(PHOTO: Kevin Kavanagh, co-founder of PlaySmart, playing basketball with PlaySmart children. Contributed.)
Giving Rye is a feature series highlighting non-profits and community groups in and around the City of Rye. Today meet Kevin Kavanagh of PlaySmart Inc.
Your Name: Kevin Kavanagh
Name of your organization: PlaySmart Inc
Your role: Co-Founder
MyRye.com: Tell us your organization’s mission
Kavanagh: PlaySmart is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that helps underserved 5th through 8th grade students realize their academic and life potential through sports.
How long have you operated in or around Rye?
Kavanagh: PlaySmart was founded in 1997 by me and several friends who all played sports at Princeton University. Our goal was to provide organized sports programs to kids who might not otherwise have access to these types of programs. Historically, PlaySmart has run academies and other sports programs in various locations around the United States including Tampa Bay, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Denver, Chicago & Dallas. Here in Rye, we have run the PlaySmart Academy since 2013. Thanks to the support of many Rye residents, PlaySmart Academy Rye is the longest running and currently the only remaining active PlaySmart program in the United States.
What programming or work is the organization best known for?
Kavanagh: Our primary program is the PlaySmart Academy – a weeklong sports and life skills program that is provided free of charge to all campers every summer. Each morning, the camp provides instruction in a different sport each day – typically lacrosse, soccer, flag football & basketball. The afternoons are filled with friendly competitions in the sport of the day, yoga sessions, agility training as well as life skills sessions that are provided through our partnership with Rye Youth Council. We have guest speakers speak to the kids at lunch each day with an emphasis on one of 5 “pillars” – Respect, Honesty, Teamwork, Sportsmanship & Hard Work and awards are given to the campers that best exemplify the pillar of the day.
Looking forward to 2026, what will be your top initiatives?
Kavanagh:
- Raising enough funds so that we can accommodate more campers
- Continuing our partnership with Rye Youth Council for our life skills series
- Creating mentorship programs for our campers
Tell us about the population you serve and how they can get involved with your programming and services.
Kavanagh: We partner with various organizations in the communities surrounding Rye that are looking for opportunities for organized sports camps for underserved middle-school aged members of their constituency. We have had campers referred to our program from the Carver Center, The Community Resource Center in Mamaroneck and Inner-City Scholarship Fund. In addition, we get applications from many area residents who hear about our program through word of mouth.
Are you a 501(c)(3) non-profit with tax exempt status?
Kavanagh: Yes
Looking back across 2025, what were your organization’s top achievements?
Kavanagh:
- Between our partner organizations and word-of-mouth, our reached camper capacity within a few weeks of launching in the spring.
- We provided a safe, fun and thoughtful camp experience free of charge for all campers.
- We recruited many members of the Rye community to serve as coaches, activity specialists, lunch servers and counselors and we had two former campers return to serve as counselors this year.
How can local residents support your organization?
Kavanagh: The PlaySmart camp in Rye is provided free of charge to our campers, so financial support is always very much appreciated. Financial support helps offset the cost of lunches, required insurance and, most significantly, the buses – as most kids would not be able to attend without the bus rides we provide to and from the camp to their neighborhood. Volunteer opportunities are available for high school and college students to serve as camp counselors. Additionally, there are opportunities for adults and kids to help serve lunches and, we have had many Rye parents who were former competitive athletes, serve as coaches and speakers.
What local Rye residents and area businesses have been the longest, steadiest supporters of your organization?
Kavanagh: The Academy has been made possible over the past 12 years through our amazing camp directors (all Rye residents) Liz Delizia (2013-2018, Monica Brenner (2019-2021) and Debbie Cohen (2022-present) as well as many volunteers from the Rye community who have served as coaches, speakers, camp counselors, life skills instructors, yoga teachers and lunch servers. Through our fundraising events over the years we have received generous financial support from many members of the Rye community.
Organizationally, the great contributor to our success has been Rye Country Day School. They have made their beautiful campus and facilities available to us free of charge for our PlaySmart Academy since 2013 along with lots of support from their staff. It is hard to imagine how we would have been able to run our program without their generous contribution.
Tell us about you:
How long have you been in your current role?
Kavanagh: I was one of the original founders of PlaySmart in 1997 and have been actively involved in the organization since then.
Is the role full time or part time? Paid or volunteer?
Kavanagh: My role with PlaySmart is part time volunteer role. I have had a 35-year career in finance and recently started my own investment management firm called 7 Main Capital, based here in Rye. I am proud to say that PlaySmart Academy in Rye has been a family affair. Year-after-year, my wife Amanda has made sure the kids are provided with a healthy lunch each day of camp and all four of my daughters have served as volunteer camp counselors.
How would your friends and family describe you in one word?
Kavanagh: Reliable
Where did you grow up?
Kavanagh: I grew up in Staten Island as the third oldest of six children (5 boys and 1 girl). I commuted to Regis High School in the city, so you could say I ‘grew up’ on the Staten Island Ferry, the subways and streets all over New York City. My parents still live in the same house I grew up in. Two of my brothers now live in Westfield, NJ and my other three siblings – two more brothers and my sister – live in Manhattan.
What principles guide you when you have to make a difficult decision?
Kavanagh: I always try to act with the utmost integrity and approach difficult decisions with a mind toward never compromising my values regardless of whether there might be a benefit to going in a different direction. When I encounter hurdles, I try to think of them as problems to be solved rather than an obstacle that will keep me from achieving a goal. I like to say “How can we make this happen” versus “Here are the reasons why we can’t do this.”
Can you share a time when failure taught you more than success ever could?
Kavanagh: In my investing career, there have been many times when things didn’t work out as expected. It is inevitable. But I tend to learn the most from those situations by analyzing what went wrong, identifying the types of risks to avoid and evaluating how I can improve my process.
What excites you most about the future—for yourself or for the world?
Kavanagh: With two of my girls in college and the other two not too far away, I am excited to see them go out in the world and make a positive impact on the people around them – each in their own unique way. Regarding PlaySmart, I am excited to see PlaySmart continue here in Rye what started 30 years ago as just an idea in a late night conversation among friends.
Where do you live and how many years have you lived there?
Kavanagh: I have lived in Rye with my wife Amanda and our four daughters since 2007. We lived in our first home off Forest Avenue just up the street from Kelly’s from 2007 through 2019. We moved to our current home on Grace Church Street toward the end of 2019.
Thanks Kevin!
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