As director of operations for Leveling the Playing Field, Kaitlin Brennan knows that people really want to put their used sports equipment to good use. But even she was surprised to get an email from someone in Hawaii with softball equipment, wanting to know where they could drop it off.
“People want to give, they just don’t know how,” says Brennan. It’s what drives her and also the organization, which at just shy of 10 years, is now in three areas – the DMV, Baltimore, where she started in 2018, and Philadelphia, which opened amidst the pandemic last year.
Video of Will McBeath of Leveling the Playing Field hauling the DMV’s newest collection bin to a spot just across from the field office.
“Youth sports is apolitical, you can see the value for kids,” she says. “It’s been amazing to see the positivity and connective nature of youth sports across every stakeholder we work with.” Givers want to give, volunteers love helping, and recipients love the equipment and the sometimes unexpected possibilities.
Leveling the Playing Field will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year. It started when founder Max Levitt saw the volume of sports equipment that goes to waste. He decided to create a “food bank for sports equipment.”
Kaitlin Brennan is LPF’s director of operations
Just like it sounds, people drop off used (and sometimes new) sports equipment in bins that are placed around the DMV (including one of the newest, at The Fields at RFK!). LPF collects and sorts items in its warehouse. And coaches and others come into the warehouse to pick up what they need for their players – many of whom can’t afford new equipment and get shut out of sports experiences.
“(Coaches and program leaders) come to the warehouse, see all the options and they're typically walking out with a lot more than they initially thought they were coming in for. To see that expansion of ideas and options, that’s always the thing for me that really makes me proud and grateful to be able to work for LPF. To see that aha! moment and see those options open up – we get the chance to see that in real time and it is something special and energizing.”
A few years in, Levitt and his team saw the need extends beyond the DMV – lack of equipment as a barrier to sports play isn’t a uniquely DC problem. Leveling the Playing Field expanded to Baltimore in 2018 and then to Philadelphia. Brennan went from opening the Baltimore warehouse to now serving as director of operations for all three locations.
It’s hard to get an exact count because of the way teams and players overlap, but LPF figures it has distributed over $8 million of athletic equipment to 1,250 unique programs. About half of them are Title I schools and the rest are Boys and Girls clubs, volunteer-run leagues and afterschool programs. More than 100,000 kids in each market have received cleats, gloves, weights, golf clubs, helmets, volleyballs…it’s a long list.
LPF’s day-to-day work is collecting the equipment and distributing it. But Brennan says its core mission is about more than that. “LPF is about connecting the entire youth sports ecosystem” from the travel team running a collection drive to the school or business that volunteers to the programs that are providing sports experiences to kids, often with limited resources.
“We are connecting all the components of the youth sports ecosystem and hopefully contributing to not only a more connected youth sports realm, but one that really expands opportunities for all kids, regardless of background, to play sports.”
There are now 24 bins in the DMV, including the bin that was added at The Fields earlier this month, which came about quickly after LPF and CRYSP first found each other and Events DC gave an enthusiastic ‘yes’ to placing the bin across from the field office. Both organizations hope that as players, parents and coaches become aware of the bright green bin, they’ll start filling it with cleats, lacrosse sticks, soccer balls, field hockey sticks, roller blades, hoola hoops, t-ball sets, and whiffle balls.
To learn more about Leveling the Playing Field, how to volunteer, what and how you can donate, or how to receive gear for your group or team, visit their website.
