Sports Matter for All Children to be Physically, Emotionally, and Mentally Healthy!

The HandsOnSports Foundation recognizes that all children need the ability to play sports and improve their health & wellness for life. Since 2009, the HandsOnSports Foundation has made it their mission to provide positive environments, education, and opportunity for at-risk youth through the global sport of soccer.

HandsOnSports Foundation was formed to create an opportunity for all youth to learn, play, and grow through the international sport of soccer. The vision includes providing equipment and instruction for youth in communities where recreational opportunities are limited

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HandsOnSports Foundation Programs

Project Retread

Project Retread

Project Retread was created to ensure at-risk youth have the equipment they need in order to play the sport that they love, both in NE Ohio and around the world.

Medical Supplies

Medical Supplies

In 2016, we expanded our mission to provide medical supplies and began by shipping over $350,000 of medical supplies to Proyecto Talamanca in Costa Rica.

Urban Futsal Initiative

Urban Futsal Initiative

We are partnering with communities and municipalities to locate aged out courts; rehabilitating these spaces into new usable futsal play spaces along with scheduled programming.

Futsal Scholarships

Futsal Scholarships

The Futsal Scholarship Program is designed to help support children who have great potential but who’s families do not have the financial wherewithal to provide them with the opportunity.

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The more people that get involved, the more children we are able to reach!

We’re changing the lives of children everywhere using tools like sports to teach about health, perseverance, and self esteem. There are so many ways you can get involved and help us help kids all over the globe. Here are just a few ways you can become a part of HandsOnSports

Volunteer

Donate your time to help assist with one of our programs.

Donate

Your donations help us grow and spread our message across the world.

Project Retread

Help find and convert local outdated tennis courts into functioning futsal play areas for children in the community.

Join Our Board

Help find and convert local outdated tennis courts into functioning futsal play areas for children in the community.

Who We Are

Our history

The HandsOnSports Foundation started in 2009 with an aim to assist Recreation Departments, the Salvation Army, schools and soccer organizations to reach underserved and at-risk youth providing futsal ‘street soccer’ play spaces, equipment and programming across the Ohio region. Over the past decade the programs reach has continued to expand including donations of equipment and supplies to countries throughout Central America, the Caribbean, South America and Africa.

Learn about our history

Our mission

Our mission is to improve a child’s quality of life by providing instruction, equipment and access to sports.

Our vision

The HandsOnSports Foundation has a vision that every child deserves the opportunity to play a sport they enjoy.

Explore our mission

EVERY CHILD DESERVES TO PLAY

Make a Donation to HandsOnSports

Help us improve the lives of children in impoverished areas through sports. Make a donation to HandsOnSports Foundation today. Your donation makes a difference.

Donate Today

Sports Matter

Interesting Facts

The value of sports for children is measured by many organizations across the country, see the interesting facts about our children below:

  • According to the Let’s Move Campaign website, “over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates in America have tripled, and today, nearly one in three children in America are overweight or obese.”
  • The No. 1 reason that kids drop out of sports is because it’s no longer “fun,” says the new study from the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The study, published in the Journal of Physical Activity & Health, honed in on the factors that made organized sports fun for kids — findings that could help combat the rising risks of childhood obesity.
  • The study found that there were 81 “fun” factors, which ranged from sportsmanship, to team rituals to “swag” (aka medals or cool jerseys). The top rated factors weren’t winning or getting medals as you would expect — but being a good sport, trying hard and positive coaching.

“If our goal is to keep kids as physically active for as long as possible, we’re looking at organized sport as this solution to a public health crisis,” said Amanda Visek, author of the study and an associate professor of exercise science at George Washington University.

Active Children...

Children who are active will:

  • have stronger muscles and bones.
  • have a leaner body because exercise helps control body fat.
  • be less likely to become overweight.
  • decrease the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
  • possibly lower blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels.
  • have a better outlook on life.
  • Besides enjoying the health benefits of regular exercise, kids who are physically fit sleep better and are better able to handle physical and emotional challenges — from running to catch a bus to studying for a test.
  • Thirty years ago, kids ate just one snack a day, whereas nowthey are trending toward three snacks, resulting in an additional 200 calories a day. And, one in five school-age children has up to six snacks a day.  Portion sizes have also exploded- they are now two to five times bigger than they were in years past.
  • Beverage portions have grown as well.  In the mid1970s, the average sugar-sweetened beverage was 13.6 ounces compared to today when kids think nothing of drinking 20 ounces of sugar-sweetened beverages at a time.”[1]

Latest News from HandsonSports

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