Laureus brings its Sport for Good network to Dallas with new youth sports grants

On 30 July 2026, Laureus Sport for Good USA announced the launch of Sport for Good Dallas, expanding its national network into North Texas. Through an inaugural Request for Proposals, the organization will award roughly seven to ten grants ranging from $15,000 to $20,000 each to Dallas-area youth development groups — an investment aimed at widening access to quality sports programming for young people across the region.

Crucially, the initiative is designed to strengthen what already exists rather than build from scratch. Instead of creating new programs, Sport for Good Dallas will fund established local nonprofits that are already trusted in their neighborhoods, backing the coaches and organizations that children in the city already turn to.

The reasoning is rooted in how sport reaches young people. “Sport reaches Dallas children in a way almost nothing else does,” said Alan Cohen, founder and CEO of the Child Poverty Action Lab. “It’s one of the few places a kid shows up voluntarily, week after week, and trusts the adult standing in front of them.” The launch brought together 17 founding coalition members and four founding funders, with evaluation support from a research center at Southern Methodist University to measure long-term outcomes.

The Dallas expansion builds on a substantial track record. Since 2012, Laureus Sport for Good USA has invested $30 million nationally in sports-based youth development, reaching more than one million young people and training over 20,000 coaches in positive youth development practices. In a new city, that model now aims to turn playing fields and gyms into places where children not only compete, but grow.