National Youth Sports Program (NYSP)
This free 5-week summer program serves over 300 New Haven youth each year. NYSP has created positive opportunities and strengthened the connection between the Yale and New Haven communities.  The children participate in daily schedules that consist of sports activities and educational classes. They are transported to and from Yale each day, receive a hot breakfast, a hot lunch and interact with Yale Student-Athletes that work the camp. NYSP promotes the value of athletics, while still teaching life skills that can assist participants in making a successful transition to adulthood through positive youth development.

NYPP (New Haven Board of Education/Yale/PAL/Parks and Recreation) Basketball League
The League runs from January until March followed by an awards banquet after the championship game.  Approximately 125 boys and girls from the New Haven area participate in the league, and clinics are run by Yale student-athletes.

Fall Youth Day
Fall Youth Day is an annual event that occurs at a Yale home football game. Student-athletes conduct clinics for approximately 300 children who are transported round-trip to the Bowl for free.  The clinics are followed by a BBQ and free admission to the football game.  New Haven Middle Schools and Shoreline Youth Football Teams get a chance to play a game in the Bowl in front of friends and family before and after the varsity game.

Spring Yale Olympic Youth Day
A date is picked in April for children of New Haven to participate in clinics followed by a BBQ and free admission to all of the athletic events going on that day out at the Bowl.
 
Bulldog Buddies Mentor Program
This mentor program matches Yale student-athletes with boys and girls from New Haven's Vincent Mauro Elementary School. Mentors visit Vincent Mauro School at least once a week to play games, help with homework and read books. In February, students and mentors are invited to attend a Yale Men's Basketball game in Payne Whitney Gym, as one of many special events.

Big Brothers/ Big Sisters Program
This mentoring program connects Yale students one-on-one with children in the New Haven community. Mentors and children meet individually on a weekly basis in an activity of their choice, like a trip to the park or watching a movie. There are also planned gatherings for all mentors and children to join together, including Yale athletic events and pizza parties.

New Haven Tennis Outreach
NHTO provides free year-round tutoring, tennis lessons, and mentoring to selected Vincent E. Mauro Elementary Magnet School students. Students also receive a full scholarship to all four weeks of the Blue & White Championship Tennis Camps held at the Yale tennis courts during the month of July. Through the combination of athletics and academics, a bond is formed between students and mentors (Yale varsity coaches, varsity & club team members) that positively influences the direction of students' futures.

School Visits/Hospital Visits
School/Hospital visits take place throughout the academic year as Yale Coaches and Athletes visit and speak with various elementary and middle schools around New Haven along with Yale New Haven Hospital.

Sports Clinics, Assemblies and School Visits
Yale Teams put on clinics throughout the year for the local Youth of New Haven. Student-athletes and coaches volunteer to visit local youth organizations, schools, and community organizations to talk about academics, athletics, college life or to demonstrate sports skills. Visits to schools are made very frequently. The participating organizations and schools are also invited to attend a Yale athletic home competition in the hope of maintaining the connection between athletes and community groups.

NCAA Girls Sport Clinics
Clinics take place throughout the academic year, and are conducted by Yale coaches and athletes of non-traditional sports (Squash, Crew, etc), to expose youth to sports they would not otherwise be exposed to.

Think Pink At Yale                                                                                            - The month of February marked the kickoff of nationwide awareness for Breast Cancer and many of Yale's teams supported the cause by hosting auctions and sporting pink jerseys.  The women's basketball team's affiliation with Think Pink is especially meaningful at a time when the Smilow Cancer Center at Yale-New Haven hospital is being constructed just a few blocks from Payne Whitney Gym, as Joel Smilow '54 established the coaching endowment for women's basketball and most recently has turned his philanthropic attention to cancer research.

The women's basketball team helped raise awareness by participating in "Think Pink", an initiative created by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.  The Bulldogs supported the endeavor by raising money for the Smilow Cancer Center's breast cancer research through the sale of tee-shirts and other merchandise.

At Ingalls Rink, the women's ice hockey team showed solidarity for those suffering from the disease by participating in the "Pink at the Rink," a branded partnership between the ECAC and the American Caner Society. All ECAC Conference teams, including the Bulldogs, wore specially designed pink jerseys when they played at home during the weekends of February 8^th and February 15^th.  All of the jerseys were auctioned off on eBay following the match-ups.

Community Rowing Program                                                                               The Community Rowing program at Yale began 10 years ago through an endowment established by the Gilder Family.  Since then, over 1,000 youth from the Valley and New Haven areas have been introduced to the sport through the guidance of Jamie Snider, an assistant crew coach and director of the program.  The Yale Community Rowing program has countless benefits for individual participants, providing opportunities for personal growth that extend far beyond the discipline as they listen to coaches explain the rowing technique before practicing it themselves. Participants are shown videotape of themselves rowing so that they can continue to improve.  This process of hard work and improvement, as demonstrated by actual videotape, allows the children to experience the sense of accomplishment that comes with gradual progress toward a goal.

Squash Haven
Squash Haven is a year-round after-school enrichment program for New Haven youth.  Its mission is to promote academic, athletic, and personal growth through a program of squash instruction, and community service.  Twenty-eight fifth and sixth grade students from John Martinez and Edgewood Magnet Schools come to Yale's Payne Whitney Gym a total of five to six days a week throughout the year.  Three hour weekday practice sessions include squash instruction with the Yale teams, fitness, homework help, and academic enrichment.  Team members also participate in ten hours of community service throughout the year, compete in squash matches and tournaments, and participate in additional community and cultural events.

Squash Haven is a member of the Nation Urban Squash and Education Association, joining like-minded programs in Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and elsewhere.  As a member, Squash Haven is subject to rigorous programmatic standards and attends the annual national urban squash tournaments, which were held this year in Philadelphia and Williamstown, Mass.  Squash Haven will add ten new 5th grade team members in the fall of 2008 while continuing to serve existing team members.

Sportsometry
This new program uses sports to teach New Haven youth math and science.  In addition to tutoring, mentors teach lessons explaining the math and science behind the sports kids love to play.