Children's Rights in Sports — News - Project Play

Children's Rights in Sports

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.

Child Rights and Sports Alliance Launches Ahead of FIFA World Cup 2026™

Tampa, FL – A group of leading organizations today announced the creation of the Child Rights and Sports Alliance (CRSA) in the United States. The goals of the Alliance are to elevate child rights, center youth voices, and use the sport as a vehicle for youth development in the planning, execution, and legacy building of the FIFA World Cup 2026™.

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How regions can activate around the Children’s Bill of Rights in Sports

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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.

Project Play Summit 2024 Recap: Children’s rights, youth sports policy take center stage

BALTIMORE, Maryland – Maryland became the first state to sign the Children’s Bill of Rights in Sports after Governor Wes Moore endorsed a framework that all youth should have the opportunity to develop as people through sports.

“Some of my earliest memories are on a basketball court in the Bronx, where it was a place of escape,” Moore said May 15 at the Project Play Summit, the Aspen Institute’s annual youth sports conference. “It was a place where you felt safe. It was a place where you met some of your lifelong friends. It was a place where you learned all the beautiful things you can learn from team sports – how to win properly, how to lose properly, the importance of being able to trust the people to your left and right and make sure you’re practicing so they can trust you back.”

USA Gymnastics adopts Athlete Bill of Rights amid turmoil

“It’s a north star as to how we feel athletes should be treated by all of our community members,” USA Gymnastics CEO Li Li Leung said at the Aspen Institute’s Project Play Summit, noting that gymnasts were a vital voice in creating the document. “It’s about the right to participate in an environment that’s safe for them.”