King County Play Equity Coalition is a network of organizations dedicated to challenging and changing systems to shift power and center physical activity as a key part of health and youth development.
The Coalition partnered with the Seattle Mariners to establish their first local Youth Equity Council which will help develop solutions to increase access to baseball and softball in our region.
Help pass a bill related to parks and nature prescriptions!
SB 5095, sponsored by Sen. Nobles, would create a pilot program to incentivize, promote and test the effectiveness of having health care providers encourage or “prescribe” their patients to spend time in parks/nature. Help get this bill passed this session!
Stay tuned for opportunities to sign in pro or submit written testimony at the next public hearing!
You are invited to the 37th Annual “Bud Turner” Prek-12 Physical Education one day Physical Education workshop scheduled from Sat Feb 3, 2024 at Catherine Blaine K-8.
If you are an organization that would like to network and partner with Physical Education Specialists/schools from Seattle Public Schools and around the state you are welcome to apply to exhibit and/or attend. More information here: https://www.shapewa.org/
Sports in Schools is currently accepting applications for the Just Athlete Scholarship. This scholarship recognizes high school senior athletes who are committed to race and social justice efforts in their schools and communities. Two (2) athletes will receive $2,000 each toward their post-secondary plans and will be honored at our annual Sports in Schools gala on May 4, 2024.
Please check out the scholarship details HERE and share this opportunity with your athletes, their families, coaches, school counselors, mentors and administrators. The application deadline is February 29, 2024.
Scholarship Eligibility
Must be a senior at a high school in the state of Washington
Must be a participant, for at least one year, in any sport(s). This includes managers and athletic trainer interns, as well as seniors participating in non-traditional school sports
Must demonstrate a commitment to race and social justice efforts in school or community
Must plan to attend a post-secondary institution (2 or 4-year college, university, or vocational/technical school) within 2 years of graduating high school
Did you know that neuroscience research shows that sport has physiological and psychological healing effects?
The Center for Healing and Justice through Sport is harnessing these benefits and delivering them through our training!
If you’re a coach, parent, or part of a team, don’t miss out on our next offering for these FREE sessions! They are the perfect entry point to building the healing-centered sport movement.
Fund the Fun is an annual FREE fundraising breakfast hosted by Associated Recreation Council to raise money for local recreation programs. This year, we are raising funds for the Swim Seattle initiative by Mayor Bruce Harrell. According to Mayor Harrell, “Programs like this will help every child, from every neighborhood, access opportunities to learn and grow, promising a safer future for our entire city.”
You can read more about the Swim Seattle initiative here.
The Advocacy Action Team is focused on three main areas for 2024:
1) Developing a Youth Play Bill of Rights for King County. This process is in its infancy, and the Team looks forward to sharing ideas and engaging the broader Coalition, community, and youth to develop the process and the content of this Bill of Rights. The Team will be using the Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights and the Children’s Bill of Rights in Sports as a starting point.
2) Tracking and supporting emergent bills related to play equity in the 2024 session and supporting the implementation of last year’s Recess Equity Bill, which will require 30 min. of recess for all elementary students beginning this fall. 3) Developing a 2025 legislative agenda.
If you’re interested in joining the Advocacy Action Team, reach out to info@kcplayequity.org.
We recently kicked off our new Swim Equity Action Team!
In collaborating with drowning prevention and swim education organizations throughout King County, we are assessing barriers and opportunities to support Swim Equity through collective action.
Action team members also include program providers, school representatives, parks and facilities representatives, and more. As drownings are up, and swim education, facilities and staffing are down, we see the most marginalized of our community most at risk.
Join us to work towards drowning prevention and swim safety in King County!
Entering our second year as an action team, we are starting off 2024 strong by initiating our outreach series. We are spending the first few months of the year meeting with community organizations and groups to assess outdoor recreation-related interests and develop information materials and connections to program opportunities which we will share out.
We will also be focusing on providing no and low-cost industry relevant trainings for instructors, community members, and volunteers who might not traditionally have access to technical trainings.
Thanks to a significant, $3000 gear donation from REI, we will also be distributing gear to community based partner organizations and community members.
Our 2024 Shared Learning Action Team is set to kick off in March. We are so excited to share that we will be facilitating an affinity shared learning group for female and non-binary coaches, program leaders, and instructors of color.
Membership in this action team will include stipends for both participants, and for participants’ organizations to support their time in the group. The content of the shared learning will be determined by the needs and interest of group members.
The 3rd YAT cohort is in full swing coming into 2024!
At our last few meetings, members engaged in team building activities, such having to navigate their way out of the pyramids (escape room), to having a special guest from the Mariners come to discuss the ins and outs of using social media to launch an informational campaign.
Looking ahead, the YAT will begin a creative process to build their own campaign to share their research and equity-based recommendations to promote inclusivity in white-dominated sports.
Don’t forget to join and participate in our SLACK channel. We have channels for COVID-related information, school-based, population-specific, and other channels to interact with.
