Programs

The Institute's signature program is the Scholar-Athlete Games, which bring together equal numbers of scholar-athletes and scholar-artists for a cultural and athletic exchange to encourage individual growth, develop global awareness in future world leaders, and support ethical behavior and sportsmanship on an international level. In June of 2011, a World Scholar-Athlete Games will be held at the University of Connecticut. All of the Institute's programs support its mission to foster world peace through sports, culture and education.

Major Programs

• Scholar-Athlete Games welcome scholar-athletes and scholar-artists aged 15-19 from over 190 countries and all 50 states to explore common ground, conduct leadership training and develop peace initiatives. Keynote speakers have included former U.S. President Bill Clinton, General Colin Powell, Nobel Peace Prize Winner Elie Wiesel and Senator George Mitchell. The Institute partners with the United Nations and other distinguished organizations on this international event.
• The 2011 World Youth Peace Summit will commemorate the Institute's 25th anniversary. This extraordinary event will begin with a World Scholar-Athlete Games. At the conclusion of the Games, participants will be joined by past scholar-athlete/artist event alums and other interested individuals from around the world. During the Summit, all participants will develop their own Pathways to Peace initiatives to foster peace in their home countries or communities.
• National Sportsmanship Day – Begun in 1991, National Sportsmanship Day is held annually the first Tuesday in March to promote sportsmanship initiatives in schools from kindergarten through college. Considered by many to be the largest sportsmanship initiative in the world, the annual NSD program was recently celebrated in over 14,000 schools in the United States and internationally.
• The New England Basketball Hall of Fame honors players, coaches or teams for exemplary performance and contribution to the sport.
• Hall of Fame Press publishes sport-themed books. Titles include Our Game: A Story of New England Basketball by acclaimed author and journalist, Bill Reynolds; The Encyclopedia of Sports Parenting by Dan Doyle with Deborah Doermann Burch; and Dirty Water: A Red Sox Mystery by Mary-Ann Tirone Smith and Jere Smith.
• The 100 Most Influential Sports Educators and the fifteen most influential sports education "teams" were selected by the Institute after three years of evaluation. The basis for selection is the effective use of sport as a means to educate.

Other Programs

• The International Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame, located on the campus of The University of Rhode Island, showcases the athletic, academic and humanitarian achievements of noted scholar-athletes. Honors are bestowed on individuals who exemplify the ideals of the scholar-athlete. The center also serves as an educational resource center.
• The Renaissance Games encompass academics, athletics, the arts and ethics. Renaissance Games reward those who are well-rounded, and offer everyone the opportunity to be a part of a team.
• The Center for Sports Leadership building is presently under construction. This new facility will offer dynamic leadership training to thousands of coaches, captains and other student athletes.
• The Center for Sports Poetry encourages young people to submit poems that use sport as the motif. Promising poems are entered into the annual All-American Sports Poetry Contest.
• The annual Sports Education Book of the Year Award recognizes exceptional sport-themed books that contribute to the education of youth and adults, and to the American sports culture. The award was instituted in 2008 with the selection of Game On by Tom Farrey. In 2009, the award was given to Losing Season by Jack Ridl.