The Aspen Institute’s State of Play Washington D.C. report, released in 2025, explored the role sports can play to reduce student truancy in schools. High levels of involvement in school sports are one of the strongest correlations with lower risk of cutting or skipping class and school misbehavior, according to a study by the Women’s Sports Foundation.
How Oakland is mobilizing for kids
Oakland’s passion for sports was recognized by the Aspen Institute in “State of Play Oakland,” the 11th community report from our Project Play initiative. Two data points stood about above all: only 14% of Oakland youth received the 60 minutes of physical activity per day recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (below the U.S. average of 23%). And just 9% of Oakland girls were sufficiently physically active. The good news is many organizations and leaders in the city saw the numbers and got to work.
How cities and counties can establish local athletic councils to coordinate sports in their community
How Boston created a youth sports online directory
Last week, Boston became the 10th city to endorse the Children’s Bill of Rights in Sports when Mayor Michele Wu signed the Project Play-developed statement at a public event and announced $300,000 in grants to support 55 community-based organizations. In adopting it, the mayor affirmed that “the City’s approach to youth sports will center the needs of youth, invest in play and qualified coaches, and commit to safe, healthy sports environments for all youth.”
The Aspen Institute recognizes Boston for its leadership and encourages other cities to take note of the experiment unfolding there – an example of how a municipality can unlock opportunities for youth through sports. Here, we explore one key innovation: a youth sports directory.
Project Play Communities Council: How local philanthropy is mobilizing to support 63% by 2030
Currently, national participation in an organized sport is 54%. Urban, suburban and rural communities across the country are coming together to share knowledge about what’s working and how to solve issues around the barriers they are facing. Two philanthropic organizations, the Names Family Foundation (Tacoma, WA) and Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation (Southeast Michigan and Western New York), and the Aspen Institute are partnering to bring together philanthropists and community leaders to reach that 63% through the Project Play Communities Council.
How regions can activate around the 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.
How five states got in the game of youth sports
States have been reluctant, historically, to establish rules and impose mandates on youth sports organizations. But in recent years, some have begun providing substantial public resources and setting up guardrails for young children involved in organized athletics outside of schools. The absence of federal regulation, social upheavals let loose during the pandemic, and persistence of the problems with the American “system” of youth sports—low participation rates in poor communities, an epidemic of overuse injuries in others, and a lack of systematic training or oversight of coaches—have spurred the changes in state behavior.
Maryland pioneers model that brings soccer into high-poverty schools
TAKOMA PARK, Maryland – It’s 3:40 pm on a fall afternoon, and as classes let out, about 40 children flood into the outdoor patio at Rolling Terrace Elementary School. They come for snacks and soccer and receive life lessons along the way.
On this day, many are antsy to play soccer, tying their free cleats and chatting loudly with friends rather than listening to their mentors discuss what optimism and persistence mean. Lukas Barbieri, a high school student who is the youngest of Rolling Terrace’s soccer mentors, eventually quiets the kids down.
“Does anyone remember what optimism means?” Barbieri asks.
“Helping your friends,” says one child. “Being thoughtful,” adds another.
“Sort of,” Barbieri replies. “Optimism means you have to believe in yourself.”
In a sense, this scene represents what optimism for youth sports looks like.
The value of sport system design
The Aspen Institute studied the governance models and ecosystem results in 11 peer countries, with a focus on youth sport participation rates and elite performance – the grassroots and treetops. The countries studied vary in population, geography, culture and forms of government, but all have found success in either youth sports or elite sports, or both.
How Norway won all that Olympic gold (again)
Norway has the population of Minnesota. But that that didn’t stop the tiny Scandinavian country from topping the medal standings at the recently completed Beijing Olympics, just as it did in 2018 at the PyeongChang Games. Indeed, this time, its athletes won a record 16 gold medals across six disciplines. The performance burnished Norway’s reputation as having the best sport system in the world, both in elite performance and making a meaningful contribution to communities and its democracy. We invited three architects of Norway’s sport system to share their insights.
Reimagine medical care for high school athletes
Engage Latino families to increase high school sports participation
Practice in mornings can grow high school sports access
Make an athletic plan for each high school student
Meet diverse high school athletes where they’re at
Make intramurals, PE co-curricular needs in high schools
Don’t judge high school coaches by wins
New sports, new insights are needed for high schools
Race in America: Can cops as coaches in youth sports offer some healing?
What if as a society we more intentionally found a way for White police officers to connect with Black and Latino youth and their families positively? What if more cops actually know the names of people who they serve and become familiar with who they are? Could barriers come down to regain some level of trust by police and communities if they see each other in a new light through sports?