Children and teenagers of all ages and interests can participate in our basic programs. Discover cutting-edge initiatives aimed at enabling young people to achieve academic success, develop into responsible adults, and lead active, productive lives.
These programs develop young people’s capacity to engage in positive behaviors to nurture their well-being, set personal goals and grow into self-sufficient adults.
Help Kids Create Healthy Habits
Triple Play: A Game Plan for the Mind, Body and Soul is BGCA’s proven health and wellness program co-sponsored by the Anthem Foundation and founding partner The Coca-Cola Company. Since launching in 2005, Triple Play has made more than 14.4 million connections with kids and teens, promoting the importance of physical activity and proper nutrition through the program’s three components: mind, body and soul.
Mind
Healthy Habits: Addresses the ways an individual’s health behaviors are influenced by personal beliefs and exposure to positive modeling. In addition to nutrition education, activities focus on helping youth assess, practice, identify, consider, and recognize health behaviors and messages.
Body
Daily Challenges: Intentional focus on physical literacy: Ability - Increasing capability in basic movement skills and overall fitness; Confidence -the knowledge of the ability to play sports or enjoy other physical activities and Motivation- the intrinsic enthusiasm for physical activity for members to be physically active for life.
Soul
Social Recreation: Emphasis on social and emotional development, or the social, cognitive, and behavioral skills that youth need to be healthy and productive. There is an explicit focus on emotional regulation, healthy relationships (with self and others), and responsible decision-making.
These programs help youth become responsible, caring citizens and acquire skills to participate the democratic process. Program participants also develop leadership skills and gain opportunities for planning, decision-making, contributing to Club and community and celebrating our national heritage.
Youth of the Year is our signature effort to foster a new generation of leaders fully prepared to live and lead in a diverse, global, and integrated world economy.
In the 21st-century world and workplace, leadership skills such as communication, goal setting and teamwork are essential for everyone - especially young people preparing to meet the challenges of adolescence and adulthood. With a grassroots beginning in 1947, Youth of the Year has evolved into a comprehensive leadership development program, which includes:
Youth of the Month
Youth of the Month is a recognition program that focuses on acknowledging and making Club members aware of their own leadership abilities. Youth of the Month is a Club-driven experience that fosters leadership within the Club. Unlike many BGCA programs, which are implemented in two or three months of dedicated time, Youth of the Month is most commonly run on an ongoing basis over the course of a year. Youth of the Month is primarily a recognition program, but engaging in various leadership experiences is an important part of the program. Clubs have a great deal of flexibility in how they implement Youth of the Month, so specific activities and experiences may vary, but the focus is always on making Club youth aware of leadership abilities they might not think they possesses and cultivating them so that they learn what it means to be a leader.
Junior Youth of the Year
Distinct from the National Youth of the Year program, Junior Youth of the Year seeks to develop junior leaders ages 10-13 within the Club environment. The program fosters Club members’ emerging leadership abilities while preparing them for later participation in the Youth of the Year program. In addition to recognizing the leadership achievements of Club youth, Junior Youth of the Year also cultivates their leadership potential, providing the foundation they need for advanced leadership development, academic excellence and postsecondary success. Through this program, Club youth become motivated to seek opportunities for leadership and to act as responsible citizens and change agents.
National Youth of the Year
Each year, one exceptional Club member is selected to be the National Youth of the Year, serving as an ambassador for Boys & Girls Club youth as well as a voice for all of our nation’s young people. Over the decades, these individuals have exemplified the Boys & Girls Club mission and are proof to the impact Clubs make in transforming and saving kids’ lives. National Youth of the Year winners have achieved success in a variety of industries, including entertainment, politics, business and sports.
Becoming National Youth of the Year is an exciting and inspiring journey. Each year, thousands of Club teens participate in local, state and regional Youth of the Year events. Six teens, including five regional winners and a national military youth winner, advance to the National Youth of the Year Celebration, where one outstanding young person is named Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s national teen spokesperson. The National Youth of the Year is a role model, leader, and advocate for over 3.6 million youth served by Boys & Girls Clubs each year and all of America’s young people.
These Club programs help develop physical fitness, reduce stress and promote a positive use of leisure time, appreciation for the environment and interpersonal skills.
PLAY BALL allows youth to increase their overall fitness while learning the fundamental skills of baseball and softball through fun and enriching activities.
The PLAY BALL initiative (www.PlayBall.org) is baseball’s collective effort to encourage young people and communities to engage in baseball- or softball-related activities, including formal leagues, special events, and casual forms of play. PLAY BALL events demonstrate the positive way the game can serve as an outlet for physical activity, fun with friends, and learning how to play the sport at its most basic levels. PLAY BALL also serves as the League’s youth umbrella in which all associated programs and events derive from the initiative’s consistent, simple message: However, You Play Ball, PLAY BALL! Chevrolet, Scotts, and Kingsford generously support PLAY BALL.
For three consecutive years, baseball and softball have combined to rank as the most participated team sports in the United States in 2019 (25.1 million participants), according to the annual Topline Participation Report produced by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA). Also, according to the report, baseball has seen a 55% rise in casual participation since the launch of the PLAY BALL initiative.
These programs are designed to ensure that all Club members graduate from high school on time, ready for a post-secondary education and a 21st-century career.
Homework-help program encourages youth to be self-directed learners.
Power Hour: Making Minutes Count helps Club members ages 6-18 achieve academic success by providing homework help, tutoring and high-yield learning activities and encouraging members to become self-directed learners.
Designed specifically to help kids and teens with homework, this program is available after school at Clubs. Dedicated youth development professionals and volunteers supervise each session and help youth members complete their assignments for the day. When they finish their work, they may choose to participate in a variety of other engaging and educational activities to develop their skills even further.
Power Hour is a great opportunity for kids and teens to get their homework completed in a quiet place with support from trained, caring staff at a Boys & Girls Club.
The SMART Moves (Skills Mastery and Resilience Training) prevention and education program addresses problems such as drug and alcohol use and premature sexual activity.
SMART Moves uses a team approach that involves Club staff, peer leaders, parents, and community representatives. Young people ages 6 to 15 engage in discussion and role-playing, practicing resilience and refusal skills, developing assertiveness, strengthening decision-making skills, and analyzing media and peer influence. The ultimate goal is to promote abstinence from substance abuse and adolescent sexual involvement through the practice of responsible behavior.
Project Learn reinforces the academic enrichment and school engagement of young people during the time they spend at the Club.
Students do much better in school when they spend their non-school hours engaged in fun but academically beneficial activities. Through Project Learn, Club staff use all the areas and programs in the Club to create opportunities for these high-yield learning activities, including leisure reading, writing activities, discussions with knowledgeable adults, helping others, homework help, tutoring and games that develop young people’s cognitive skills. Project Learn also emphasizes parent involvement as well as collaboration between the Club and school professionals.
To help young people meet the workforce challenges of tomorrow, they need safe spaces, positive mentorship and work experiences today. At Boys & Girls Clubs, we allow kids and teens to explore their interests and passions, develop their employability skills, and apply their knowledge to real-world work experiences.
These programs are designed to foster creativity in young people, and give them outlets for self-expression. From photography to hip-hop, our arts programs have something that will inspire everyone.