The Youth Development Fund supports Illinois youth athletes by subsidizing their entry fees in Illinois events and reducing the financial burden on meet directors.

To achieve this, the IL WSO will reimburse local meet directors up to $25 for each registered Youth athlete, with a total maximum of $375  per meet. To qualify, the Youth entry fee must be set at $25 or less. In-house and invitational meets are excluded.

After the meet is complete and the results are loaded into BARS, the meet director should contact the IL WSO with a list of qualifying Youth athletes. The IL WSO will verify each athlete's result in BARS and process the reimbursement.