The cost of skiing, mountain biking and other youth sports can put them out of reach for some Summit County families.
Park City Community Foundation Executive Director Joel Zarrow said its Youth United Fund is expanding sports options and financial assistance to help more children participate.
“Our main focus is to address the critical challenges facing our community, and one of them is it's an expensive place to live,” Zarrow said on KCPW’s “Local News Hour” July 28. “Mountain biking, skiing, all the sports and activities cost a lot of money, and we want to make sure that everybody has access to it.”
He said the nonprofit youth program has raised $2 million and registered 11,000 children since its inception 10 years ago.
The program relies on community donations and its endowment fund to reduce financial barriers.
Youth access manager Junior Vieyra said the nonprofit pairs kids with sports organizations rather than sponsoring families.
“We don’t directly fund families,” Vieyra said. “We grant out to the organizations, and each organization has their own scholarship process. And families are encouraged to apply within the organization’s scholarship process.”
Youth United helps families with registration and provides any equipment a child might need, from helmets to skis to lacrosse balls.
This year, Vieyra said the program granted $350,000 to more than 29 partners. The sports include mountain biking, basketball, soccer and alpine and cross-country skiing.
“We work with almost every sport,” Vieyra said. “And if there's a sport that a family wants to do that we don't currently work with, we make that connection with organization, and we connect the families with the organization.”
The group hopes to raise another $350,000 for next year.
“There’s still a need. I think a lot of community members still don’t know about the program…I don’t think we’ve hit the limit yet,” Zarrow said.
Applications for the next grants open in early 2027.
For more information, visit parkcitycf.org.
