An award-winning UC Davis program that has taught sports, academics and life skills to low-income youth from Yolo and Solano counties for more than a decade is now looking to one of the sports for a favor.

The National Youth Sports Program is holding a golf tournament April 20th to help offset federal budget cuts so the day camp can be offered this summer.

The golf tournament, which will use a scramble format, will be held at the Wildhorse Golf Club in Davis. The cost of $150 per player includes green fees and golf cart, a polo shirt and goodie bag, an evening banquet and entry into a raffle for prizes from local restaurants and businesses. Registration will begin at 11 a.m., and the tournament will have a shotgun start at 1 p.m.

Program administrator Sam Blanco said organizers are banking on the Davis tournament to raise $20,000 after federal funds for the program were cut by $46,000. And in a cost-savings measure, the program will scale back from 400 children to 300.

"Many of the students live within a 30-mile radius of UC Davis but have never stepped foot on campus," said Blanco. "We lure them in with sports, but we're able to teach a lot of academics."

Over the free, five-week program, children age 10 to 16 participate in five sports and classes in math and science, drug and alcohol awareness, and college preparation and careers.

"It opens more doors for low-income youth in our area," Blanco said.

He said the program has a $120,000 budget, and it costs about $300 for each child participating in the program.

Funding from the National Youth Sports Corporation of the federal Department of Labor, Health and Human Services was reduced from $86,000 last year to $40,000. UC Davis got what money it did because the corporation divided its reserves among the top 57 of its more than 200 programs across the nation.

The organization has recognized the quality of the UC Davis program with nine awards over the 11 years it has operated.

Other funding sources include six grants from community organizations totaling $25,000; $15,000 in funding from the Early Academic Outreach Program at UC Davis; and other in-kind donations from the campus.

The proposed federal budget now under discussion does not include funding for the National Youth Sports Corporation that could help support the UC Davis program in 2007.

For more information about the golf tournament, visit http://nysp.ucdavis.edu/pages/golf.cfm. To register for the tournament through April 19 or to make a donation, please call Blanco at (530) 752-3332.

The youth program is scheduled for June 26 to July 31. For more information, visit http://nysp.ucdavis.edu/.