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Our Approach
Values Embedded in Our Work
01 | Start Local
Bring the opportunity to the athlete.
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Instead of assuming families should travel farther or spend more to access quality opportunities, we ask: How can we bring more opportunities directly into rural communities?
Travel, cost, transportation, and limited local offerings can all become barriers to participation in rural communities. Rural Access Sports programs are free, hosted locally, and developed in partnership with the people who already know and serve the community.
This model is inspired by Norway's youth sports systems and infrastructure, which prioritizes local, free sports.Â
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Strengthen what's already there.
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Sustainable rural sports development can't happen from the outside in. We work with local schools, coaches, families, businesses, volunteers, healthcare and youth development professionals, and community organizations to understand existing strengths and identify gaps. RAS then helps bring together resources, expertise, partnerships, and funding that can expand what the community is already building.
02 | Build With Communities
Youth sports opportunities are currently unequal.
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Girls face persistent barriers to staying in sports. During adolescence, girls drop out of sports at higher rates than boys, while high school girls in the United States still have 1.2 million fewer opportunities to participate in sports than boys. Girls also receive far less exposure to professional women’s sports and female athlete role models.
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Rural Access Sports' Female360 curriculum is designed to directly address these gaps by building girls’ confidence, knowledge, and sense of belonging in sport. The curriculum combines athletic development with education across six pillars: Sports Psychology, Women’s Health, Nutrition, Mental & Emotional Health, Women’s Sports History, and Modern Women’s Sports.
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RAS also intentionally brings women’s sports media and role models into the learning experience. Campers read books by female athletes and coaches, receive National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) player cards, listen to women’s sports podcasts, and hear athletes tell their own stories.Â
Together, these experiences give girls practical tools while helping them see, hear, learn from, and connect with female athletes and leaders across generations.
03 | Build Equitably
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