Nike Program Recruits Harvard Volunteers

P.L.A.Y. CORPS, a sports program sponsored by sneaker giant Nike, Inc. tabled at the Malkin Athletic Center (MAC) yesterday looking for volunteers to coach inner-city youth.

The program "recruits and trains college students to coach under-served kids," said Juliet B.T. Hochman '89, P.L.A.Y. program manager.

Hochman said the goal of P.L.A.Y. CORPS is to "take an interest in sports and an interest in kids and smash them together."

The initiative was piloted in Memphis, Portland, Oregon, Atlanta and Philadelphia last year and more than 100 college students joined the program as coaches.

This year, P.L.A.Y. CORPS expanded its program to the national level. Hochman said she would be "thrilled" if the program could reach its target of recruiting about 1,000 coaches this year.

Volunteers can coach any sport, from the traditional to the novel. Hochman said that there is currently double-Dutch coach in New York City.

Coaches from P.L.A.Y. CORPS work at local YMCAs, Boys and Girls Clubs, and state and country Recreation Departments.

P.L.A.Y. CORPS is a division of Nike's Participate in the Lives of America's Youth (PLAY) program.

The 3-year-old P.L.A.Y. program provides children with coaches, activities, clinics and camps. P.L.A.Y. is also sponsoring project Reuse-a-Shoe, which turns old shoes into sports surfaces.

Nike created P.L.A.Y. CORPS because of the "natural affinity with kids that college students have," Hochman said.

To become a coach, students must fill out an application, provide a reference letter and submit a transcript to Nike. There are two application deadlines in January and June, for the two sports seasons.

Once selected for the program students are asked to volunteer at least 100 hours.

"Some students coach a traditional sport and finish the 100 hours in a season, others coach swimming two hours a week and take longer," Hochman said.

After completing 100 hours of service, students receives $500 towards their college tuition. The program does not accept last semester seniors or first semester first-years.

Harvard students who decide to join the program will work with children between the ages of eight and 13 from the Boston area.

P.L.A.Y. CORPS decided to target this age group of children because "if a kid doesn't participate by the time he or she is 12, there is only a 10 percent chance they will participate as an adult," Hochman said.

P.L.A.Y. CORPS will be recruiting on college campuses nationwide.

About five students stopped by at the P.L.A.Y. CORPS table during the first hour of recruiting yesterday.

Hochman said Harvard is a "tough place to recruit because there is no centralized place" that all students pass through.

Students who want more information should contact Juliet Hochman at Juliet. Hochman@nike.com.