Sports Envoy 2020 “¡Gol! Empowering women and girls through soccer” | S DR860 20 NOFO 003

Opportunity Information: Apply for S DR860 20 NOFO 003

Sports Envoy 2020 "Gol! Empowering women and girls through soccer" is a U.S. Department of State grant opportunity run through the Public Affairs Section at the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo. It sits under the broader idea of sports diplomacy, where American athletes and coaches serve as "Sports Envoys" abroad to strengthen people-to-people ties, run youth-focused sports programming, and use athletics as an entry point to talk about leadership, inclusion, and respect for diversity. In practice, the Embassy brings in U.S. sports figures to work alongside local partners to deliver short, high-impact programs that blend sports training with community engagement and positive youth development.

The specific purpose of this grant is to support a one-week program in the Dominican Republic that uses soccer to advance gender equality and conflict resolution among girls and young women in vulnerable settings. The target participants are girls ages 13 to 17, plus a slightly older group of women ages 18 to 25 who would be trained as mentors. The program is designed to draw participants from two at-risk communities located either on the north coast and/or near the Dominican Republic-Haiti border. A central feature is that two current or retired U.S. women's soccer players would coach the clinics, offering both technical soccer instruction and visible role models of women's leadership in sports.

Program content is expected to go well beyond drills and scrimmages. The Embassy is looking for proposals that integrate life skills, empowerment, health education, and personal development workshops that help girls create concrete life plans and avoid negative outcomes like teen pregnancy, dropping out of school, or other risky behaviors. The life skills components should reinforce practical decision-making, future planning, and healthy choices, with soccer serving as the hook that keeps youth engaged and creates a natural setting to practice teamwork, communication, leadership, and nonviolent conflict management. The older cohort (18 to 25) is meant to benefit in a different way: they should learn directly from the professional players and other facilitators so they can build their own capacity as mentors and potentially sustain the impact locally after the Envoys leave. The notice also encourages involving alumni of U.S. government exchange programs as mentors or facilitators, which aligns with the Embassy's interest in leveraging existing networks.

The requested structure is very specific. The overall program is planned as an eight-day sequence, beginning with the Sports Envoys arriving in Santo Domingo, meeting with the U.S. Ambassador, holding a pre-program press event, and then traveling to the first community. Each of the two communities would host a two-day clinic, with travel between sites mid-week and a post-program press conference at the end. For each two-day clinic, the Embassy provides a suggested daily schedule that blends soccer sessions and life skills or mentor-training sessions. Across the two days, the model totals about eight hours of soccer and four hours of life skills activities, plus meals and structured openings/closings (introductions, ground rules, planning next steps, evaluation, certificates, and group photos). A planning meeting with Embassy staff before the workshops is also expected, signaling that coordination and messaging are part of the program design.

Funding under this opportunity is capped at $15,000, with the expectation of making one award, although the Embassy notes it can award more or less depending on application quality and circumstances. Importantly, the U.S. Embassy covers the Sports Envoys' international travel to and from the United States, which means grant funds are mainly meant to cover in-country implementation costs. Typical allowable costs include local transportation within the Dominican Republic, venue rental, trainer or speaker fees, reasonable equipment and materials, and meals or refreshments that are integral to achieving the program goals (the example given is breakfast and lunch for participants and facilitators). Translation costs for documents can also be included in the budget, which matters because applications may be submitted in either English or Spanish even though final grant agreements are executed in English.

The announcement is equally clear about what it does not want to fund. Prohibited or generally non-funded items include grants to individuals, academic or scientific research, finishing activities already started with other funding, partisan or inherently political projects, ongoing staff salaries, office space and overhead, large durable equipment purchases, construction, alcohol, excessive hospitality or entertainment, charitable or development aid framed as direct social services, and programs that support specific religious activities or fundraising campaigns. In other words, the Embassy is looking for a defined, time-limited program with direct training and engagement outputs rather than long-term operating support or traditional development assistance.

Eligibility is limited to committed, organized civil-society organizations, NGOs, think tanks, and academic institutions that are based in the United States and/or the Dominican Republic, as long as they meet the stated requirements. The Embassy does not accept applications from third-country entities that are not registered or located in the Dominican Republic, and it also excludes for-profit organizations and individuals. Applicants must also demonstrate a commitment to non-discrimination for beneficiaries and equal opportunity employment practices, with explicit reference to equal treatment regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, and political affiliation. Commercial firms are ineligible for this grant mechanism by law.

The timing and submission rules are straightforward. The program had to take place in 2020, starting no earlier than June and ending no later than August, and the Embassy emphasized that the grant needs to be issued at least two months before the program begins. Applicants were warned not to spend money before approval, because the Embassy will not reimburse pre-award costs. The application deadline was March 13, 2020 at 11:59 p.m., and proposals were to be submitted by email to SantoDomingoGrants@state.gov. The Embassy indicated that applicants are typically contacted 6 to 8 weeks after submission with a selection decision.

Applications must use the Embassy's Small Grants Application form and include a full project narrative and a detailed line-item budget with written justification. The narrative is expected to lay out a clear plan of action, quantify projected outputs when possible (for example, number of participants served and number of sessions delivered), present milestones and target dates, explain how the project will be evaluated, and identify partners, consultants, and key personnel. The review process is points-based: goals and objectives (30 points), strengths and innovation (25 points), organizational capacity including partner roles and CVs (25 points), and the realism and allowability of the budget and justification (20 points). The Embassy also notes that awards may be made without negotiation, which is essentially a reminder that the first submission should be the strongest and most complete version.

Finally, the administrative expectations follow standard U.S. government assistance rules. Awards are issued and managed by a Grants Officer, with reporting requirements defined in the award agreement. Recipients must provide program and financial reports, with a final narrative and accounting due within 90 days after the award period ends, and some awards may require quarterly reporting. Organizations selected for funding must complete standard federal registration steps to be eligible to receive funds, including obtaining a DUNS number, securing an NCAGE code, and registering in SAM.gov, and they will also need to submit federal forms such as SF-424 for the application stage and SF-425 and SF-PPR for final reporting. The Embassy also flags a common payment control: recipients generally do not receive advances beyond immediate cash needs, and up to 20 percent of the total grant may be withheld until final reports are submitted, reinforcing that compliance and timely reporting are a core part of successfully closing out the grant.

• The Department of State, U.S. Mission to the Dominican Republic in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Sports Envoy 2020 “¡Gol! Empowering women and girls through soccer”" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.040.
• This funding opportunity was created on Feb 21, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 13, 2020. (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 $15,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for S DR860 20 NOFO 003

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: