the NAYS standards for focus, practice/games, scores/standings, coaches, and competitive/tournament play.
Then, you should draft at least three written policies addressing Core Area #1, Standard #3 (items a-j).
Lastly, you should draft one written policy addressing Core Area #1, Standard #5 (items a-b).
4. Participant Recruitment and Engagement:
Identify target participant demographics and develop strategies for recruiting and retaining youth participants.
Consider outreach methods, registration procedures, and incentives to encourage participation and engagement.
Part 2: Coaches, Volunteers & Parents (Most of this information you already created in part 2. New requirements in this section are highlighted in yellow below)
1. Introduction (1-2 paragraphs) that outlines the general philosophical tenants of your plan for working with coaches and volunteers.
2. Include two example products to recruit, screen, train, support, and/or evaluate your coaches/volunteers.
3. Draft a set of “Parent Expectations” (7-10 parent expectations) and include a parent code of conduct you’d use for your program/league/team.
Part 3: Facilities and Funding (Most of this information you already created in part 3. New requirements in this section are highlighted in yellow below)
Budget: Prepare a sample budget for your program, including anticipated expenses for staffing, facilities, equipment, marketing, and administrative costs.
Fundraising Plan or Sponsorship Proposal: Using what you developed for the Part 3 assignment, include a fundraising event or sponsorship plan that is realistic and includes rationale for why it makes sense and why you targeted that event or sponsor for that amount of money.
Facilities: Assess facility needs and identify potential venues for program activities in the community you selected.
Part 4: Evaluation and Assessment (this section is new!)
Develop an evaluation plan to assess the effectiveness and impact of your program.
Identify 2-3 key performance indicators (KPIs) and evaluation methods, such as surveys, focus groups, and performance assessments.
Outline strategies for how you might communicate your evaluation findings to stakeholders and use the data you collect.
Program Proposal Specifications
Your proposal should be visually appealing, well-organized, and use a design template to ensure it looks polished and professional. This should NOT look like a paper that you’d submit for a class; rather, your final document should reflect the professionalism expected in a real-world organizational setting.
To do this, you should:
Choose a design template from tools such as Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Canva, or any other professional design software. Ensure the template is clean, visually appealing, and suitable for a formal proposal.
Start with a cover page that includes the title of your proposal, the organization name to whom you’re submitting the proposal (i.e. “City of Royal Oak” or “SPARK Flag Football”).
The design and formatting expectations for your proposal are those that both professionalize the document but also make it easy to see how they align with the assignment specifications:
use headings and subheadings to organize content clearly
when appropriate incorporate visuals (e.g., images, charts, graphs) to enhance understanding and engagement
ensure consistency in fonts, colors, and spacing throughout the document
proofread thoroughly to eliminate any grammatical or typographical errors
You MUST include a references page that lists any resources you used to create your proposal. If you are using AI, including ChatGPT, you must indicate your work as such. Using technology tools is entirely permissible on this assignment, but you must cite it accordingly.
Also, there is a detailed rubric that breaks down how you’ll earn points for each section of the proposal, so please be sure to review that to ensure that your plan contains all the requisite parts. I’ve also created a sample program plan that will be useful as a guide for your own proposal. Remember, I want it to look like an actual proposal that you’d submit in the ‘real world’, not like a paper for class. You can do this fairly easily with some simple, free programs (like Canva or Google Slides)
