Breaking the barrier to youth sports facilities in Buffalo

Some families simply can’t afford the type of sports equipment needed to introduce their children to certain sports and keep them playing, said Hord, director of Project Play WNY, a resource for families and sports organizations For the young.

The increasing cost of sports equipment has become a significant barrier to youth sports participation in Western New York, particularly in inner cities and rural areas. The Sports and Fitness Industry Association reported that only 38% of children from families with household incomes of $25,000 or less play team sports.

While there are retailers in the area selling used equipment at discounted rates, more help is needed to equip children with what is necessary for sports participation.

That’s where organizations like the Ralph Wilson Jr. Foundation, which funds Project Play, and some of their nonprofit partners have stepped up to help kids in all communities stay active through play.

“Equipment is very expensive today and many families living in marginalized communities and families with many children simply cannot afford it,” Hord said. “We know that for children to be able to play sports and stay active through sport, they will need equipment, but not all children have the same opportunities.”

A 2017 state-of-the-art report by the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo and the Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program identified sports equipment as one of the biggest needs for local young athletes.

The Wilson Foundation has provided more than $2.5 million to fund sports facilities in Western New York and Southeast Michigan.

This includes creating partnerships with entities that are leading efforts to provide new and used sports equipment to organizations and coaches in need.

The network is created so that it can continue long after the Wilson Foundation has finished distributing funds.

“This gives us a chance to do more and help more kids than ever before,” said Kari Pardoe, who oversees investments in youth sports and recreation for the Wilson Foundation. “We’re trying to create a system that can last…and bring together people to collaborate and partner with in different ways.” We always need more. »

In Western New York, Good Sports provides new equipment and Leveling the Playing Field, which opened for the first time this spring in Buffalo, provides used equipment.

When the Leveling the Playing Field program opens in a new city, there is usually an influx of organizations and people to their programs and distribution centers. Its original warehouse, opened 13 years ago in Washington, D.C., now handles 400 programs.

“That speaks to the need the most: When you bring this resource, how many programs rush to get access to it and come back to it year after year,” said Max Levitt, executive director of Leveling the Playing Field.

While working as an equipment manager on the Syracuse University football team and in the NFL, minor league baseball and local recreation departments, Levitt saw the waste caused by discarding usable equipment. He began to level the playing field with the idea of ​​it becoming a sort of food bank, diaper bank, book bank or winter clothing bank for sports equipment.

“The warehouse becomes a very important community asset,” Levitt added.

Willie Hutch Jones, a Buffalo native and former professional basketball player, found that the lack of equipment meant fewer opportunities for children to train in certain sports and develop the skills needed to make them want to continue to play.

So, through his nonprofit Willie Hutch Jones educational and sports programming, he has been distributing used equipment to free sports clinics and camps for years. Equipment distributed includes tennis rackets, basketballs, baseball bats and gloves, hockey sticks, bowling balls, golf clubs and skis, helping to introduce children to many sports.

“They may not be able to go to a store, like Laux or Dick’s, to purchase that high-end item, but we may have received a donation of equipment and we can pass it on to people who need it “Jones said.

Increasing spending on sports equipment has even impacted some families who play travel ball and rent indoor facilities like 3&2 baseball in Tonawanda, according to facility owner Ron Pilat.

“The need for equipment is not going anywhere and it is more important than ever,” he said. “Costs have exploded, whether it’s gloves, bats or baseballs. We ordered baseballs last month and the exact same order we placed last year was 20% more expensive.

One of Project Play WNY’s goals is to revitalize Buffalo’s downtown leagues, and starting May 18, with the help of Major League Baseball’s Nike RBI program and the Buffalo Bisons, it will offer free softball, baseball and T-ball for girls and boys aged 4 to 13 in the city.

Four in-house leagues were created for the East Side, West Side and Black Rock communities, led by the Buffalo Police Athletic League, Willie Hutch Jones Educational & Sports Programming, River Rock Baseball and West Side Baseball.

In a survey of 170 families, most indicated there was a need for free house leagues in Buffalo because many of these families could not afford to put their children in travel leagues or paid leagues , Hord said.

“We want kids who may have never been to a baseball game or maybe never touched a baseball or a bat to be able to play,” Hord said.

3&2 Baseball and Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation will provide free equipment to each team, including a uniform for each player.

Pilat said 3&2 Baseball has conducted fundraisers to help with the effort. Last season, the company raised $40,000 from the Extra Innings Marathon Game which was donated to Camp Good Days and 15 area small leagues to help fund their programs. This summer, 3&2 Baseball will host a tournament series with more than 100 teams playing over five weeks in Lewiston, and 20 percent of each sponsorship paid will be donated to Project Play WNY.

“It fits with what we do, which is to continue the growth and development of all baseball players in Western New York,” Pilat said.

Project Play WNY also attempts to provide open play opportunities in winter sports like hockey. Through a relationship with the Buffalo Sabres, a pilot program was established to provide access to the sport and the equipment needed to play it. Introducing girls and people of Latino descent to hockey has been a major goal of the Sabres, Hord said.

Other barriers preventing children from participating in sport include transportation, access and training.

“Not having that equipment barrier can help programs save money and allows them to change their budgets over time and invest more money in those other barriers,” he said. Levitt said.

Some rural areas face many of the same problems as the inner city. According to the State of Play report, in places like Allegany, fewer than 50 percent of children are within 3 miles of a place where they can play sports.

“We want to bring sports to their neighborhoods, so they don’t really have to travel,” Hord said.