The Project Play Summit is where the nation’s leaders gather to measure progress, share learnings and discover new opportunities to build healthy communities through sports. Every month we revisit a conversation from the Project Play Summit and take a closer look at the issues. Let’s dive in …
⏪ REWIND AND WATCH
🗝 KEY TAKEAWAYS
As kids across the country return to school, the importance of centering their voices couldn’t be more timely. The first play in our youth sports framework is Ask Kids What They Want.
At the most recent Project Play Summit, we asked three girls how they got involved in sports and what they feel like when playing. Only 15% of girls nationally meet the CDC recommendation for 60 minutes of daily physical activity.
🥊 “Girls can be powerful as well, and they should not underestimate their physical power,” says Yasra Hofyani, a eighth-grade student who trains at the Alexandria (Virginia) Boxing Club. “Boxing made me stronger, tougher, it made me braver.” She says boxing taught her teamwork, perseverance and patience. “Things that help you in society, not just at practice.”
🏐🏀🥎 Na’eemah Sarwar, a seventh-grader who attended Nats Youth Baseball Academy, plays volleyball, basketball, soccer, and softball. “I got into all these sports at first because of my school and the Nats Academy. At school I just wanted to do sports because I had nothing else to do.”
⚽️🏃🏽♀️ Maxeen Claure, a fifth-grader who participates with Girls on the Run, was excited to learn to play soccer. She wants to someday share the sport with her children so they know “girls can do any sport they want.”
📢 SINCE THE SUMMIT
📜 Children’s Bill of Rights In Sports
Every child has the right to play sports and, when in the care of adults, the human rights they are born with need to be respected. This simple idea informs the Children’s Bill of Rights in Sports, a resource designed to create a shared cultural understanding that all youth should have the opportunity to develop as people through sports.
So how are the 130+ organizations that have signed on as endorsers activating these rights into their programs?
A proposed federal bill would establish a $75 million annual grant program to support nonprofits working to improve health and youth development through sports. The PLAYS in Youth Sports Act is co-sponsored by Rep. Colin Allred and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. The act would authorize grants to support youth sports activities or promotion, training and certification for coaches, efforts to increase participation in youth sports, and activities to promote safety and health, including abuse prevention. Principles reflected in the PLAYS Act on health, safety & access align with many of those in #ProjectPlay’s Children’s Bill of Rights in Sports, a statement endorsed by more than 130 organizations and over 300 athletes.
💭 DIG A LITTLE DEEPER
Q&A with Benita Fitzgerald Mosley, Vice President of Community and Impact at LeagueApps, and PLAY Sports Coalition Interim Executive Director
How does the PLAYS Act incorporate the Children’s Bill of Rights?
The PLAYS in Youth Sports Act was a bill originally introduced in 2015 by Rep. Ron Kind and was reintroduced in July 2022 by Rep. Colin Allred. Prior to its re-introduction, the PLAY Sports Coalition worked to suggest and recommend updates to the language to make it more relevant to the current challenges and opportunities related to youth sports accessibility. We incorporated feedback from many youth sports stakeholders into the updated legislative language, and one of the considerations was to align the values and potential outcomes of this bill with the stated objectives of the Children's Bill of Rights that Project Play helped to lead and promote.
Specific language was included to reflect alignment with the Children’s Bill of Rights, especially around the stages of youth development and providing children with the level of challenge commensurate with their physical, mental and emotional maturity and their emerging athletic ability. It’s important to treat children with dignity and respect and give all children the opportunity to have fun and grow as people and athletes.
Even more to the point, in the paragraph around activities that "promote effectiveness of physical activities or youth sports" there was a clause added about "developing and implementing an athlete code of conduct and instruction."
Why are these rights important in gaining support for the legislation?
The Children's Bill of Rights – through the leadership of Project Play – has been supported by a large number of youth sports organizations, from direct service providers, pro leagues and teams, and technology companies and others in the space. Reflecting the major themes of the Children's Bill of Rights in this piece of legislation should demonstrate alignment between this bill and what organizations have already supported with Children's Bill of Rights language. These are nonpartisan values and speak to the importance of youth development. We hope that organizations will see the Children's Bill of Rights coming to life through the PLAYS Act and support its passage.
Where to from here with the PLAYS Act?
Now that this bill has been introduced to the House we are working to garner support in the form of co-sponsors (sign on from members of the House). We plan for this bill to be introduced in the Senate as well and will similarly seek to get Senate co-sponsors. With a critical mass of bi-partisan support, we will aim for this bill to be considered for passage before the end of the calendar year on a bi-partisan basis. Support from grassroots organizations who reach out to their elected representative to demonstrate the power of youth sports will help get more co-sponsors and legislative support for the bill's passage.