Thank You, Nike Community Impact Fund, for Helping Girls Build Confidence Through Sport
Beat the Streets is proud to share that we are a 2026 Nike Community Impact Fund #NCIF grantee.
Through this generous support, Beat the Streets will help power the future of youth sport in Toronto by delivering You Grow Girl, a movement-based confidence and resiliency program designed to help girls feel strong, capable and welcome in sport.
This funding will support programming for approximately 160 girls ages 10–18 across four partner schools: Joseph Brant Public School, Chief Dan George Public School, Westview Centennial Secondary School and SATEC @ W.A. Porter Collegiate Institute.
Helping Girls Stay Active and Confident
Girls’ participation in sport often drops sharply during early adolescence. At Beat the Streets, we see this pattern in our own programming: girls make up nearly half of participants in elementary school, but participation can fall dramatically in secondary school.
For many girls, the barrier is not simply access. Our programs are free and delivered directly in schools. The challenge is often confidence: feeling judged, embarrassed, unsure or uncomfortable in sport environments, particularly in physically close activities like wrestling.
You Grow Girl creates a welcoming, girls-only space where participants can move, build confidence, practice communication and learn that sport can be for them too.
What This Support Makes Possible
With support from the Nike Community Impact Fund, Beat the Streets will deliver eight You Grow Girl programs during the 2026–2027 school year.
Each program introduces girls to movement, self-defence, wrestling and combat sport drills, communication, boundary-setting and partner-based activities. Participants will also meet supportive coaches and positive role models who can help them take the next step into ongoing after-school sport programming.
The goal is not mastery of a sport, but confidence to try.
By delivering You Grow Girl during school hours, the program removes common barriers such as transportation, cost and scheduling. By offering it in schools where Beat the Streets already runs after-school wrestling programs, girls are introduced to familiar coaches, familiar spaces and a clear pathway to continue.
This support will help more girls experience sport in a safe, encouraging environment, build confidence in their bodies and see themselves as part of a sport community.
About the Nike Community Impact Fund
The Nike Community Impact Fund supports local organizations working to make sport and play more accessible, inclusive and meaningful for young people.
Nike’s commitment to the future of youth sport aligns closely with the goals of You Grow Girl: helping girls move with confidence, feel a sense of belonging and see sport as a place where they can grow.
Thank You, Nike Community Impact Fund
We are deeply grateful to the Nike Community Impact Fund for investing in girls’ participation, confidence and leadership through sport.
Your support will help more girls in Toronto feel welcome in sport, build confidence through movement and take the next step into ongoing participation.
Thank you for helping power the future of youth sport, one girl at a time.
About Beat the Streets:
At Beat the Streets, our mission is to advance the education of low-income children and youth in the Greater Toronto Area through fun and unique wrestling, life skills, and employment-based development programs. Since 2015, we have served over 28,000 young individuals through our Wrestle 4 Fun, Level Up, You Grow Girl, Work it Girl, After-School and Open Mat Sessions programs, providing them with opportunities to develop their physical, mental, and social well-being. We believe in empowering the next generation by breaking down barriers and creating pathways to success.
Join us in our mission to impact youth:
Join us in making a difference by supporting our cause and learning more about how you can contribute to the education and growth of children and youth in need. Together, we can shape a brighter future for all.
