Preventing youth violence in Philadelphia takes center stage at town hall for coaches, leaders, advocates

Community leaders, coaches and public safety officials gathered in Center City Philadelphia Wednesday to focus on a shared goal: preventing youth violence by investing in sports and structured programming.

The "Play It Safe Philly" town hall, hosted at PECO Energy Hall by the Philadelphia Youth Sports Collaborative and the Police Athletic League, brought together stakeholders from across the city to discuss challenges facing youth organizations and potential solutions.

"If we want to say that we want safer neighborhoods, then we have to be serious about what we are building for people before there is a problem," said Dontae Privette, director of community engagement for the Philadelphia Youth Sports Collaborative.

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis attended the event and highlighted the state's role in supporting prevention efforts, including funding for after-school and summer programs.

"We created the new BOOST initiative to fund after-school and summer programs to keep kids safe," Davis said. "Sports are such a great way to reach young people that we can't otherwise reach."

Organizers said the event was designed to go beyond presentations, giving attendees a chance to collaborate, network and share ideas. Participants identified barriers facing youth organizations — including limited funding, a need for more training, and gaps in support for young people transitioning into adulthood. Attendees also used their phones to vote on which solutions could have the most impact in the next six months.

Police Athletic League Executive Director Erica Vanstone said that kind of feedback is critical.

"We said, let's just sit down and figure out how we can collaborate around what our pressing needs are, what the biggest problems are, and how we could move forward together," Vanstone said.

Coaches and program leaders described how challenges in the community often follow young people onto the field.

"We know that so many teenagers now are getting caught up in so much mishap out in the streets," said Marc Bredell, a coach with the City Youth Association Gators. "So just changing the culture of that age group in the city."

Others emphasized the importance of addressing those issues beyond athletics.

"It's not football if it's not aggressive, right?" said Valencia Peterson, who works with coaches on trauma awareness through Open Door Abuse Awareness Prevention. "But what we're doing is making it so that in their playbook, they have something to fall back on outside of the field."

Organizers also introduced a new "Play It Safe Philly" task force, which will use feedback from the event to help shape recommendations aimed at reducing youth violence.

Privette said the effort is about bringing people together who are often working toward the same goal, but not always in coordination.

"I think at first, everybody thought that they were on their own," he said. "But we were able to show through this project that people can come together — we can do things as a collective."

Organizers say the conversation is just the beginning, with more community input expected before final recommendations are developed.