SOS Outreach A Youth Development Charity

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SOS Outreach A Youth Development Charity
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Presentation Agenda
I. Issues Facing Youth and the Winter Sports
Industry Today II. Introduction to SOS
Outreach III. Evaluative Outcomes of SOS
Outreach Programs
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The Urgency of Youth to Sustain Winter Sports
We are 12 years away from a major dip in
participation if we dont build up youth
participation now.
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Looking Forward Projected population growth next
25 years
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Projecting Forward The challenge?
1900s - 1970s 10-13 minority population
25 years ago 20 minority population
Now 34 minority population
25 years ahead 46 minority population
Source US Census Bureau and Reach Advisors
surveys of gt30,000 core museum visitors from gt100
museums
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Current Majority Minority States
Already majority minority (CA, HI, NM, TX DC)
Soon to be majority minority (AZ, GA, MD, MS, NY)
Americas youth population will be majority
minority within 15 years
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Now The Hispanic Market
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Childhood Obesity Since 1971
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Mental Health Issues on the Rise

• Lower socioeconomic status is strongly linked to
  mental health problems
• More than 20 percent of children and adolescents
  have severe mental health problems, yet less than
  20 percent receive treatment
• Mentally healthy children are more likely to
  experience academic success
• 17 of the nations 50 largest cities have high
  school graduation rates below 50 percent
• Source Dr. Gil Noam, Harvard University, 2009
  Study by Americas Promise Alliance, 2008.

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Best Practices for Youth Development

• Emphasize character development
• Include mentorship opportunities
• Establish long-term relationships
• Collaborate with schools and school districts
• Engage in evaluative practices and measurable
  outcomes
• Reliance on a well-developed curriculum
• Leadership training programs

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What is SOS Outreach?

• Headquarters Edwards, CO
• Status 501 (c)(3)
• Offers Year round outdoor recreation programs
  to build self-esteem
• Total Participants 5,000 yearly with recent
  merger
• 3,000 through snowsports and 2,000 through
  adventure programs

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The SOS Participant

• 8 18 years old
• Need structure and consistency
• Single-parent and/or low-income homes
• May live with problems such as substance,
  physical and verbal abuse.
• May have multi-generational involvement with the
  court system.

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2008/2009 Participant Demographics

• 73 minority
• 73 have a household income less than
  40,000/year
• 23 single parent households
• 47 participated without insurance

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SOS Programs Now Focus on Long-Term Character
Development
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SOS Encourages Multi-Year Relationships
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Character Development 5 Core Values
Courage Discipline Integrity Wisdom Compassion
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Youth to Adult Mentorship Ratio 3.2 1
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Full-time staff Part-time Regional Program
Managers Part-time Resort Program
Coordinators Part-time Sherpas SOS
Volunteers Youth Agency Counselors Mountain
Instructors
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140
750
240
530
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SOS Participant Evaluative Outcomes

• Comparative skiographics
• Health impacts
• Positive behavioral impacts
• Increases in self-esteem
• Potential for increasing the likelihood of better
  socio-economic status
• Quantify potential long-term economic benefits to
  the snowsports industry

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SOS Health Impacts
SOS participants engaged in significantly more
aerobic exercise and more sports than their
peers. Self assessed health related to likelihood
of continuing long-term in snowsports.
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SOS Positive Behavior
On average SOS participants scored higher than
their peer group on measures of positive behavior
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SOS Protective Factors Questions
Developed by Dr. Peter Witt at Texas AM, the
protective factors questions are administered pre
and post SOS participation. They were also
measured in this survey. The scores increased
significantly with time, suggesting a lasting
effect of SOS exposure.
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SOS Positive Life Trajectory
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SOS Long-term Potential to Fill the Gap

• The data conservatively indicate that 1 in 4 SOS
  participants will go to college and return to the
  sport as active participants.
• They will do so with annual household incomes
  that are roughly 75 percent greater than
  non-degree holders.
• They will enter the participant base at exactly
  the point were we need more youth and greater
  diversity, roughly 7 to 10 years from now.
• There is a proven multiplier effect, therefore
  they are likely going to bring friends and family.

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SOS Long-term Potential to Fill the Gap

• Assuming they return to the sport in their
  mid-twenties, their cumulative lifetime value, in
  terms of only lift ticket revenue would
  conservatively be 30,100.
• Looking at it at the individual level, for every
  one child that progresses through the SOS
  program, roughly 7,500 in lift ticket related
  revenue is generated long-term.
• At its current size, SOS is putting roughly 6,250
  additional visits in the pipeline every year.
• At current average spend per day levels, that
  translates into roughly 6.2 million per year in
  incremental revenue to resorts.

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Additional Winter/Outdoor Youth Developmental
Agencies in CO

• Big City Mountaineers
• cityWILD
• Climbing for Life
• Outward Bound
• Sierra Club Inner City Outings
• Trips for Kids
• The Womens Wilderness Institute
• Wonderful Outdoor World

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Arn Menconi Executive Director, SOS Outreach P.O.
Box 2020 Avon, CO 81620 970.926.9292 arn_at_sosoutrea
ch.org