The following article comes from the Aspen Institute’s State of Play Kansas City report. The report assesses the opportunities and barriers for more children to access sports and physical activity in the Kansas City region.

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.

Developed by the Aspen Institute through its Project Play initiative and a working group of human rights and sports policy experts, the Children’s Bill of Rights in Sports identifies eight rights of children:

To play sports. Organizations should make every effort to accommodate children’s interests to participate, and to help them play with peers from diverse backgrounds.
To safe and healthy environments. Children have the right to play in settings free from all forms of abuse (physical, emotional, sexual), hazing, violence and neglect.
To qualified program leaders. Children have the right to play under the care of coaches and other adults who pass background checks and are trained in key competencies.
To developmentally appropriate play. Children have a right to play at a level commensurate with their athletic ability. They should be treated as young people first, athletes second.
To share in the planning and delivery of their activities. Children have the right to share their viewpoints with coaches and for their insights to be incorporated into activities.
To an equal opportunity for personal growth. Programs should invest equally in all child athletes, free of discrimination based on any personal or family characteristic.
To be treated with dignity. Children have the right to participate in environments that promote the values of sportsmanship and of respect for opponents, officials and the game.
To enjoy themselves. Children have the right to participate in activities that they consider fun and that foster the development of friendship and social bonds.

In 2024, Kansas City, Missouri, became one of the first cities to sign the Children’s Bill of Rights in Sports through an endorsement by Mayor Quinton Lucas.

Other endorsers include UNICEF USA, U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, YMCA, National Recreation and Park Association, NBA, NWSL, Little League, USA Football, DICK’s Sporting Goods, ESPN, National Council of Youth Sports and hundreds of other organizations and pro athletes.

“In two years, Kansas City will be one of the few U.S. cities hosting the world’s largest sporting event, the 2026 FIFA World Cup,” Lucas said. “Yet thousands of young people in our community lack access to sports and physical activities. Endorsing the Children’s Bill of Rights in Sports is a first step for all of us — cities, organizations, youth sports teams and coaches — to aspire for a future where all children are able to access sports and play in safe and healthy environments.”

Additional cities, pro sports teams and others in the Kansas City region could join Lucas to endorse these principles. The region could work collectively to start a recognition program honoring local sports providers who meet the Bill of Rights’ mission and incentivize improvement for other organizations. Youth sports providers would apply for the free, voluntary recognition program, which would promote what quality sports experiences for children should look like in the Kansas City area.

Kansas City’s pro sports teams — the NFL’s Chiefs, MLB’s Royals, NWSL’s Current and MLS’ Sporting Kansas City — could collaborate to help build the recognition program. Each organization already provides valuable support of youth sports.

Examples of their work include the following:

The Current partners with YMCA to offer youth soccer programs throughout the metro area, ranging from ages 3-5 on the basics and kindergarten through seventh grade as kids develop. The partnership includes YMCA Challenger Soccer, which is open to athletes from ages 6 to over 30 with physical, developmental and intellectual disabilities.
Sporting Kansas City owns and/or operates three facilities in the Kansas City area with 27 youth soccer fields: Compass Minerals Sporting Fields, Swope Soccer Village and Central Bank Sporting Complex. Sporting KC Youth Soccer runs leagues for youth and adults and holds free soccer clinics, coaching education opportunities and equipment drives. Sporting KC’s foundation, The Victory Project, also provides financial assistance to play soccer and sponsors a Special Olympics Unified team for players with and without intellectual disabilities.
The Chiefs’ flag program has over 50 coed flag football leagues at every age and skill level, allowing children to wear official Chiefs gear. The Chiefs host NFL Flag tournaments at Arrowhead Stadium. They are aggressively piloting flag football for girls in high schools with hopes to sanction the sports in Missouri and Kansas.
The Royals Amateur Development System (RADS) offers the Crown League, a partnership between the Royals and local baseball and softball leagues with tailored resources for coaches and players that fit their needs. This includes practice plans, coaching clinics and workshops, player development programs and player clinics.

The Royals, Chiefs, Current and Sporting Kansas City could collaborate to fund a recognition program of outstanding Kansas City-area providers from all sports who best put needs of children, as expressed in the rights, above all else.

One model to emulate is the Tennessee Safe Stars youth sports ratings system, which recognizes leagues throughout Tennessee for providing the highest level of safety for youth. Safe Stars consists of three levels — gold, silver and bronze — for programs that implement policies in areas such as concussion education, weather safety and injury prevention.

Safe Stars’ goal is to provide resources and opportunities for every youth sports league to enhance their safety standards. A committee of health professionals dedicated to reducing youth sports injuries developed the criteria for achieving Safe Stars recognition. A collaboration between the Vanderbilt Youth Sports Health Center and the Tennessee Department of Health, Safe Stars was originally aimed at public schools statewide when it debuted in 2021. By 2023, Safe Stars expanded to include private schools and community youth sports organizations participating on public property.

Criteria would be created to identify quality programs to recognize in Kansas City. Application questions could be centered around health and safety, centering the voices of young people, developmentally appropriate play, coach training and having fun. We know these are central pieces to keeping children engaged in sports. Let’s honor those who are the best of the best and provide incentives for others to join them.

How the Children’s Bill of Rights Can Be Used

Examples of how the principles appear in the work of the Royals Amateur Development System:

The right to play sports: Partnerships with local leagues with a goal of increasing participation and retention rates.
The rights to safe and healthy environments and having qualified coaches: Require all league coaches to receive background checks. Coach training is provided to help prevent emotional abuse and decrease physical injuries.
The right to developmentally appropriate play: Provide a checklist of age-appropriate skills for coaches.
The right to share in the planning and delivery of activities: Providing surveys is a starting point, along with encouraging leagues to have a player board. This is an area the Royals want to improve upon.
The right to equal opportunity for personal growth: A variety of opportunities are provided free of charge to participants. Partner with leagues to sometimes help offset costs, which can decrease player fees.
The right to be treated with dignity: The Shut Out the Stigma initiative related to parent pressure on kids, and parent, player, coaching and umpire training are areas of focus.
The right to enjoy themselves: Fun is the main goal of everything they do, especially through freeplay opportunities at all age levels. Practices often involve rolling out balls and equipment and letting the children play sandlot style. Kids pick the teams, make up the rules and just have fun.