Call for applications: FY2017 Sports Visitor and Sports Envoy Program

The Sports Diplomacy Division within the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) at the U.S. Department of State announces an open competition for funding.

The Sports Visitor and Sports Envoy programmes support U.S. foreign policy goals and promote key U.S. values, on and off the field, and an understanding of the political, economic, social, and cultural contexts from which they arise.

The Sports Visitor and Sports Envoy Program is designed to achieve the following goals:

Showcase and enhance American expertise, leadership, and lessons learned in the sporting arena, from community-based recreational youth play to professional levels
Increase and deepen understanding of U.S. society, culture, and history, and dispel stereotypes
Promote cross-cultural and mutual understanding, and appreciation for diversity, between U.S. peers and communities and programme participants
Cultivate leadership and develop capacity for participants to build stable communities in the U.S. and abroad
Address U.S. foreign policy goals

Pending the availability of FY 2017 funds, ECA plans to issue one Cooperative Agreement for a total of $1,700,000 for the implementation and oversight of the FY 2017 Sports Visitor and Sports Envoy Program.

Eligibility:

Applications may be submitted by U.S. public and private non-profit organisations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 USC 501(c)(3). Bureau grant guidelines require that organisations with less than four years of experience in conducting international exchanges be limited to $130,000 in Bureau funding. Therefore, organisations with less than four years experience in conducting international exchanges are ineligible to apply under this competition.