Kids in the Game earns spot in top 150 impact companies

New York City, NY, January 13, 2021 – Real Leaders is thrilled to announce the newly selected winners of its 2021 “Top Impact Companies” from around the world. 

Since 2010, Real Leaders has been the premier source for recognizing organizations that are making a positive social or environmental impact. The list recognizes companies of all sizes. 

Kids in the Game is excited to announce that we are a Real Leaders Impact 2021 Award Winner. The past year will go down as one of the toughest in Kids in the Game history. However, amongst the hardship, our organization has been able to rise to the occasion to keep our impact alive and well. In 2020, we were officially awarded our B Corp certification, kept our kids moving during over 800 hours of virtual programming and welcomed back sports, camp and school programs in a safe and meaningful way for thousands of families. We are honored to have won this award, but our work does not stop here.

“These top impact companies prove that businesses can thrive by being a force for good’ said Mark Van Ness, Founder of Real Leaders. “They are the Real Leaders of the New Economy” added Van Ness.

The 2021 award winners include game-changers such as: Tesla, Beyond Meat, Patagonia and 147 other well-respected impact brands of all sizes and from a variety of industries. To view the full list, click here.

“We feel honored to have been chosen through a rigorous selection process,” said Matt Murphy, CEO. “Our long term focus on providing quality sport and creative play programs for all kids in New York City, regardless what neighborhood they are growing up in has been a huge part of achieving this award.”

Matt Murphy, CEO of Kids in the Game

A special ceremony will be held on January 27th, 2021 to honor the winners and will include key impact speakers featuring Seth Goldman, Chairman of Beyond Meat and a musical performance from Michael Franti, world-renowned musician and activist.

ABOUT REAL LEADERS

Real Leaders is the world’s first business and sustainable leadership magazine and serves a community of visionaries, collaborating to regenerate our world. Its mission is to inspire better leaders for a better world. Real Leaders is a Certified B-Corp and signatory in the United Nations Global Compact (an advocate for achieving the global goals for sustainable development).

Real Leaders positions leaders to thrive in the new economy and to inspire the future. 

It’s been 8 months since March 15, 2020. Eight months since COVID-19 became part of our everyday lives impacting not only every American, but every human across the globe.

It’s funny how time works; there are calendars and systems telling exactly how many hours, days, weeks and months it has been since our first lockdown; however, there also seems to be some discretion on how time feels to each of us.  Does it feel like an eternity ago that school doors were closed for the millions of children in New York City for the first time back in March? Or does it feel like just yesterday that sport seasons were halted as gyms across the city locked their doors? Either way, it seems impossible to not feel the building anxiety that eight months later we are trending in a similar direction of shut down. Frankly, the United States has not been able to get the virus under control and our nation’s children and the businesses that serve them are feeling the impact. 

At Kids in the Game, we are proud to have weathered the first storm and continued to provide services to kids across New York City both virtually and in-person. We have adapted our programs to accommodate these unprecedented times. We have learned how to play games six feet apart and changed our high-fives to toe taps. We have adapted to survive. However, our nature as an organization is not to just survive but it is to provide ample opportunities for our kids to thrive. 

A nationwide survey of adolescent athletes from the University of Wisconsin, found 40 percent of youth athletes reported symptoms of moderate to severe depression, and 37 percent reported symptoms of moderate to severe anxiety from COVID-19-related school and sports cancelations.

It is reported that play amongst kids has decreased by 50% since the start of COVID-19, and even more concerning 30% of kids are reporting they now have a lack of interest in playing sports since the March shut down.

The Aspen Institute

Our kids are trying to learn in the short-term to survive without play. But again, surviving cannot be the standard.

Of course, we could write paragraphs and paragraphs on the financial implications another shutdown would have on Kids in the Game and other organizations in our field. In fact, there has been a 65% decrease in overall revenue across youth sports since March. Simply put, our industry is struggling and another shutdown will be an olympic sized hurdle to overcome. A hurdle we must overcome for our kids. 

Over the course of the next few months, Kids in the Game will continue to adapt to the COVID climate leading with a “kid first” attitude, focusing on health and safety and continuing to build the integrity of the next generation. Our hope is that you will join us in recognizing our small actions can make a big difference. Wear a mask. Stay home when you can. Donate to local, targeted organizations. And most importantly lead with empathy as we work through this incredibly difficult time.

Paul O’Connor, our director of KING Hoops program, recently attended the Jr. Knicks Youth Basketball Leadership conference. The event had the likes of Allan Houston, Kym Winter, Tiffany Chag, Don Showalter among other leaders in the basketball world. Topics ranged from how to keep athletes safe and the benefits of raising multi-sport athletes. Coach Paul came away from the event with a breadth of knowledge but also knowing that there is still a ton of work to do in the youth basketball arena. Here are some thoughts and questions Coach Paul had on the event and where basketball is headed for kids growing up in New York City.

At the Jr. Knicks event there was one question raised that stuck with me… How can organizations like the Jr. Knicks and USA Basketball have a greater effect on youth basketball?

The question alone doesn’t seem complicated. But as we all know or grow to learn, nothing about youth sports in New York City is uncomplicated. Between a seemingly unlimited market and “coaches” on every corner, navigating the youth basketball scene can be tough. I see two main issues that arise and that the Jr. Knicks and USA Basketball can have a hand in improving.

Issue #1 — Players jumping from team to team throughout the year.

I have seen kids in the 6th grade play for 3+ AAU teams in one season. I don’t see this to be in the child’s benefit. First off, the player simply cannot commit to 3+ programs and make all practices/games/etc. This also leads to distrust amongst the other players on the team. The players who are committed to one team start to learn how to play together and don’t gel with the players who are in and out. As a coach and director, it makes it very hard to teach them your beliefs, techniques, and overall organization mission. The biggest problem in my opinion is the lack of ability to keep players accountable. If a coach disciplines a player and that player doesn’t like it they can simply go play for another team the next day. This is a dangerous lesson that will hurt our children in the long run.

Solution — Adopt the GEVA Volleyball rules for committing to a program, see here:

USA Volleyball prohibits player transfers from club to club, which is necessary to protect players, their teammates, and their clubs. In choosing a club, carefully consider your goals with potential clubs’ emphasis on elite teams versus developmental, teams offered, cost, practice quantity and quality, number of coaches and their qualifications, distance to tournaments, length of the season, playing time, and tournament schedule.

Tryouts are during the same time period for volleyball — Please remember that once you have made a binding commitment to a club, you are committed to them for the season. They have reserved a spot on a team (possibly turning away another athlete) and you have committed to meeting your obligations per the club’s offer letter. Failure to meet a contractually obligated financial commitment to a club will mean that you can’t register to play for any USAV club the following season(s).

Implementing this would completely solve the issue of playing for multiple teams and help organizations and the kids we serve tremendously. It would raise accountability of our kids, parents, coaches and administrators.

Issue #2 — Anyone is a qualified coach.

This topic was raised by Don Showalter at the event and he made a great point. The term “Coach” is sacred and means a great deal. With the rise in social media and organizations popping up in every gym, almost anyone can be called coach nowadays. There is no standardized process that people have to go through to become a coach, making the difference in the level of coaching from organization to organization easily visible if you attend AAU tournaments. Don compared it to other industries, mentioning that they all have processes, standards, protocol. Why would basketball be any different? To become anything of significance is strenuous and includes multiple steps, something that coaching should not lack. USA Basketball offers an online course to become certified but even that is not enough. This is where organizations like Jr. NBA, Jr. Knicks, USA Basketball need to come together and create standards and requirements that coaches and organizations would need to meet in order to become certified.

Improvements do not happen over night and I would certainly like to continue this discussion with NYC youth basketball organizations and coaches to see how we can try and improve our players experiences.

To check out Coach Paul and KING Hoops in action at our Tuesday Night Middle School Clinics. Workouts are held from 6-7:15pm at Corpus Christi School 533 W. 121st St. New York, NY 10027 and our $15 per session or $100 for the remaining 7 sessions. Register here!