FAQs

In 2006, we were invited to the Philippines to partner with a community to build a court.  We recruited a team of 24 student and adult volunteers from Southwest Washington and the project was incredibly successful.  We assumed this would just be a one-time project.  However, upon returning, the word spread and within two months, communities reached out to us in Honduras, Costa Rica and Indonesia.  They all had the same story.  They had a piece of land and were already in the process of trying to build a court themselves but it wasn’t possible without assistance.  They had inspirational reasons for building the courts which included: creating the first ever sports teams for their school, generating income for their school through hosting tournaments, rehabilitating former gang members, bringing together kids from different ethnic, religious and socio-economic groups.  We were so inspired by these communities that we recruited 3 groups to ‘adopt’ these projects and we decided to officially create a 501c3 charity called Courts for Kids, realizing there were many communities around the globe with similar stories.

Surveys have shown that 100% of our courts are used daily or almost daily and also that communities that partner with us have seen an 88% increase in girls’ participation in sports.  Access to sports is the primary benefit of the courts, creating sports teams, a space for PE classes and an introduction of new sports to communities.  The courts typically feature basketball, soccer and volleyball, but this is dependent upon the desires of the community.  Courts have also featured handball, badminton, pickleball, and games like four square.  

In addition to sports, our courts have been used as central gathering spaces for communities, hosting festivals and other celebratory events.  The courts have been used to dry crops during harvest, host classes during power outages, and teach kids how to roller skate.  Some communities have created small kitchens next to the courts which allow them to sell food at tournaments and games, providing a reliable income source for the community.  

Sports is also unique in its ability to impact social change.  According to research by the United Nations, and what we have witnessed first hand, sports also has the following benefits:

1. Providing inclusion for marginalized groups.

2. Control over one’s own body is particularly valuable for people with disabilities, people recovering from trauma as well as girls and women.

3. Bringing together people from diverse backgrounds, even those in conflict with one another.

If you read past stories, you will see volunteers are deeply impacted.  Their Courts for Kids experience hinges on the following two values we prioritize:

1. Meaningful Service- When volunteers arrive the ground is a level piece of compacted dirt, sand, and rocks.  By the end of the trip, they are most often able to play with the community on a surface that will last for generations.  This gives a strong sense of accomplishment.  More importantly, because our projects are initiated by the community members who have ownership over the entire process and are actively involved with fundraising and labor, our groups are able to see that this is not the dream of an outside group, but the desire of the community themselves, providing an even richer sense of accomplishment and purpose.  

2. Full Cultural Immersion- Our groups stay in the heart of the community which creates opportunities for much more than service.  Our groups eat the local food and sometimes even learn how to prepare it.  They play soccer or other local games.  They tour farms and see how coffee, chocolate or another local product is harvested and produced.  They learn local arts and crafts.  They hear about the history of the community and various traditions from elders.  They visit local places of beauty.  Their connection to the community moves them from a place of pity for what they don’t have, to appreciation for what they do. 

Courts for Kids trips are service-centered and focus on fimmersive experiences that transform lives by deeply connecting with underserved communities and actively making the world a better place.  Other student tour companies are sightseeing and tourism centered - focused on seeing other countries and comfortably enjoying their sights, food and traditions (with a cost that reflects those goals).  Both have a place - the right choice for any group depends on the experience and outcome they seek for their students.

*Please check out this video that extensively covers this topic.

Courts for Kids makes your safety our number one priority.  Being in a safe, tight knit community with strong awareness and ownership of the project will provide local people who are personally invested in the safety of the team. Courts for Kids also has safety protocols in place that include, but are not limited to:

• A Courts for Kids representative will lead the group while in the destination country.

• We always contract private transportation to pick up and return the group to the in-country airport.

• We have a strict behavior and conduct policy for all trip participants which promotes the safety and security of the group.  

(All participants are required to attend a mandatory training.)

• We have secure transportation available to medical facilities in the case of any injuries.   

• We will have a first aid kit with the group at all times. 

• We only drink clean, potable water.

• We work with community cooks to adhere to our Safe Cooking Practices.

• We monitor the US State Department travel warnings and make travel adjustments as deemed necessary.

• Insurance coverage for all trip participants that includes evacuation with a medical escort in a worst case situation.  Policy details can be provided upon request.

• A Child Protection Policy which includes background checks for all adults traveling in a group where minors are present.

• Courts for Kids may conduct a behavioral background check through a student’s school and reserves the right to refuse a participant based on the information we receive.

Courts for KIds is enrolled in the STEP program with the US State Department, which means we get updates from a country if there is an emergency.  Each trip includes emergency medical insurance (provided in the trip cost) so if there was a medical emergency medical expenses on the trip are covered and emergency evacuation can also be enacted with a medical escort for the participant until they arrive at home.

Our staff are also CPR and First Aid trained.

We do focus on the countries where we have full time staff and those countries are: Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Panama and only the state of Oaxaca in Mexico, and East Africa.  We do projects outside of these countries, as we have built courts in 33 different countries over the last 18 years, and those are also led by Courts for Kids staff, but only on a limited basis.

When you are traveling to our Latin American countries the answer is a resounding YES!  We have heard from many Spanish teachers who have been chaperones that the improvement they saw in one week with their students was similar to a year in a classroom.  Also we find that it motivates students to want to learn and improve their Spanish. They want to connect and converse with their new friends and so many go on to stay with Spanish or continue to learn on their own.  We often have students keep in touch with community members as well (everyone has a cell phone these days) and so texting each other in Spanish and starting a pen- pal type of relationship is a way to continue to practice Spanish while keeping up with your new friends. 

Our service trips are fully immersive which means you will be staying in the local community, which is often rural, in safe tight-knit communities.  These communities are thrilled you are coming and care greatly about your safety and comfortability.  Having said that, they are often not equipped with hotels or other types of accommodations you may be accustomed to . . . but that is part of the experience!  We have so much to learn and grow when we get to be fully immersed!  

Most of the time the group will sleep in a community space, with a mattress and mosquito net where applicable,  such as a school or church floor with the genders being separated.  Oftentimes this is all the rural communities can offer. Courts for Kids will provide each person with a mattress and mosquito net and the participant will pack their bedding (such as a small pillow, sheets, and on our colder weather projects- a backpackers sleeping bag).  Occasionally we do projects where another facility is offered that has beds or bunk beds (such as a retreat center or primitive hostel for example) and in those cases beds are provided.

You will get a chance to bathe every day and you will be offered a private area (not communal bathing unless you choose to).  Bathing will either be showers or a private bucket bathing area. 

You are in for a treat because the locals will be cooking you three delicious meals a day and you will get a full immersion in that you will be eating the local cuisine and it is DELICIOUS!  Don’t worry, the cooks go through a training course on how to prepare food and store it so it is safe for us to eat.  Only bottled water is used for drinks and available in abundance at all times for trip participants.  Oftentimes volunteers like to bring their own snacks from home (which is encouraged) but almost always there is a store nearby where volunteers can buy the local snacks, junk food, and sodas to be able to try out new treats!  Both the store owners and the volunteers are happy about this (it’s a great infusion of money into a local community and volunteers love to try out new snacks and junk food!). 

We do accommodate dietary needs/allergies/restrictions.  When you register for a Courts for Kids trip you will have the opportunity to let us know what those are and we always prepare something that can fit your dietary needs.  Courts for Kids does not have any nuts on our menus.

We only use private transportation from reputable companies.  Often we work with the same companies over and over and they have proven themselves to be safe and trust worthy. 

A Courts for Kids trip is typically 9-10 days long and looks like this:

Day 1 - Travel Day- flying into the country

Day 2- Potential travel day still and setting into the community

Day 3-6- Work on the Court, Cultural exchange activities, Reflection meeting in the evening

Day 7- Free Day- We typically do something within the community and/or surrounding area while the court is curing.  We like to think about this day as being on “field trip day.”  Meaning, we may go to a local farm and learn about the growth and production of their staple crop- such as coffee, sugarcane, cacao, etc.  We may visit a river, hot springs, or lake and go swimming.  We could go on a hike, etc.

Day 8- This day is very special because it is the Court Inauguration Day.  The community will plan something to celebrate the grand opening of their court with a special ceremony.  We also use that day to play sports the whole day - often doing a camp/clinic on the new court and/or a tournament.

Day 9- Head back to the Capital, but on the way back we stop and do something touristy to see the natural beauty of a country.  We typically have to stay overnight at a local hotel/hostel before flying out the next day.

Day 10 - Fly out

A Courts for Kids Representative, who works for Courts for Kids, will be with you every step of the way when you arrive in the country.  We have a fantastic staff who have gone through extensive training and are CPR and First Aid trained.  Our staff are fluent in the local language and in English and have visited the community you are going to at least 4 times (but often more) to get everything ready for your arrival.  They will handle all the trip logistics from food, lodging, transportation and court construction.  We have been told by groups over and over we have the BEST staff in the world and we tend to agree. 

Chaperones from the school/institution also accompany the trip and have cleared a criminal and sex offender background check.  In addition, chaperones have contractually agreed to our Child Protection Policy to keep minors safe.  Our chaperones have met with CFK staff ahead of time to receive additional training and support on how to best lead minors on a safe but meaningful service adventure.  A minimum of two chaperones are required for each chaperone trip in addition to our CFK staff.

We are so glad you asked! A Courts for Kids representative will travel to your group and do a Pre-Trip Training to get you ready for this service adventure.  Every question you can think of will be answered during this training and you will be provided with a detailed document, specific to your trip, which tells you about the community, weather/altitude, sleeping conditions, packing list, and much much more.  We want you to feel fully prepared for this adventure.  Sometimes this training is done via Zoom, but we try to meet with groups in person as much as possible and do 90% of the time.

A very detailed packing list will be provided to you, along with many other trip details, during your Pre-Trip Training from your Courts for Kids representative.  There will be a construction dress code as well as an after-work dress code to ensure we are safe and culturally sensitive to the country we are visiting.

We hire a local contractor and local skilled workers (and pay them a meaningful wage) and we, the volunteers, do all the “grunt” work, alongside other community members who are also there volunteering.  This means we are shoveling rock and sand into buckets, transporting those buckets to the mixer, and then loading the mixer with all the materials.  The skilled workers are on the other side of the mixer doing the finishing work.  They also do the welding of the hoop structures.  Therefore, if you can use a shovel and can haul a bucket and/or wheelbarrow you will be put to good use.

As a side note- we have had kids as young as 7 and adults as old as 70+ volunteer on our projects. There is a job for everyone- big and small.  So everyone is welcome at all levels and we encourage everyone to work to their ability.

Most schools/institutions recognize a Courts for Kids project as 100 community service volunteer hours.  We have heard from various students throughout our history that colleges have recognized and been impressed with their willingness to step out of their comfort zone and do such a demanding project for and with others.  So we can emphatically say that YES this is something to put on your college applications, scholarship applications, and/or job applications. 

Courts for Kids believes in your safety as our number one priority.  In addition, we also believe that in order to truly connect one must disconnect.  Therefore, with your safety and our philosophical commitment to our mission in mind, we ask that volunteers disconnect during the duration of our projects.  We know this is asking a lot but over our 20+ year history we have consistently seen/heard from our volunteers that this was one of their favorite parts of their experience.  We have numerous testimonials that can vouch for this.  

For parents sending students who are minors we promise if your son/daughter is to get sick or injured and requires a clinic or hospital visit we will call you and you will get to speak with your child as well.  Other than that we say no news is good news.

However, we know being disconnected from your child/loved one can be hard- that is why every evening or morning we will post on our social media how the project/day is going.  The participants themselves will get to pick out the pictures and write a summary of what they did and what they are learning- so every post is done with their words and their perspectives- not ours.  Parents and friends and family back at home can follow along and sometimes even see a picture of their loved one!  We highly encourage you to go on the Courts for Kids Instagram and Facebook pages and scroll through the past projects and you will get to see for yourselves what we are talking about.  It’s been a huge success with families.

Having said all this, each parent/guardian is also provided with an emergency contact number.

We have had kids as young as 7 and as old as 70+.  If you are a minor under high school age you must attend with a parent or guardian (guardians in the past have also been grandparents and/or aunts and uncles too).  If you are high school age you can attend without a parent/guardian as CFK will provide chaperones.

Courts for Kids is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.  In order to comply with IRS guidelines, you are not making payments towards ‘your trip’. Instead, every participant is responsible for fundraising or contributing a certain amount of money that will go to the project expenses, such as construction costs, airfare, food, lodging, etc.  These expenses are necessary for us to fulfill the purposes for which we are an exempt organization. 

You heard correctly.  Because of the way our projects are structured in the previous question, the good news is that since you are giving toward the project you will be receiving a tax-deductible receipt from us for all funds contributed.  The bad news is that none of that is refundable if you/your son/your daughter were to drop out.  According to IRS regulations the funds will need to stay in the project.  The good news is that your funds will continue to support the great community in receiving a multi use athletic court.

We are so glad you asked!  Our most popular trips are for private groups.  That simply means you just need to have a group of 16 or more people and we can tailor make a trip for you.  Oftentimes we can go under 16 trip participants, but it will be an additional cost and to be frank a bit more actual work on the court.  Groups have been schools, sports teams, just a group of friends coming together, clubs, sororities, fraternities, corporate trips.  If it’s a group - we can make it happen.

If you are not associated with a group can you still go?  Absolutely!  Every summer we offer 1-2 “Open Trips” which means adults/families/students from across the country join together as strangers on a trip and leave as BFFs by the time it ends.  To see what we are offering this year go to our Upcoming Trips tab on the website.

We are happy to help!  Email us at info@courtsforkids.org