Sports Award: Inspiring Community Change
About the Award
From 2015 to 2022, the RWJF Sport Award recognized sports teams, athletes, and community-based organizations that use sport to make communities healthier and more equitable places to live, learn, work, and play.
2022 Sports Award Winners
America SCORES
America SCORES provides free after-school and summer programs that build teams and support healthy whole child development through a unique combination of soccer, poetry, and service learning.
New Heights
New Heights uses basketball as a “hook” to engage youth, help them access high quality educational opportunities, and instill in them the values and life skills that will prepare them for success in life beyond sports.
Team Prime Time
Team Prime Time’s program, Prime Time Games, is a full-inclusion, peer-mentor sports program wherein students coach and play alongside children with developmental disabilities.
Camp Shriver at UMass Boston
Camp Shriver at UMass Boston is a free, inclusive summer camp for children with and without disabilities so that all children can play, learn, and interact in meaningful ways with their peers.
Skate Like a Girl
Skate Like a Girl empowers skaters, especially young women and/or trans people, to grow into strong, confident leaders who promote and implement social equity.
Wendy Hilliard Foundation
Wendy Hilliard Foundation is empowering the lives of young people from underserved communities by improving physical and emotional health through the sport of gymnastics.
Downtown Boxing Gym
Downtown Boxing Gym is a free after-school academic and athletic program that provides education, athletics, mentorship and intervention, empowering Detroit students to be positive and productive members of society.
Snider Hockey
Snider Hockey is a nationally acclaimed non-profit that uses the sport of hockey to educate and empower under-resourced youth of Philadelphia to prosper in the game of life.
Harlem Lacrosse
Harlem Lacrosse provides opportunities, relationships, and experiences that activate the skills and traits to put youth on a path to success as students, athletes, and citizens
Students Run Philly Style
Students Run Philly Style transforms students’ lives through running and mentorship, supporting Philadelphia youth facing high levels of adversity.
Past Sport Award Winners
The Dance Institute of Washington is the leading minority-led, pre-professional dance equity organization in Washington, D.C., whose efforts impact and inspire racial and economic equity in dance locally, nationally and across the globe.
Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation is using its platform and programs to tackle the most pressing problems facing Los Angeles with a mission to improve education, healthcare, homelessness, and social justice for all Angelenos.
Make the World Better, founded in 2014 by former Eagles player Connor Barwin, connects people and inspires stewardship through public space revitalization projects in Philadelphia.
Move United provides national leadership and opportunities for individuals with disabilities to develop independence, confidence, and fitness through participation in community sports, including competition, recreation and educational programs.
YEAH! YOGA teaches culturally accessible, trauma informed and healing focused yoga and mindfulness to youth involved with or affected by the carceral system.
All Girl Everything Ultimate Program (AGE UP) builds healthy communities by engaging South Seattle youth of color through their love of ultimate frisbee and their commitment to equity and social justice.
Border Youth Tennis Exchange (BYTE) is a binational youth development organization that offers professional tennis instruction and academic enrichment to kids ages 8–12 on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border in Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora (Mexico).
Running Medicine offers family-oriented walking and running programs for Native Americans in Albuquerque creating a Culture of Health that is available to all people regardless of ability, age, fitness level or ability to pay.
Soccer in the Streets has reframed health equity around transit hubs in the inner city by repurposing unused land in the heart of Atlanta to be more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
The United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) uses adaptive sports to assist and support individuals who are blind and visually impaired.
Operation Get Active, a youth-focused health initiative of the Chattanooga Football Club Foundation, uses soccer to encourage individuals to live active, healthy lifestyles.
The MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation (MWYF) develops champions in classrooms, on tennis courts, and throughout communities.
Figure Skating in Harlem (FSH) combines the power of education with access to the artistic and athletic discipline of figure skating to help girls of color thrive and become strong leaders. Read the blog post.
The Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy supports underserved children and their families in Washington, D.C., combining sports, nutrition, academics, and meaningful civic engagement.
After representing the U.S. Men’s National Team in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Tony Sanneh established The Sanneh Foundation (TSF) in 2003 to advance diversity, equity, and community well-being for Minnesota's youth.
Soccer Without Borders runs year-round youth development programs in underserved areas in the United States and abroad, building a more inclusive world through soccer.
The Giants Community Fund collaborates with the San Francisco Giants by using baseball as a forum to encourage underserved youth and their families to live healthy, productive lives. Watch their video.
The Moyer Foundation (now Eluna) provides comfort, hope, and healing to children and families affected by grief and addiction by addressing critical their needs and overwhelming emotions associated with the death of someone close to them or substance abuse in their family. Watch their video.
PeacePlayers International uses the power of sport to unite, educate and inspire young people to create a more peaceful world.
The Flutie Foundation helps people with autism get access to care, lead more active lifestyles, and grow toward adult independence. Watch their video.
The MLSE Foundation believes all kids should have access to sport and the opportunity to both develop and pursue lasting dreams on the playing field. Watch their video.
InnerCity Weightlifting reduces youth violence by connecting proven-risk young people with new networks and opportunities, including meaningful career tracks in and beyond personal fitness. Read related blog post.
Chicago Fire Foundation's programs—P.L.A.Y.S. and Premier Skills—have allowed them to help build healthier communities and provide safe play spaces for those in need.
The Tony Hawk Foundation provides spaces for children to be active, maintain a healthy lifestyle, play safely and use sports to increase self-esteem and leadership skills. Watch their video.
Doc Wayne Youth Services' work fuses sport and therapy to heal and strengthen youth suffering from a variety of mental health challenges. Watch their video and read the related blog post.
Related Content
Harnessing Sports to Build Healthier, More Equitable Communities
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Sports Award is removing barriers to health equity through sports.
6-min read