Public and private entities in Washington D.C. have made some valuable investments in youth sports, although they are rarely enough. As part of the Aspen Institute’s State of Play Washington D.C. report, published in 2025, we identified recent examples of investment.

Rec for All grants

The Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) issued more than 100 grants totaling over $4 million to local organizations providing recreational opportunities for D.C. youth in 2023. Grants to sports providers ranged from $5,000 (Capitol Hill Little League and Southeast Tarheels Youth Sports Association) to $175,000 (multiple grants to DC Scores and Metroball Youth Reach). See the list of 2023 Rec for All grant winners. Grants were also provided in 2024. As of 2024, Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration had invested $20 million in the Rec for All grant program, which includes summer camp opportunities, new sports and programs, adaptive sports, and pool access on Sundays. In addition, DPR’s Ready2Play Parks Master Plan set 20-year goals built around an equitable park system, inclusive and sustainable design, responsive and diverse programming, and transparent and efficient operations.

Pro sports investments

The city’s pro teams have various initiatives or future plans associated with helping D.C. children access sports. The following are some examples:

As part of the city’s $515 million investment to renovate Capital One Arena and keep the Capitals, Wizards and Mystics in the District, Monumental Sports & Entertainment announced in 2024 the launch of District of Play, a multi-million-dollar investment to boost youth sports in D.C. The initiative includes a commitment to build or renovate basketball courts and playgrounds across the District, build a street hockey rink/multiuse sports facility, provide transportation for youth to attend free ice hockey and skating classes, offer scholarships to basketball and flag football programs, launch a girls empowerment sports program, and fund Positive Coaching Alliance workshops for public school coaches, athletes and parents.
Since 2015, D.C. United has partnered with DC SCORES on free soccer programming in schools, more than doubling the number of poet-athletes served and tripling the number of corporate partners. The team also provides scholarships to its summer camp and supports the U.S. Soccer Foundation and Washington Spirit in building mini-pitches in D.C., most recently at Johnson Middle School in 2024.
The Washington Spirit has partnered with DC SCORES since 2020, serving as sponsors for the nonprofit’s major fundraisers, ensuring player representation at community events, packing equipment kits for poet-athletes and other work to grow girls soccer. The Spirit led an effort by the Washington Coalition of Women’s Professional Sports and Leveling the Playing Field to collect thousands of sports bras for young girls in the DMV, including DC SCORES players.
Since 2014, the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy has served more than 6,000 children ages 5-18 through holistic youth development programs. The academy provides free youth development and baseball/softball programs, from clinics for beginners to structured programming that includes training and tournament play. Major League Baseball named the Nationals their 2024 award winner for philanthropic excellence because of their dedication to help underserved neighborhoods through the academy.
Under new team ownership, the Commanders are working with the District of Columbia State Athletic Association (DCSAA) to support existing high school girls flag football teams and grow the sport. Efforts are being made to start the partnership in the spring 2025 season with the Commanders offering uniforms, hosting celebratory events, and providing every DCPS school with an NFL Flag kit with equipment and instructional curriculum to help P.E. teachers offer in-school programming. In 2023, the Commanders donated $75,000 toward the launch of the new football program at Digital Pioneers Academy, a D.C. public charter school where three students who wanted to play football died of gun violence.

Events DC builds The Fields at RFK

In 2019, Events DC opened a $36 million multisport complex in Ward 7, one of the most underserved communities in the District. The Fields at RFK features three multipurpose fields for soccer, baseball, lacrosse and more stretched over 27 acres in what used to be RFK Stadium’s Lot 7. Events DC is the District’s sports and entertainment authority with a mandate to generate economic and community benefits for residents. Also, in 2024, the City Council approved $1 million annually for Events DC to fund grants for youth extracurricular activities through an initiative authored by Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie. The funding will support Events DC activities such as sports, arts and humanities, technology and special interest clubs. DC Events said it is finalizing how the funds will be dispersed to ensure all wards can be considered.

High school sports study

The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education (DME) commissioned a studyin 2022 that identified opportunities to establish the District as a nationally recognized leader for competitive high school sports. The study largely assessed the current state of high school sports facilities, along with programming and coaching development. Although no investments have yet been made, DME officials said they still view the report’s recommendations as its current investment needs for high school sports, such as increasing coach training and stipends in the near-term and eventually building a major youth sports facility at the RFK campus.

Expanded middle school sports programming

In recent years, the City Council has invested more money in DCSAA to expand programming in middle schools. Established in 2012, DCSAA shares knowledge, hosts championships and sets rules among public schools, public charter schools and independent schools (private and parochial).

Rare elementary school sports offerings

For several decades, the District of Columbia Interscholastic Athletic Association (DCIAA) has offered the most robust elementary school sports programming that the Aspen Institute has seen in its community work across the country. Eighty percent of D.C.’s 79 public elementary schools offered at least one sport in 2023-24. The most popular sports are boys basketball (44 schools), girls basketball (32), boys/girls outdoor track (29), boys/girls cross country (28), cheer (27) and coed flag football (25). The diminishment of Boys and Girls Clubs and rec sports resulted in DCIAA modeling elementary school sports like middle and high schools with regular-season schedules and championships.

Collaboration by nonprofits

The nonprofit space has seen leaders invest in sports – and increasingly by working together. Since 2020, Fight For Children has invested more than $3 million in grants and capacity building initiatives to its network of 40 D.C.-based nonprofits to increase equitable access to youth development and sports programs. Go Play’s Youth Sports for All initiative collaborates with 14 sports programs to provide scholarships, free equipment and technical assistance to parents in navigating the sports landscape. In 2024, Go Play put over 200 children in Wards 5, 6, 7 and 8 in 12 different sports.

Jon Solomon is Community Impact Director of the Aspen Institute’s Project Play initiative. Jon can be reached at jon.solomon@aspeninstitute.org.