"I am a good sport at all times and conduct myself with decency and honesty. I do my best to get along with others and have pride in myself. I put forth the best effort in all competition and always compete fairly." This is the National Youth Sports Program's Creed that they encourage every participant and staff members to live up to.
             On March 17, 1969, the White House announced that the Federal Government was committing three million dollars to establish a sports program for economically disadvantaged youth and that is how the National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) was started. The representatives of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) got together with the Presidents Council on physical fitness and came up with the idea for NYSP. They then took their plan to the federal government and were given the grant to pilot the program that summer. They used the athletic facilities from two different universities to pilot NYSP.
             An annual grant is made to a national, non-profit organization to operate NYSP and that organization is the NCAA. In fiscal year 2002 $17,000,000 was awarded to the NCAA to provide sports instruction and enrichment activities to disadvantaged youth aging from 10-16 for a summer program. The NCAA contracts with approximately 203 colleges and universities in 46 states to provide supervised sports instruction in at least four different sports. The program provides a comprehensive developmental and instructional sports program for approximately 70,000 low-income youths. They also proved an enrichment component that provides the youth with information concerning different aspects of life. Each participant also receives a free medical examination prior to their participating in NYSP.
             Today, NYSP is in its 34th year of providing underprivileged youth the opportunity to receive benefits from structured sports and enrichment programs. A few examples of the sports that NYSP offers...