The WORD CUP 2026 Summer Reading Experience’s target audience is young boys, grades K-5, ages 5-10.

WHY BOYS?

1. Many co-educational literacy and mentorship spaces unintentionally lean toward girls; this experience provides representation and focus for growing boys.

2. Encourages boys to see reading as routine, cool, competitive, and positively connected to their future selves.

3. Many boys feel strong, powerful, and deeply imaginative when they participate in or watch sports. Sir Brandon Lewis believes, and has built a literacy model through INCREDIBLE ME, that produces those same feelings, using their interest in sports as a gateway to reach them. By connecting literacy to sports—something many boys already love—we build engagement, nurture the development of confident voices, and strengthen reading comprehension in a way that feels really natural.

who else will be involved?

Program support will include literacy coaches, volunteers, community mentors (athletes, college players, coaches), and SUMMER WORD CUP™ facilitators who guide reading engagement and reflection.

Boys will also come from (and be connected to) community partners such as schools and summer programs, soccer clubs and youth leagues, libraries and literacy organizations—creating an ecosystem that reinforces learning, mentorship, and motivation both on and off the field.