After school sports are coming back to some Sacramento schools.
More than 20,000 elementary school students will be able to participate in after-school flag football, basketball and running programs in Sacramento thanks to a new initiative rolled out on Wednesday, October 3 by Sacramento City Unified School District. All of the school district’s elementary schools are participating in the program available first through sixth graders.
In announcing the program, the district cited research showing that extracurricular sports not only promote teamwork, responsibility and a sense of community, they have also been shown to boost school attendance, academic success and aspirations for continuing education past high school.
The City of Sacramento will partner with the school district through the City’s Youth Development department to offer the flag football and basketball programs. The running program is a partnership between the Sacramento Running Association and the school district. Thousand Strong students have also been hired by the school district to assist with games, score keeping and coaching.
Flag football will run in the fall from October to early December and 1,320 students will participate. Basketball will follow the flag football program from February to April with 880 students. The S.T.R.I.D.E. running program will have more than 20,000 students, will continue all year long and is available to all grades.
According to SCUSD every one percent increase in elementary student average daily attendance can generate approximately $2 million in additional revenue for the district. The total yearly budget to run the program is $318,00. The initial start up cost of the program is $645,000. The City of Sacramento made a small contribution to the start up cost to assist with coaching stipends.
