Parkland Buddy Sports, Inc. is a 501 (c) 3 not for profit organization dedicated to providing the best in sport programs for children and young adults with special needs and volunteer opportunities for neurotypical teens. The program builds skills, confidence, self esteem, and a lifetime devotion to sports and fitness.
8 Programs: We currently offer eight programs, soccer, flag football, basketball, tennis, golf, running and yoga – that run throughout the calendar year. We serve hundreds of special needs players from Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties and recruit hundreds of student volunteers from high schools all over South East Florida.
Team Effort – The enduring success of Parkland Buddy Sports can be attributed to the Team Effort of our dedicated Board of Directors, Coaches, Volunteers, Players and their families. We cultivate an environment that makes every child feel empowered, challenged and loved with an emphasis on teamwork, having fun and making friends.
Fee Free – Any family with a child or young adult with special needs is welcomed to participate in our programs at no cost. We are subsidized entirely through personal and corporate tax deductible donations, sponsorships and special events. 100% of all funds raised are allocated to funding our programs.
Interested in becoming a sponsor or donor? Please click on the Donations tab at the top to learn more.
Amazon Smile: We are partners with Amazon Smile! When shopping on Amazon Smile, designate Parkland Buddy Sports as your charity of choice and .5% of every purchase will come directly to us!
Volunteer Scholarships – We are grateful to our volunteers. We also offer several annual scholarships to our High School seniors. To learn more about these opportunities, please look under the Volunteering tab, students must follow the directions to apply for scholarship consideration.
About Our Programs:
- Players and volunteers MUST register by the designated deadlines to participate in each program
- Players are paired with volunteers/buddies for weekly activities and games
- Activities and games take place Saturday or Sunday (*Yoga Buddies is Wednesday afternoon)
- Each activity last approximately 1 hour
Our Special Needs Players Learn:
- Not to give up
- Always try your best
- Make new friends
- Have fun!
Our Volunteers/Buddies Learn:
- Patience
- Tolerance
- Responsibilty
- Accountability
- One person really can change the life of another
Players are matched with their own “Buddy” volunteer for the entire season. Our volunteers, both students and adults, learn to create an environment void of physical, social and cultural barriers so there are “NO LIMITS.”
All student volunteers receive community service hours for their participation