The NCAA News - News and Features

May 25, 1998

NCAA, HUD get togethe through NYSP to aid urban youth

The NCAA and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have agreed to work together to develop and expand the efforts of the National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) to involve youths residing in public housing developments.

Under the partnership agreement, participating universities will work with public housing agencies in identifying NYSP participants and will provide a limited number of young public housing residents with priority consideration for placement into the summer program.

The NCAA is a principal partner in NYSP, a five-week summer program that provides academic instruction, development of sports skills and a wide range of educational and nutritional benefits to young people, especially those who are members of low-income families.

The agreement assures that from 25 to 100 at-risk young people will participate at each NYSP site. HUD will encourage public housing authorities to provide program resources to assist in the expansion of NYSP to serve at-risk young people residing in public housing projects.

Although many current NYSP participants reside in housing projects, Edward A. Thiebe, NCAA director of youth programs, said that the new arrangement should expand the program's outreach.

Thiebe said that previous cooperative ventures with HUD were limited because HUD insisted on the program being administered on HUD property. However, the new agreement may permit participating universities with resources to bring in young people from housing projects that may be located in another part of the city, making the program more accessible to those most at risk.

In a May 8 letter to public housing authorities, HUD assistant secretary Deborah Vincent asked that young people who have excelled in academically oriented programs be emphasized as possible candidates for NYSP participation. The memorandum of understanding calls special attention to a math/science initiative that provides challenging and fun hands-on activities for participants.

NYSP/HUD partnership

Institution -- Est. No. of Participants

University of Arizona -- 50

California State University,

Los Angeles -- 50

Case Western Reserve University -- 75

City College of New York -- 75

Cleveland State University -- 50

Coppin State College -- 25

Daley College (Illinois) -- 25

University of Detroit Mercy -- 25

University of District of Columbia -- 75

Florida A&M University -- 50

Florida Memorial College -- 75

Howard University -- 75

Hunter College -- 50

University of Illinois, Champaign -- 25

Jackson State University -- 75

Johnson C. Smith University -- 50

Kennedy-King College (Illinois) -- 50

Lehman College -- 25

LeMoyne-Owen College -- 75

Los Angeles Southwest College -- 75

University of Louisville -- 25

Malcolm X College (Illinois) -- 75

Marian College (Indiana) -- 50

Marquette University -- 50

University of Massachusetts,

Boston -- 75

Medgar Evers College -- 75

Morgan State University -- 50

University of New Mexico -- 50

North Carolina A&T State

University -- 25

Olive-Harvey College -- 75

Portland State University -- 75

St. Mary's University (Texas) -- 25

St. Petersburg Junior College -- 75

University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) -- 25

Sojourner-Douglass College -- 75

University of South Carolina,

Columbia -- 50

University of South Florida -- 50

Southern University,

New Orleans -- 50

Texas Southern University -- 75

Trinity College (Connecticut) -- 25

Truman College (Illinois) -- 25

Virginia Commonwealth

University -- 25

Wayne County Community

College -- 75