Sport for Good NOLA Releases the School Impact Report

August 2026 – Laureus USA’s Sport for Good New Orleans released the Sport for Good School Impact Report, a look at what happens when a community comes together to bring high-quality sport into a school. The report grew out of years of local conversation and a year-long pilot at Fannie C. Williams Charter School. It tells the story of a model built in partnership with the New Orleans community.

Where it began

In 2018, school leaders, coaches, and community champions gathered at the Abundance of Desire to celebrate the power of sport in schools. This historic location was the launching pad to our first meeting at the Tulane Center for Sport to ask how sport and education could better support young people. The pandemic slowed the work but made it more urgent, and seed funding from the Pincus Family Foundation eventually turned the idea of Sport for Good Schools into a pilot. The need was clear: in 2024-2025, 98% of New Orleans schools were charter or private, which makes coordinating access to sport and extracurriculars a real challenge.

Built with the community

Before launching, Sport for Good New Orleans spent a year listening, through town halls, focus groups, partner huddles, and youth-centered conversations with students at Fannie C. Williams. That feedback shaped the model: an intermediary-led approach in which Laureus USA coordinates partners, supports training and evaluation, and helps schools and nonprofits work as one team. Excite All Stars, LOOP NOLA, and New Orleans Rowing Club served as the anchor program partners.

What happened

Over 17 weeks, the three partners delivered 106 hours of programming to 350 students, introducing rowing, soccer, tennis, and outdoor adventure. Before the pilot, a single program reached about 140 students at the school. The pilot added 210 more students, who tried at least two new sports.

• ⚡ 106 hours of programming: rowing, soccer, tennis, and outdoor adventure
• ⚡ 93% of LOOP NOLA participants with pre/post surveys grew in at least one social-emotional capacity
• ⚡ 84% of participants would recommend the program to a friend
• ⚡ 100% of surveyed coaches found training sessions engaging, interesting, and organized

The report is candid that limited matched survey data constrained the analysis. Program leaders also saw growth in confidence, curiosity, resilience, and leadership.

Read the Full Report Here

What comes next

The report closes with three recommendations for strengthening New Orleans’ youth sport and education ecosystem:

1. Dedicated school coordination and backbone support, including a Youth Sports Coordinator in every school or a network of coordinators serving several schools.
2. Continued investment in SBYD organizations and schools, covering transportation, equipment, staffing, and planning.
3. Ongoing training for coaches and program leaders in youth development, social-emotional learning, and trauma-informed practice.

Thank you

This work belongs to the students, families, coaches, teachers, school leaders, funders, and partners who shaped it. Sport for Good New Orleans launched in 2014 as the first Sport for Good City. Over the past decade, the coalition has involved more than 30 organizations, awarded 78 grants, invested $3.3 million, and reached over 73,000 young people through grantmaking. This report builds on that foundation.