National Collegiate Athletic Association
NCAA News Archive - 2000
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New program aimed at character development
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The NCAA News
Lilly Endowment Inc., an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic foundation that supports the causes of education, community development and religion, will provide a $1.5 million grant to the NCAA Foundation in support of a new character-development program for youth called Common Ground.
The announcement was made at a July 12 news conference in the NCAA Hall of Champions.
Common Ground is a program that will target 50,000 central Indiana youth in grades 3 through 8 in its first year. It will focus on promoting and teaching good citizenship behaviors through sport. The elements of good citizenship include showing respect and caring for oneself and others, taking responsibility for one's own actions, striving for excellence, and demonstrating integrity at all times.
"Lilly Endowment is pleased to support the NCAA Foundation in this new endeavor," said N. Clay Robbins, Endowment president. "With the
high profile that athletics has in our culture, the NCAA has a wonderful ability to capture the imagination and attract the attention of young people. Pairing this ability with the commitment to building the character of youth has great potential.
"Fostering the development of good character in youth is a long-held objective of Lilly Endowment that reflects the interests of Eli Lilly, one of the Endowment's founders. He had a lifelong interest in learning how character is formed and supported many efforts to promote character development in young people. We believe that this grant builds on that legacy."
The program will be offered to youth leagues and associations and Indianapolis-area elementary and middle schools. Common Ground
is an education-based program that will benefit students by providing materials and hands-on experience that explain and support sportsmanlike values on and off the playing field. Initially, it will be introduced to youth leagues late this summer and then to area schools next year.
An integral part of the program for many of the participants will be on-site visits to the NCAA Hall of Champions, a one-of-a-kind facility adjacent to the NCAA headquarters that celebrates the effort and dedication it takes to be a student-athlete. Organizers will use "teachable moments" in the Hall of Champions to reinforce sportsmanlike behaviors.
"Common Ground is a program that will take advantage of the positive attributes of sports that are lessons young people can use throughout their lives," said Daniel Boggan Jr., NCAA senior vice-president. "These lessons include the need for practice, commitment, teamwork and for taking personal responsibility to do the best you can every day."
Developing and implementing this program is an unprecedented alliance of Indianapolis organizations representing the community, faith-based and youth-development groups, the media, middle schools, high schools, colleges and professional sports organizations. That alliance was created by the NCAA and the National
Federation of State High School Associations after their moves to Indianapolis from Kansas last year.
If successful in Indianapolis, the Common Ground program will be expanded to other Indiana communities.
The grant was given to the NCAA Foundation, a nonprofit entity that generates funds to support NCAA programs to enhance the experience of student-athletes. The foundation will administer the multiyear grant.
"The NCAA Foundation is pleased to recognize this wonderful commitment from the Lilly Endowment," said Marion B. Peavey, Foundation executive director. "This gift, one of the largest ever given to the Foundation, will help accelerate our fund-raising efforts in support of this important initiative.
"The NCAA Foundation is linking its efforts with other foundations, corporations and organi-
zations to broaden support for the overall Common Ground project. We anticipate others following the lead of the Lilly Endowment in supporting this important effort, which will benefit young people in the state of Indiana for years to come. Our overall goal is to raise $4.5 million toward this project during the next five years."
Common Ground is affiliated with the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance (CTSA). CTSA is a joint effort by the school-college-Olympic community and professional sports leagues to promote the values of citizenship that are realized through sportsmanship and ethical play in athletics.
The alliance seeks to generate a sports culture that supports those values necessary to teach and learn respect for self and for others.