In 2012, i play! afterschool was launched to bring sports to more kids in the San Antonio area. The new program was born out of Dreams for Youth, which had been San Antonio Sports’ previous afterschool youth sports program, existing since 1995 and providing training in six Olympic sports to underserved kids.
In the late 2000s, Dr. Robert Duron, then-San Antonio ISD superintendent, asked San Antonio Sports to help his inner-city elementary students learn the skills they needed to compete with bigger schools upon reaching high school. As Dreams for Youth of
fered a few Olympic sports, its reach and impact were limited. This led to an expansion of the Dreams for Youth program in 2008, which began reaching kids with school-based UIL sports like volleyball and soccer.
In 2012, Dreams for Youth made the official transition to i play! afterschool. The new program offered Title I elementary schools early stage sport development in volleyball, golf, tennis, soccer and track and field. During the 2013-14 school year, 750 kids participated in the program. 
Over the years i play! has developed to reach more school districts, offer new sports and deliver more fun to more kids. As of 2024, the program reaches 50 elementary schools in five districts with over 1,200 kids participating in four sports: soccer, volleyball, basketball and, new this year, flag football.
San Antonio Sports’ mission to transform our community through the power of sport could not be better exemplified than through i play! afterschool. Data shows that participants in the program have significantly less absenteeism, fewer disciplinary referrals and higher academic outcomes in math and reading than children not in the program.