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Student Success • Research and Innovation

Faculty-student team launches youth development initiative through sport and play

Published •
Seven college students stand together beneath a basketball hoop on an outdoor court, smiling in front of a chain-link fence and trees. Most are wearing Miami University apparel. The group includes participants and volunteers from the “Recess for Champions” program at Kramer Elementary, which promotes life skill development through sport-based play.
Miami University students gather at Kramer Elementary School as part of “Recess for Champions,” a Spring 2025 youth development initiative that blends sport and social work.
Student Success • Research and Innovation

Faculty-student team launches youth development initiative through sport and play

Published •

Miami University Assistant Professor Carlyn Kimiecik partnered with undergraduate students Katie Dunn and Sophie Dull to launch Recess for Champions, a sport-based positive youth development initiative. Held at Kramer Elementary School during Spring 2025, the program used recess time to build life skills through structured games facilitated by nine student-athlete volunteers from Miami Athletics. The interdisciplinary effort was part of the Sport, Play, Action, & Resilience Collaborative (SPARC!) housed in the Department of Family Science and Social Work. Dunn and Dull presented their work at Miami’s Undergraduate Research Forum on April 25.

Learn more about Recess for Champions

Two female students stand smiling in front of a large academic research poster titled “Recess for Champions,” which details a youth development program using sports and play. The poster includes sections on background, logistics, curriculum, and outcomes. The students are dressed in business attire and participating in Miami University’s Undergraduate Research Forum.
Undergraduate students Katie Dunn and Sophie Dull present “Recess for Champions” at Miami University’s 2025 Undergraduate Research Forum.
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Department of Family Science and Social Work College of Education, Health, and Society