PHILADELPHIA – The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) and the President's Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition recently recognized 42 National Youth Sports Strategy (NYSS) Champions from across the country for their work promoting youth sports participation and supporting the NYSS. One of those champions was the University of Pennsylvania's Young Quakers Community Athletics (YQCA) program.
 
Founded in 2012, the YQCA program is a collaboration between the University's Netter Center for Community Partnerships and Penn Athletics, creating mutually beneficial partnerships between Penn's intercollegiate varsity athletic teams and West Philadelphia public schools. YQCA works with students from Penn's University-Assisted Community Schools (UACS) in West Philadelphia—Comegys Elementary, Hamilton Elementary, Lea Elementary and Mitchell Elementary—and engages them with Penn's varsity lacrosse and track & field teams. YQCA currently operates during after-school time with students in grades 4 through 8.
 
The Penn players mentor the children on the field and off. In addition to the mentoring, YQCA provides staff, coaches, uniforms, sports equipment, bus transportation, and access to the University's world-class playing fields at no cost to the schools or their students. The public-school students also benefit from the Netter Center's comprehensive UACS programming which brings additional academic, human, and material resources from Penn to their schools during the school day, after school, and in the summer.

Click here to read "Quakers of All Ages" our recent story about how Penn's track & field athletes are continuing to perform their YQCA duties in a virtual world.

What they are saying about YQCA's NYSS Champion award…
 
"We continue to be so proud of our Young Quakers program and our relationship with the Netter Center, and are humbled to receive this national recognition. The impact that our student-athletes are making with elementary school students in our local community is truly inspiring."
     Dr. M. Grace Calhoun, T. Gibbs Kane Jr. W'69 Director of Athletics and Recreation
 
"We are so honored to be named an NYSS Champion and be recognized for our efforts to promote the benefits of youth sports participation. Young Quakers Community Athletics seeks to develop national models for both the civically engaged college student athlete and strategies for increasing access to sports for all youth."
     Jennifer Chu, YQCA Director for the Netter Center
 
"During these times, partnerships between the university and the community are more important than ever. Young Quakers is an inspiring example of how, by working together, Penn students and public-school students can both benefit by developing their athletic, academic and leadership skills."
     Ira Harkavy, Associate Vice President and Founding Director of the Netter Center