Mission

Renegades Youth Sports, Inc. (RYS), a football and cheerleading program for youth ages 5 to 14, aims to ‘Mold Tomorrow’s Leaders’ by providing high quality physical and leadership development training services. Our theory of change is that team sports teach kids more than physical fitness - they improve motor skills, increase self-esteem, foster cooperation and teamwork, and build future leaders.

What We Do

Established in 1989, RYS has served over 3000 low-income youth residing in Brooklyn neighborhoods, including: East New York, Canarsie, Mill Basin, Bedford Stuyvesant, Ocean Hill-Brownsville, East Flatbush, and Crown Heights. Over 90% of RYS participants are of African descent and male. Operational from March to December, RYS participants meet 3 times per week for approximately 2 hours per day afterschool. Our leadership team, consisting of 20 volunteers and mentors, has over 25 years of coaching, advocacy, and youth development experience, both on and off the field.

RYS has identified the opportunity to evolve our program from being solely youth sports focused, but to provide youth services, as well. The youth of the community we serve require mentorship programs, educational support (test preparation, tutoring), and behavioral counseling. We feel the pressing need to address the needs of the youth of our community, to prepare them for their future challenges as they progress in life. With the proper skills and preparation these youth will become future productive citizens of our community. While our focus will be attending to needs our youth we are looking for partnerships to attend the needs of our parents as well. Specifically, we are looking to address employment (job readiness & retention), housing, and identifying continuing education opportunities.