Why Schoolyard Sports?
Schoolyard Sports began with a simple question:
What if after-school sports were designed around how young children actually learn?
In 2023, after nearly two decades working with global sports brands and years coaching his sons in youth sports, founder David Cho began thinking about the way young children are introduced to sports.
There are plenty of opportunities for kids to specialize in a sport. But there are fewer opportunities for younger children to simply try something new, develop fundamental skills, and discover what they enjoy.
At the same time, after-school activities need to work within the realities of family schedules. For many children, the most convenient time to participate is immediately after school, at the school they already attend.
Schoolyard Sports was created around those two ideas: make it easy for kids to participate, and make the experience fit the way young children learn.
A different way to try and learn sports
The philosophy behind the coaching model.
Young children don't need two hours of nonstop activity. They need opportunities to move, try new things, play, and have fun.
We found that children are often most engaged with a new skill for a relatively short period of time. Rather than asking a young child to spend an entire class repeating the same movement, our programs use fast-paced stations, games, and positive coaching to introduce different skills and keep the experience fresh.
That thinking led to our Golf Multi-Sport program, where children might practice a golf swing, work on lacrosse skills, learn volleyball touches, and play pickleball activities within the same class.
The goal isn't to determine which sport a child will play forever.
It's to help them become a more confident, capable athlete while discovering what they enjoy.
Built for the schoolyard
We didn't want access to a traditional sports facility to determine whether a child could participate.
Schoolyards already have many of the things we need: gyms, blacktops, playgrounds, and open fields. With age-appropriate equipment and creative coaching, we can adapt our activities to the space available at each school.
That allows Schoolyard Sports to bring the program to where children already are, rather than asking families to make another trip across town.
The same philosophy applies to our four sports. Golf, Lacrosse, Volleyball, and Pickleball are different, but each helps children develop fundamental skills such as coordination, balance, movement, timing, control, and teamwork.
Who we are and where we are going
Coaches + not-for-profit + future.
The coach is central to the Schoolyard Sports experience.
Our coaches are background-checked through the State of Oregon and trained in our child-friendly curriculum. But beyond qualifications, we're looking for people who genuinely enjoy working with young children.
A good coach knows when to teach, when to encourage, when to let a child figure something out, and when to turn a skill into a game. Our goal is to create an environment where children feel comfortable trying something they're not yet good at.
Schoolyard Sports is a not-for-profit organization, and our registration revenue supports our coaches, equipment, facilities, insurance, and the other costs of running our programs. As we grow, our goal isn't simply to offer more classes. It's to make high-quality youth sports experiences available to more children.
Give kids a chance to try. Give them a chance to improve. And give them a chance to discover something they love.
Meet the Coaches
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Lexie Allen
Beaverton & Hillsboro Area Coach
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Liam Gouldsbrough
West Portland & Beaverton Area Coach
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Kristin Lofgren
West Portland & Beaverton Area Coach
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Jim Paino
Lake Oswego & Riverdale Area Coach
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Ashley Bay
Lake Oswego Area Coach
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Arisa Brown
Northeast Portland & Lake Oswego Area Coach
Contact us
Please reach out if you are interested in a class at your child’s school. We can offer a class in almost any available space at a school, indoors or outdoors. We have coaches located all across the greater Portland area and our minimum class size is only 4 children.
david@schoolyardsports.org
(503) 200-4882