When we first started 2-4-1 over 15 years ago, our off-season was really clear. Kerry and I were both working in schools, and we would start gearing up for the summer sometime around February or March, knowing we only had one or two weeks of programming on the horizon. In all honesty, as we were raising our children and immersed in the youth sport world, it felt incredibly busy and, in many ways, stressful.
As we conclude an incredibly busy May, I fully realize that 2-4-1 no longer has an off-season. While I still get folks who say, “Oh, you must be gearing up for summer,” I smile because we now have so many summer programs that it’s refreshing to know others are in charge at all of our locations, but it seems now we are as busy in January as we are in July.
As you will read in this month’s newsletter, we have been incredibly busy. We are wrapping up Spring programming in seven Hartford Public Schools and finishing up two programs in partnership with Active City Hartford at Bushnell Park. We have officially started programming at two schools in Kitwe, Zambia, and conducted new training for our educators in Nairobi, Kenya.
We have been interviewing well over 100 coaches to assist with our programs this summer, and we are excited to announce that the bill we testified for before the Connecticut state legislature earlier this year passed with bipartisan support. This legislation will act as a model for other states around the country, advocating for the proceeds of online sports gambling to go towards youth sport nonprofits.
In addition to this legislative success, we had a groundbreaking announcement from USA Fencing at this year’s Aspen Institute Project Play Summit. USA Fencing announced their partnership with us during an Olympic year, and if you haven’t seen the video of NFL All-Pro tight end Greg Olsen using our foils, please check it out below.
This month, we also hosted our second annual 2-4-1 Asics Blue Jean Mile, which was incredibly successful and has proven to be our biggest fundraiser of the year. The proceeds go directly to supporting programming for children in Hartford.
Amidst all this, we had the chance to do an interview with NBC Connecticut. They did a tremendous job putting together a story that really shows how we intersect social-emotional learning and sport. Check out the video below to see the full story.
CT nonprofit helps kids grow emotionally through sports
So, as we gear up for a summer where we will reach over 3,000 children across the globe, we are extremely grateful for those of you who have supported us along the way. This growth in our reach would not be possible without you. But we still have lots and lots of work to do. We are prepared, and our mission to put play back into sports and to teach children the benefits of play as it relates to connectedness and well-being keeps wind in our sails, as do you.
Thank you for being part of this incredible journey with us. Here’s to a summer full of play, growth, and positive impact!
About Steve Boyle
Steve Boyle is a connector, collaborator, and tireless advocate for making youth sports more playful, inclusive, and developmentally sound. As Executive Director of 2-4-1 CARE, Inc. and Co-Founder of 2-4-1 Sports, Steve has helped lead a growing movement to reshape the youth sports experience—one that puts the joy of play and the whole child at the center. Grounded in his background as a school counselor and coach, Steve co-created the award-winning TOP Self™ platform, which uses sport as a vehicle for social-emotional learning. Under his collaborative leadership, 2-4-1 has grown from a single program in West Hartford, Connecticut to a global nonprofit impacting communities across North America and Africa. Steve’s influence extends beyond his own organization. He served as Advisory Board Chair for the National Association of Physical Literacy and as Global Lead for Athletics and Physical Literacy at Whittle School & Studios, shaping programming in Washington, D.C. and Shenzhen. Whether working with local partners or global networks, Steve brings humility, heart, and a belief in the power of teamwork to everything he does.