State of Play BATON ROUGE
State of Play Baton Rouge was released in December 2024, as the Aspen Institute’s 15th community report. In partnership with the Pennington Family Foundation, the report analyzes the state of youth sports in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana and offers recommendations to grow more opportunities for children to play sports and be physically active.
The Aspen Institute surveyed more than 400 local children about their sports experiences; utilized predictive model research to understand sports participation trends within the community; and conducted focus groups with young people, coaches, sports administrators and parents. The research was guided by a local advisory group.
Key Findings
Only 14% of surveyed Baton Rouge girls receive at least 60 minutes of daily physical activity as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention compared to 25% of boys. Girls were four times more likely than boys to indicate they do not regularly play sports.
Who plays sports in Baton Rouge can vary by community. Aside from football and basketball, participation rates in North Baton Rouge lag those in South Baton Rouge. North Baton Rouge has a significantly lower household income and larger Black population.
Too few quality indoor play spaces exist, especially for children in low-income areas. Baton Rouge leads the U.S. with 1.6 recreation or senior centers for every 10,000 residents, according to the Trust for Public Land. But the city’s existing rec center model is too large to maintain and meet community needs – 30% of the rec centers lack air conditioning and another 20% are rated in poor condition.
Climate change will continue to reduce playing time outdoors for all children. State of Play Baton Rouge identifies how youth sports and recreation providers are currently adapting and the opportunities to continue evolving as climate change impacts playing conditions in sports. Adjustments around the margins will eventually not be enough.
Families lack information about available sports programming. Many parents don’t have enough information about sports providers, including costs. Baton Rouge could use the MyBR app, run by the mayor’s office to inform residents of city-parish services, as the hub for an online directory of youth sports providers.
Distrust in government has contributed to the privatization of sports, leaving behind children who lack access. Like many communities, Baton Rouge has shifted toward costly travel-team sports at ever-earlier ages. This comes at the expense of community leagues that previously engaged children at scale, creating gaps in the supply of quality sport activities into adolescence.
Youth are motivated by joy and friendship to play sports. The No. 1 reason kids said they play sports is to have fun (53%), followed closely by playing with friends (46%). Winning games ranked fourth, and pursuing college athletic scholarships was 10th.
Recommendations
The report identifies eight challenges for children to access sports and potential solutions. Baton Rouge’s passion for sports is one of its greatest strengths and can be leveraged to help children develop healthy, lifelong benefits through sports. Many Baton Rouge leaders view sports as an economic tourism engine for the city. Building new facilities and attracting youth tournaments generate revenue through sales and hospitality taxes.
Given these efforts, State of Play Baton Rouge calls for coordinated investment and strategies that not only benefit Baton Rouge through revenue generated by sporting events but also increases sports access and improve the quality of those experiences. The report recommends creating a Baton Rouge athletic council for public, private and school bodies to develop shared solutions through intentional dialogue that currently is often lacking.
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