High school project idea · Sports & Performance
Map the hidden costs, rules, access points, and social barriers that decide who can participate in a sport.
Study access to one sport and propose changes grounded in data and the lived experiences of athletes, families, coaches, and providers.
Why this project matters
Study access to one sport and propose changes grounded in data and the lived experiences of athletes, families, coaches, and providers. This project feels different from a school assignment because the student serves young people and organizations working to broaden sports participation, creates something visible, tests it honestly, responds to feedback, and explains the decisions behind the final result.
What you will create
Use these deliverables as milestones for Investigate Who Gets to Play. Adapt the details to your interests, available time, and real-world opportunities.
Research fees, equipment, travel, facilities, tryouts, time, transportation, disability access, gender, culture, information, and opportunity pathways. Document the needs, constraints, credible sources, and perspectives of young people and organizations working to broaden sports participation.
Turn the evidence into a focused plan for the sports access investigation and equity action plan, including success criteria, ethical boundaries, scope, and a realistic path to completion.
Create the first complete version of the sports access investigation and equity action plan. Include an access-system map, cost model, participation data, stakeholder interviews, barrier analysis, program comparison, and prioritized action plan.
review findings with affected participants and program leaders, then test whether recommendations are feasible, respectful, and targeted Record what happened, what failed, what users or reviewers said, and which changes you made.
Publish the final sports access investigation and equity action plan with a portfolio-ready case study showing the challenge, evidence, process, revisions, results, limits, and next version.
Make the work stronger
For Investigate Who Gets to Play, use these checkpoints to protect the quality of the work without turning the project into a performance for admissions.
Skills you can build
College application value
Can demonstrate initiative, curiosity, reflection, and growth through the student’s choices, response to setbacks, work with young people and organizations working to broaden sports participation, and development of Equity Research, Community Interviewing, and Program Evaluation.
The goal of Investigate Who Gets to Play is not to manufacture an impressive activity. Do real work, keep evidence of the process, and reflect honestly on what changed.
Related college majors
Use Investigate Who Gets to Play as a clue, then open a related major guide to compare coursework, career directions, reality checks, and other ways to test the field.
Investigate Who Gets to Play is an original Compass educational starting point designed around real work, visible evidence, feedback, and reflection. It is not an admissions guarantee.