The Scorecard
YESS captures a team’s sustainability initiatives and benchmarks them against a curated list of best practices designed to help teams measure their current efforts and adopt simple, impactful strategies to reduce their environmental footprint. From greener travel to zero-waste snacks, the scorecard empowers youth sports organizations to lead the charge for a more sustainable future.
How to Support Sustainability
Transportation
Encourage carpooling by players and coaches to games and practices
Reduces emissions and traffic near event locations
Promote use of public transportation, cycling, or walking
Lowers individual carbon footprint
Waste Management
Use refillable water bottles and bulk dispensers
Minimizes single-use plastic waste
Set up designated recycling and compost bins
Diverts waste from landfills
Energy Usage
Limit lighting usage to essential
times only
Reduces unnecessary electricity use
Use energy-efficient lighting (LEDs), and/or encourage upgrades for solar or renewable power
Lowers energy consumption and supports the shift to renewable energy
Team Player & Action
Educate players and coaches on the environmental impact of sports and how to be more eco-friendly
Builds awareness and promotes
eco-friendly habits
Promote zero-waste* snack
policies at practices, games, and
team events
Reduces waste and encourages
healthy eating
Community Engagement
Organize team volunteer days for local environmental cleanups
and restoration
Increases community involvement in sustainability
Promote the donation, sharing,
and/or re-use of uniforms,
gear, or equipment
Reduces demand for new products and decreases waste into landfills
Extreme Climate Response
Have and follow guidelines for
playing in extreme
temperatures (hot or cold)
Encourages climate awareness and promotes health of players
Have and follow air quality guidelines for playing
Promotes community accountability and awareness of air pollution
Build structures and/or plant
trees
Improves air quality and provides shade for cooling
*A “zero-waste snack policy” would aim to minimize food waste by encouraging the purchase and consumption of snacks with minimal packaging, prioritizing reusable containers, and promoting practices like buying in bulk, choosing unpackaged when possible and composting food scraps whenever applicable; essentially focusing on reducing single-use packaging and maximizing the reuse of containers to divert waste from landfills.