Greater Boston · 501(c)(3) nonprofit · EIN 81-1530946

Sports already teach leadership.
We make it deliberate.

The mission of Boston P.L.A.Y.S. (Promoting Leadership Across Youth Sports) is to foster leadership skills for inner-city and disadvantaged youth through sports and achievement. We believe the skills and leadership developed through athletic endeavors can translate to life skills beyond sports.

The Record

Everything you would check
before writing us in.

Last reviewed 18 Aug 2026

If you are a league treasurer, a grant officer, or a parent deciding whether we are real, this is the section you actually need. It is the first thing on this page.

Legal nameBoston Plays IncOperating as Boston P.L.A.Y.S. (Promoting Leadership Across Youth Sports).
Tax status501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charity, in good standingIRS determination March 2016. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
EIN81-1530946Verify us independently at the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search.
Founded2016IRS determination March 2016. The first cohort accepted applications that spring.
FoundersVictor Cheung, Jarrett Lau
Who we serveInner-city and disadvantaged youth athletes, grades 6 through 12, in Greater Boston
ProgramYear-long leadership curriculum, four quarterly workshops facilitated by working professionalsGraduates are invited back as mentors for the next class.
Cost to participants$0. Full scholarships, funded by public and private donations.
Current statusBetween cohorts, rebuilding toward the next classWe are not currently accepting participant applications. This page will say so the day that changes.
Board of DirectorsJarrett Lau, President · Victor Cheung, Vice PresidentWe are actively recruiting additional directors. The application is linked below.
Mailing address268 Centre Street, Newton, MA 02458Mailing address for the organization. The program serves youth across Greater Boston.
FinancialsForm 990-EZ filed annually. Most recent: FY2024.Our filings are public. Read them on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.
Contactinfo@bostonplays.orgMonitored. A person replies.

The program

A year, not an afternoon.

One-off assemblies do not build leaders. Boston P.L.A.Y.S. runs a year-long program for youth athletes in grades 6 through 12, built as four quarterly workshops that stack. Each session assumes the last one happened.

6–12
Grades served
4
Workshops per year
$0
Cost to participants
  • Quarterly workshops, facilitated by professionals

    Each session is run by someone who does that work for a living, so the athletes get the same material a colleague would.

  • Each session builds on the last

    The curriculum is sequenced across the year. Skills compound instead of resetting every time the group meets.

  • Graduates come back as mentors

    Finishing the program is not the end of it. Graduates are encouraged to return and mentor the incoming class, so the athlete running a session was sitting in one the year before.

  • Full scholarships, no exceptions

    Participation is free. Every seat is funded by public and private donations, so no family is asked to choose between a program and a bill.

Why sports

Teamwork, competition, success and failure, practicing, and how to become leaders.

Victor Cheung and Jarrett Lau both learned those things the same way, by playing. Those lessons still shape how they work today.

Boston P.L.A.Y.S. exists so inner-city and disadvantaged youth get access to athletic programming, and to events that teach and promote leadership, on and off the field.

Founders

Two people who played, and kept the lesson.

Jarrett Lau
Jarrett Lau
Co-founder · President
Victor Cheung
Victor Cheung
Co-founder · Vice President

Founding supporters

Who has funded this so far.

Boston P.L.A.Y.S. was started and underwritten by its founders and the companies they run. We name them here rather than dress them up as arms-length partners.

Disclosure

Boston Plays Inc was founded and is funded by Victor Cheung and Jarrett Lau. Each organization listed above is owned or co-owned by one of them.

They are named here because that is where the funding has come from, not as independent endorsements of the program. Boston Plays does not purchase goods or services from any of them. Where a board member has a financial interest in a matter before the board, that member recuses themselves from the vote.

Our Form 990-EZ filings are public. If you are evaluating us for a sponsorship or a grant, they are linked in The Record above, and you should read them.

Get involved

Three ways in.

02 / Serve

Join the Board

We are actively recruiting Board of Directors members. Download the application, fill it in, and send it back. Ask for a Word version if you would rather type directly into it.

Board application (PDF)

Return to info@bostonplays.org

03 / Everything else

Facilitate, mentor, or partner

If you want to run a workshop, mentor an athlete, bring the program to your league, or help some other way, email us and a person will write back.

Email info@bostonplays.org

We read every one