Where We Work
Sports and music programs rooted in local leadership
International Sports and Music Project supports youth sports and music programs in underserved and vulnerable communities around the world. Across five countries, we partner with trusted local leaders to create safe, consistent, supportive spaces where young people can play, create, compete, express themselves, build confidence, and feel a deeper sense of belonging.
Our work looks different in every community because every community is different. In some places, ISMP supports coaches, teachers, equipment, tournaments, and year-round sports programs. In others, we support music classes, recording opportunities, creative spaces, and community events. In several communities, we have helped build or support courts, fields, and music hubs where programs can thrive over time.
Across all of it, the model is the same: listen to local leaders, support what is already working, fill critical gaps, and help create long-term access to sports, music, mentorship, and community.
Over our first decade, ISMP has helped create 1,000,000+ Individual Impact Hours across five countries.
Current Programs
Uganda Youth Sports & Community Programming
In Uganda, ISMP supports year-round youth sports programming centered around Kikaaya and the surrounding community. Young people participate in activities including soccer, basketball, volleyball, netball, karate, pickleball, chess, and school/community tournaments.
ISMP has also helped build major sports facilities at Kikaaya, including a soccer field and basketball court, creating lasting spaces for students and community members to practice, compete, gather, and grow.
One of the major annual highlights is the Buloba District Tournament, which brings together schools and young people from across the region for competition, teamwork, and community celebration. The tournament reflects what ISMP believes sports can do at their best: create joy, connection, confidence, and opportunity at a scale much larger than a single team or school.
ISMP supports this work through equipment, coach support, facility investment, program funding, and long-term partnership with local leaders who know their community best.
Rwanda Sports, Dance & Youth Development Programming
In Rwanda, ISMP supports locally led youth sports, dance, and community programming through several partner sites organized around two main clusters: Kigali-area/Central Rwanda programming and Eastern Province/Kabeza-area programming.
Across these sites, young people participate in regular activities that build confidence, teamwork, expression, belonging, and connection to caring local leaders. The programming includes school- and community-based sports, dance, and youth development activities led by trusted Rwandan coaches and community leaders.
ISMP’s role is to help provide equipment, program funding, coordination, and long-term partnership so local leaders can continue creating safe, joyful, supportive spaces for young people.
Kigali-Area & Central Rwanda Programming
This cluster includes CPAJ, GS Nyanza, Gahanga/Kigali Warriors, and related community-based youth activities.
Eastern Province & Kabeza-Area Programming
This cluster includes Kabeza, Kalilisi, Mayange, Mayange B, and related Eastern Rwanda programming.
Greece Music & Creative Expression Programming
In Greece, ISMP supports music and creative expression programming for young people and communities who have faced barriers to access, including refugee and migrant communities.
A major part of this work is ISMP’s partnership with Musikarama, a music studio and creative hub where young people can learn, collaborate, record, and express themselves. ISMP has supported the space through rent, conversion, upgrades, equipment, and programming support.
Music can be especially powerful in communities shaped by transition, displacement, or uncertainty. It gives young people a way to process emotion, build confidence, connect across language and culture, and experience joy and identity beyond the challenges they may be facing.
ISMP’s work in Greece reflects one of our core beliefs: creative spaces can become safe spaces, and safe spaces can become places where young people discover their voice.
Bronx Youth Track & Community Sports Programming
In New York City, ISMP supports youth sports programming that creates access, consistency, and community for students and young people in the Bronx.
Our Bronx track program has become a meaningful example of how sports can help young people build confidence, discipline, friendships, leadership, and a sense of belonging. The program has seen especially strong participation from girls, reflecting the importance of creating inclusive athletic spaces where girls and young women can lead, compete, and thrive.
ISMP is also working to expand community-facing sports opportunities in the Bronx through events and partnerships that bring youth, families, schools, and local leaders together. This work represents an important part of ISMP’s U.S. footprint: creating joyful, accessible sports experiences that reach beyond a single team or classroom and serve the broader community.
Micronesia Youth Sports & Leadership Legacy
ISMP’s story began in Pohnpei, Micronesia, where founder Jason Steinberg taught English and coached basketball in 2014. What started as a small effort to provide sneakers, jerseys, and athletic opportunities for student-athletes grew into the founding vision for International Sports and Music Project.
Micronesia remains central to ISMP’s identity and long-term impact story. One of the clearest examples is Jerome, who first connected with ISMP as a young athlete and later became a coach, athletic director, community leader, and ISMP’s longtime country coordinator in Micronesia.
His journey reflects the kind of long-term ripple effect ISMP hopes to support across all of its programs: young people gaining confidence, leadership, opportunity, and a deeper connection to their communities.
Today, Micronesia represents both ISMP’s origin and its belief in locally led, relationship-based youth development. The lessons learned there continue to shape how ISMP builds programs, supports leaders, and measures impact around the world.
Facilities & Community Spaces
Building the places where programs can thrive
ISMP does not only support activities. We also help build and support the physical spaces where young people can practice, play, create, gather, and belong.
Courts, fields, and music hubs can become anchors for long-term community programming. When paired with trusted coaches, teachers, and local leaders, these spaces create consistent access to sports, music, mentorship, and community.
ISMP has helped build or support major community spaces including:
Kikaaya Soccer Field — Uganda
A major soccer field serving students and the surrounding community at Kikaaya. The field creates space for practices, games, tournaments, and community sports programming.
Kikaaya Basketball Court — Uganda
A basketball court supporting school and community sports programming at Kikaaya.
Kabeza Basketball Court — Rwanda
A community basketball court supporting youth sports programming and local access in Rwanda.
Musikarama Studio / Music Hub — Greece
A music and creative expression space where young people can learn, collaborate, record, and build confidence through music.
Ritsona Soccer Field — Greece, legacy project
A past facility project that helped serve young people in and around the Ritsona refugee camp. The field later became unavailable when the land was repurposed, but the project remains an important part of ISMP’s history and learning around access, sustainability, and community spaces.
Past & Legacy Initiatives
Honoring the work that shaped our model
Over its first decade, ISMP has launched and supported a number of past and legacy initiatives that helped shape the organization’s current model. Some were time-bound, some evolved as local conditions changed, and some are no longer active in their original form. All of them helped deepen ISMP’s understanding of what it takes to create meaningful, sustainable access to sports, music, and supportive community spaces.
Ritsona Soccer & Music Initiative — Greece
ISMP supported soccer and music-related programming in and around the Ritsona refugee camp in Greece. The work included youth activities, community-building, and the construction of a soccer field that created an important space for play, connection, and relief during a difficult period for many families.
The field was later lost when the land was repurposed for additional housing. While the project is no longer active in its original form, it remains an important part of ISMP’s story and helped shape our approach to sustainability, site control, and long-term facility planning.
Leros Refugee Soccer Programming — Greece
ISMP also supported refugee-serving soccer programming on Leros, helping create opportunities for young people and community members to play, gather, and experience joy through sport.
Early Micronesia Basketball Program
ISMP’s first roots were in youth basketball in Micronesia. The early program helped shape the organization’s belief that sports can build confidence, leadership, friendship, discipline, and long-term connection when young people have consistent access to equipment, coaching, and community.
COVID-Era Emergency Community Support
During the COVID-19 pandemic, ISMP responded to urgent community needs through emergency support efforts in communities where we had trusted relationships. This work reflected the strength of our local partnerships and our commitment to showing up when communities face unexpected challenges.
How We Work
Local leaders. Long-term relationships. Consistent access.
ISMP’s work is built around a simple belief: communities already have leaders, talent, creativity, and vision. Our role is to help resource, strengthen, and sustain that local leadership.
We do this by supporting:
Coaches, teachers, and local coordinators
Sports and music equipment
Program funding and stipends
Courts, fields, studios, and other community spaces
Tournaments, performances, recording opportunities, and community events
Ongoing communication, reporting, and partnership
We measure our work through Individual Impact Hours, which reflect the total hours young people spend participating in ISMP-supported programs. This helps us look beyond one-time participation and better understand the depth and consistency of access we help create.
A single hour of sports or music can matter. Repeated hours, in safe and supportive spaces with caring adults and trusted local leaders, can shape a young person’s sense of confidence, belonging, expression, and possibility.