Programs

  • PAL Law Enforcement Cadets:
    • This longstanding program serving youth ages 14-20 has been enriched in 2010 through a new pilot with the SFPD.  The 2010 Summer Cadet Academy prepared 25 youth, mostly from the southeastern part of the city, for volunteer internships through a 4-week intensive training provided by Police Academy staff.  Graduates are now working in internships at Bayview and Ingleside Station under the direction of SFPD Cadet Coordinators.  We trained an additional 47 new PAL Cadets for the 2011 Summer Cadet Academy and have expanded to almost 60 PAL Cadet Interns now stationed at four SFPD station for the 2011-12 school year.
  • Football:
    • For more than fifty years, the PAL Seahawks Football program has played at Kimbell Field in the Western Addition.  With the help of 30 volunteer coaches (many of whom were former PAL Seahawks themselves in their youth) Seahawks football is serving 200 young boys every fall.  The majority of these youth are socioeconomically disadvantaged and many are foster youth for whom this program provides positive adult role models in their lives. Starting in 2012, PAL Seahawks will be playing in the NorCal American Youth Football League.
  • Cheer and Dance
    • Launched 25 years ago in partnership with the football program, The PAL Seahawks Cheer and Dance team is coached by 20 volunteers, many alumnae of the program themselves, that serve 60 coed cheerleaders in the Western Addition.  For each of the last eight years Seahawks Dance teams have competed and won titles at the Pop Warner National Competition in Orlando, Florida.  In Fall 2012, the PAL Seahawks Cheerleaders will be joining the American Youth Football League.
  • Baseball:
    • Supported by the San Francisco Giants Community Fund, SFPAL started a new Junior Giants League in San Francisco in 2010.  SFPAL partnered with the Bayview YMCA and the Hunters Point Boys & Girls Club to reach more than 300 kids ages 5-14 in the southeastern part of the city – most new to baseball. SFPD officers from Bayview and Ingleside Stations provided additional support and volunteer assistance to PAL Junior Giants coaches. The program doubled in size in the summer of 2011.
  • Soccer: 
    • SFPAL manages the annual youth pring soccer  (CYSA) league in partnership with the City of San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, SF Vikings Soccer and Mission Soccer. We serve approximately 2300 kids throughout the city with the help of 230 volunteer coaches.
  • Basketball
    • PAL’s Fall Basketball League, serves more than 80 teams of 3rd -8th grade boys and girls with the leadership of 160 volunteer coaches.  All games are played at Boys & Girls Club gyms in San Francisco.
  • Judo
    • For over 15 years, PAL Judo has been led by a civilian volunteer, Sensei Bill Wong, who dedicates three afternoon’s a week year-round for 20+ boys and girls in the Mission.  In Fall 2010, this program initiated a new partnership with the San Francisco Boys & Girls Club as we relocate to the Columbia Park Club in San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood.

PROGRAM FEE PHILOSOPHY:

  • SFPAL places special emphasis on supporting and growing volunteers to serve kids in some of the most disadvantage San Francisco communities, many of whom would otherwise not have access to extra-curricular activities or afterschool sports.
  • The SFPAL is a 501c3 and receives no funding from the City of San Francisco.
  • We keep our program fees low for participants in an effort to provide access to our services for as many kids as possible.
    • Our registration fees cover only 20-25% of our direct program costs – SFPAL fundraises through individual donations, grants and events for the rest.
    • Program registration fees for participants range from being free to $65 per year depending upon the sport.
    • Other leagues/organizations typically charge 2-4 times as much as SFPAL with fees ranging from $70-$300+
  • SFPAL provides services to all youth regardless of their ability to pay, and have a fee waiver/scholarship program in place for those in need.
    • As an example, PAL provided scholarships for the $60 registration fee for over 75% of football/cheer participants this year.
    • In 2011, with an increasingly depressed economy, PAL provided fee waivers to more families and kids than at any time in the organizations 50+ year history.

PARTNERS:

We partner with numerous organizations to ensure best practices for youth development including the Team Up for Youth, Positive Coaching Alliance, California Youth Soccer Association, San Francisco Junior Giants, US Amateur Boxing Association, United States Judo Federation, San Francisco Boys and Girls Clubs and Pop Warner Football. We also work closely with City agencies such as the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department and the San Francisco Police Department.

FUNDERS:

U.S. Office of Emergency Services, San Francisco Police Officers Association, The Gap Foundation, Doris and Don Fisher, Lennar Urban, Northern California Carpenters Regional Council, Bode Gravel Company, GGS Foundation, Kimball Foundation