Our mission is to foster love, compassion, service and an expanding worldview as we take teams to economically disadvantaged areas, partnering with local organizations and community members to build courts which will provide kids with the opportunity to play sports.

(Click on one of the multi-colored phrases of the mission statement above, or scroll down, to read about each component) 

...to foster love, compassion, service and an expanding worldview.

          We believe that every American, young and old, should have the opportunity to have an immersion experience in a 'foreign' culture.  These experiences have the power to challenge stereotypes, enable people to see the human face of important global issues and have the potential to create better local and global citizens.

          In addition, when Courts for Kids comes to other countries with an attitude of humility and service, we believe this inspires and furthers the virtues of service, love, and compassion.  An in-country host wrote of one of our groups, "This team pulled off miracles.  They let people know that America is full of young, loving men and women; and that they are the future."

...as we take teams 

          Every trip is a collaborative effort between a local community and a team of volunteers.  We believe that by facilitating the projects through volunteer teams, these courts transcend mere 'distant acts of charity,' and become symbols of partnerships that will impact both groups far longer than the courts will last.

          We take a variety of teams including school sports teams, senior project groups, youth groups, religious groups, adult groups, and teams open to anyone from the general public.  Each of these trips is uniquely designed to fit the needs of the specific groups.

...to economically disadvantaged areas

          Although places we go might have less economically and we can help them in large ways with relatively little, we also believe that there are plenty of areas in which they might be 'wealthier' than us, such as family and community relationships, contentment, joy in the simple things, etc.  We approach each trip with the question, "What can we learn?"

          Most of the communities we go to have a very different pace of life and different values than the ones we are so accustomed to yet often unaware of.  G.K. Chesterton said, "The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land."  These experiences in communities so different from ours have the unique ability to cause us to see our own world through a different lens.

...partnering with local organizations and community members

          We only choose to go where there are people in the community who will adopt the court and who are actively engaged in improving the quality of life in the community and are committed to doing so indefinitely.  We also only choose to go to places that express a strong desire for a sports court and have communicated to us ways in which a court will greatly benefit their community.

          We will also hire a local construction company whenever possible to ensure that we are stimulating the local economy.  We work alongside the local company, mostly providing manual labor.  As you can see in the picture to the right, often, the kids from the community also jump right in and help contribute to the court building as well. 

...to build courts which will provide kids with the opportunity to play sports 

          We believe that the opportunity to play sports is important for the health and well-being of kids all over the world.  Many kids do not have access to facilities to provide such opportunities.  Such kids often find themselves more prone to drug use, sexual activity and other harmful behaviors.

          We also believe sports are unique in their ability to build bridges between ethnic groups and help tear down walls of prejudice, hate and bitterness.

          We have found that a simple sport court can have multiple uses for a community.  It can first and foremost be a source of play and recreation for children and adults.  It can be a community gathering place, an income generator, an added facility for health and PE programs at schools, a site for medical missions, etc.