Opportunity Information: Apply for SFOP0009380
The FY 2023 Sports Visitor and Sports Envoy Programs opportunity is a U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) funding competition run through the Office of Citizen Exchanges, Sports Diplomacy Division. The Department is seeking one organization to run two related international exchange programs under a single cooperative agreement. The core idea is to use sports as a practical platform for public diplomacy, advancing U.S. foreign policy goals and reinforcing U.S. values both on and off the field. The exchanges are designed to help participants better understand the political, economic, social, and cultural contexts that shape sports and civic life, while also building relationships and mutual understanding across countries.
The opportunity is open to U.S. public and private non-profit organizations, including eligible colleges and universities, with emphasis on organizations that qualify under 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3). The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which generally signals substantial federal involvement in the project beyond what is typical in a standard grant, often including closer coordination, approvals, and ongoing collaboration with ECA during implementation. The program falls under CFDA (now commonly referenced as Assistance Listing) 19.415 and is listed as a discretionary opportunity.
Programmatically, the grant covers two exchange tracks: the Sports Visitor Program and the Sports Envoy Program. These initiatives intentionally target priority audiences and communities that can be harder to reach through traditional diplomacy channels, including at-risk youth, women, minorities, people with disabilities, and non-English speakers. A key eligibility restriction is also spelled out: Sports Visitor proposals that are primarily designed for elite athlete on-the-field training are not eligible. In other words, the emphasis must be on exchange, leadership, inclusion, community engagement, and values-based learning rather than high-performance training for elite competition.
ECA plans to make a single award with a total ceiling of $3,640,000. The funding is broken into three parts: $2,250,000 for the Sports Visitor Program, $650,000 for the Sports Envoy Program, and an additional $740,000 in one-time funds specifically intended to support Ukraine-related activities. Only one award is expected, meaning one lead recipient will be responsible for the overall design, management, and accountability across both programs, including all reporting, compliance, monitoring, and coordination with ECA.
The selected organization is expected to handle comprehensive organizational and administrative oversight and, importantly, to issue and manage sub-awards. ECA anticipates that the prime recipient will identify qualified sub-awardees to implement programming for at least two outbound student-athlete exchanges under the Sports Visitor Program. Applicants are encouraged to clearly explain how they will structure sub-awards, select partners, monitor performance, manage risk, and ensure consistent program quality and compliance across all implementing entities.
In terms of scale, the award is expected to support approximately 160 total participants in the Sports Visitor Program, with an anticipated mix of about 100 foreign participants and 60 U.S. participants. It is also expected to support about 40 to 50 participants in the Sports Envoy Program. ECA notes that applicants are strongly encouraged to exceed these participation targets if their approach, experience, and operational efficiencies allow them to do so without sacrificing program quality.
Administratively, the competition has a strict submission rule: ECA will consider only one proposal per applicant organization. If an organization submits multiple applications in Grants.gov, ECA will only review the version submitted closest to the deadline, and that submission will be treated as the sole application from that organization. The opportunity was created February 1, 2023, and the original closing date was April 26, 2023. The official listing identifies the opportunity number as SFOP0009380, with the funding agency as the Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.Apply for SFOP0009380
- The Department of State, Bureau Of Educational and Cultural Affairs in the other (see text field entitled explanation of other category of funding activity for clarification) sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY 2023 Sports Visitor and Sports Envoy Programs" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.415.
- This funding opportunity was created on Feb 01, 2023.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 26, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $3,640,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
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