YOU'RE AN ATHLETE!
We help organizations create experiences young people don't want to leave.
Vision
A world where every young person experiences the life-changing power of sport.
Mission
To transform youth sports into one of the world's most powerful systems for developing healthier children, stronger communities, and lifelong participation.
YOU'RE AN ATHLETE!
At Whole Child Athletics,™ that's what we tell every child.
We challenge those that say kids are not athletes based on a societal definition, a scoreboard outcome, current skill level, or a coach with a cut list.
Our coaches are trained to reinforce to kids that they are athletes because they were made to move, to play, to belong, to grow, and to discover what they're capable of.
Every child belongs.
Every coach develops people first.
Every organization measures what matters.
That's what Whole Child Athletics™ exists to create.
Beyond the Scoreboard™
Whole Child Athletics™ is more than a program or curriculum. It's an operating system that helps schools, parks and recreation departments, YMCAs, Boys & Girls Clubs, and community organizations intentionally use sport to develop healthier, more confident, and more connected young people. Our operating system is built around four connected components.
We integrate. We don't replace.
Whole Child Athletics™ isn't a replacement program, it's the operating system that makes your existing youth sports infrastructure work better together. Too many "solutions" in youth sports ask organizations to abandon what they've built and start fresh. We take the opposite approach. School District's athletic programs, parks department's community leagues, nonprofit's after-school partnerships aren't obstacles to work around. They're the infrastructure we build on.
School Districts, parks and recreation departments, and community organizations already have programs, coaches, and partners in place. Our framework doesn't ask you to start over: it aligns what you already have around a shared set of outcomes, providing shared language, shared metrics, and shared training so that every stakeholder, from coaches to administrators, is working toward the same goals. No rip-and-replace. No competing for the same kids or the same budget line. Just alignment across what's already there, so every existing investment works harder.
What We Believe
Establishes the principles that guide every decision, every coach, every program, and every partnership. Built on six core pillars: Belonging, Participation, Development, Stewardship, Wellness, and Community—it defines what success in youth sports should look like.
↳ Purpose: Create alignment around a shared vision for youth sports.
How We Develop People Through Sport
Provides organizations with the tools, processes, and professional learning needed to intentionally design youth sports experiences that develop more than athletic skills. From coach development and practice design to leadership, family engagement, and program implementation.
↳ Purpose: Turn philosophy into consistent action.
How We Measure What Matters
Our measurement framework for evaluating the outcomes traditional scoreboards overlook. It helps organizations measure belonging, participation, development, stewardship, wellness, and community impact so they can understand the true value of their programs.
↳ Purpose: Measure the outcomes that matter most.
How We Continuously Improve
Transforms information from the Beyond the Scoreboard™ Index into meaningful insights that help leaders monitor progress, identify opportunities, communicate impact, and continuously improve the youth sports experience.
↳ Purpose: Turn evidence into action.
Experience Drives Retention™
Every participant who leaves your organization represents more than a missed registration fee. They represent reduced community impact, weaker word-of-mouth marketing, lost lifetime revenue, and a missed opportunity to help a young person grow through sport.
The Experience Drives Retention™ Value Model
Young people feel safe, supported, challenged, and connected.
More young people return season after season.
Families stay engaged and become long-term advocates.
Positive experiences generate organic growth and community trust.
Coaches are better equipped, more confident, and more likely to return.
Consistent participation improves planning, staffing, and financial stability.
Higher participation creates healthier, more connected communities and expands developmental outcomes.
Longer participation increases both developmental impact and the lifetime value of every participant.
The Whole Child Athletics Difference
We don't just help organizations run better programs. We help them design experiences that young people choose to stay part of.
Because better experiences don't just develop better athletes. They build stronger organizations and healthier communities.
Beyond the Scoreboard™
Winning matters, but it should never be the primary measure of success in youth sports.
At Whole Child Athletics,™ we believe sport is one of life's best classrooms and the greatest victories aren't found on the scoreboard, they're found Beyond the Scoreboard™ in the confidence, character, resilience, and belonging that young people carry with them long after the final whistle.
The Problem
The traditional youth sports model has splintered into programs, leagues, clubs, and tournaments that serve the few rather than the many, prioritizing early specialization, privatization, and elite competition over access, development, and long-term participation. Participation drops sharply after elementary school, especially for low-income students, as costs rise, options narrow, and the systems meant to support young athletes drift further apart.
Fragmented systems keep every kid from playing. Aligned systems make sure every kid has a place.
Our Story
The Whole Child Athletics Framework™ did not begin on a playing field. It began in a school district.
During nearly a decade of service on the Tacoma School Board, including several years as Board President, Scott Heinze was part of one of the most significant transformations in urban public education. Tacoma Public Schools became a national model for Whole Child, SEL-integrated education, achieving a historic 91.1% graduation rate and earning recognition from the Learning Policy Institute and the Aspen Institute.
What drove those outcomes wasn't a single program or a charismatic leader. It was a system aligned around the whole child, embedded across every classroom, and built to sustain results regardless of who was in the room.
The lesson was clear: when you design intentionally around the full development of a young person, including their academic growth, their emotional wellbeing, their sense of belonging, and their connection to community, outcomes follow. Not because of luck, but because the system was designed to produce them.
"What would happen if we applied the same systems thinking to youth sports?"
— The question that Scott asked himself that built this framework
The Whole Child Athletics Framework™
Belonging, participation, development, stewardship, wellness, and community are the foundation of the Whole Child Athletics™ Operating System. Inspired by the evidence behind the Whole Child movement, these six design principles guide how youth sports systems are built, led, and continuously improved.
Every young person deserves to feel seen, valued, connected, and accepted. Belonging is the foundation of participation, learning, confidence, and long-term engagement in sport. When athletes know they matter, they are more likely to stay involved, take healthy risks, and reach their potential.
We Believe
Success Looks Like
Every child deserves meaningful opportunities to play, regardless of ability, background, financial resources, or competitive aspirations. Healthy youth sports systems create multiple pathways for participation, not just varsity or elite competition.
We Believe
Success Looks Like
Sport is one of the most powerful classrooms a young person will ever enter. Athletic experiences should intentionally develop physical competence, social-emotional skills, leadership, resilience, character, and confidence alongside athletic ability.
We Believe
Success Looks Like
Exceptional youth sports programs don't happen by accident. They are created by adults who lead with purpose, professionalism, and accountability. Stewardship means equipping coaches, administrators, officials, and volunteers with the knowledge, systems, and support needed to consistently develop the whole athlete.
We Believe
Success Looks Like
Youth sports should improve physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being. The goal isn't simply producing better athletes, it's helping young people develop healthy habits and relationships with movement that last a lifetime.
We Believe
Success Looks Like
No single organization can create thriving youth sports alone. Schools, parks and recreation departments, healthcare providers, nonprofits, families, businesses, and community leaders each have a role to play. Lasting impact comes from aligned systems working toward shared outcomes.
We Believe
Success Looks Like
About
Whole Child Athletics™ is led by Scott Heinze, former Tacoma School Board President, Aspen Institute Project Play partner, and youth sports systems designer. Scott brings the rare combination of elected governance experience, doctoral-level scholarship, and frontline coaching to every engagement. This framework is built for the practitioners, policymakers, and partners who believe access to sport is a right, not a privilege, and are ready to act on that belief.
The Whole Child Athletics Framework™ is aligned with the Aspen Institute's Project Play initiative, the leading national effort to reimagine youth sports as a vehicle for lifelong health, development, and equity. The Whole Child Athletics Framework™ takes those principles and translates them into an actionable system design for practitioners on the ground to operationalize the findings from their State of Play report.
Scott Heinze served as a strategic advisor to Metro Parks Tacoma and to the Aspen Institute for the 2023 Tacoma-Pierce County State of Play report, a comprehensive assessment of youth sports access, participation trends, and system gaps across one of Washington State's most diverse regions.
What State of Play Tells Us
Methodology
Every engagement is grounded in a framework designed to produce outcomes that don't depend on any one person, site, or circumstance.
Predictable
Outcomes that can be achieved again and again, not dependent on individual talent or informal practices.
Replicable
Implemented with fidelity across different environments, including schools, programs, and communities, without being rebuilt each time.
Scalable
A system that works for one site should work for fifty. Growth is planned into the model from day one, not bolted on after the fact.
Parents
Whole Child Athletics™ helps young athletes build confidence, belonging, leadership, healthy habits, and a love of playing—while developing the skills that matter on and off the field.
The WCA Parent Guide
Youth sports should help children become more confident, connected, resilient, and excited to keep playing. These are the six questions Whole Child Athletics™ believes matter most.
Is My Child Having Fun?
Fun isn't a bonus. It's the foundation. Does your child look forward to practices and games? Do they enjoy playing, learning, competing, and being with their teammates? When sports stop being enjoyable, participation becomes an obligation. And when participation becomes an obligation, kids eventually stop showing up.
Ask your child: "What is your favorite part of playing?"
Does My Child Want to Keep Playing?
The best sports experience creates a desire to come back. Does your child want to play again next season? Are they developing a positive relationship with movement, competition, teammates, and the game itself? Youth sports should help create lifelong participants, not simply short-term performers.
Ask your child: "Do you want to keep playing? Why or why not?"
Does My Child Feel Like They Belong?
Belonging comes before development. Does your child feel welcomed, included, valued, and accepted by their coaches and teammates? A child who feels like they belong is more likely to participate, take healthy risks, build relationships, and keep playing.
Ask your child: "Do you feel like you belong on this team?"
Is My Child Growing in Confidence?
Confidence is about more than performance. Is your child becoming more comfortable trying new things, making mistakes, speaking up, and believing in their ability to improve? A healthy sports environment should help children discover what they're capable of—not make them afraid of failure.
Ask your child: "What is something you feel more confident doing now than you did before?"
Is My Child Growing Through the Experience?
Development should be intentional. Is your child developing as an athlete and as a person? Are coaches providing feedback, encouragement, appropriate challenges, and opportunities to improve? Is your child learning to communicate, lead, work with others, handle adversity, and take responsibility? Your child shouldn't have to be the best player to receive a great sports experience.
Ask your child: "What are you getting better at—and what are you learning about yourself?"
Ask the coach: "How are you helping my child develop this season?"
What Is Being Measured, and How Is My Child's Growth as an Athlete and a Person Being Measured?
Growth Mindset Over Mastery of Skill
Is the program measuring more than points, playing time, wins, and losses? Does it have a clear methodology for understanding your child's athletic development, confidence, belonging, leadership, participation, wellness, and growth as a person?
Parents shouldn't have to guess whether their child's sports experience is making a difference. They should understand what is being measured, how it is being measured, and what the results mean.
Ask the coach or program: "What are you measuring, how are you measuring it, and how will I know my child is growing?"
Every child deserves a place to play.
Every child deserves a coach who sees their potential.
Every family deserves a great experience.
And every child deserves to hear three words:
YOU'RE AN ATHLETE!
Whole Child Athletics in the Conversation
Scott Heinze regularly joins leaders, educators, and community voices to discuss how we can create youth sports experiences that develop the whole child.
Featured Conversation
A conversation on why the current youth sports system pushes so many kids out by age 12, and what it actually looks like to rebuild it around belonging and long-term development.
Listen to the Episode →Featured Conversation
A conversation with Tacoma Rising host Reid Fetters on what it takes to build youth sports systems that strengthen the South Sound community, not just the athletes in it.
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