A new report released today, “Sport for All, Play for Life: A Playbook to Get Every Kid in the Game,” offers an ambitious plan to reimagine organized youth sports, prioritizing health and inclusion, while recognizing the benefits of unstructured play. Below, Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program Director Tom Farrey explains the importance of play in children’s health and well-being.
Why do kids play sports? Back to the basics
I was working in one of my first real jobs after competing in the 1998 Olympics, and a colleague pulled me aside to ask some advice. He was frustrated with his 11-year-old son, who was a gifted youth soccer player. It seemed that the boy had lost his drive and his father was failing in his effort to get his son to work harder in practice. He wanted my help in convincing the boy to work harder. Without thinking much about it, I simply told him that the only thing he could do was to make sure the boy was having fun, because it shouldn’t feel like work at that age.
Safety in Youth Sports: Parents have spoken, we have listened, and now we have to act
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) was a key contributor at this month’s Project Play Roundtable, “What Do Mothers Want from Youth Sports?” Hosted by the Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program in partnership with ESPN, the roundtable brought together a diverse group of stakeholders in the area of safety in youth sports.
The sports gene: Why parents need to relax a little
As Americans, we tend to think excellence can be manufactured. That greatness can be created out of any piece of human clay. The Constitution states that all men are created equal, and thus, we like to think, maybe, so are elite athletes. Which explains why we have soccer academies for toddlers as young as 18 months. Seriously, I’m surprised entrepreneurs haven’t yet figured out how to sell in-utero sport training - it’s easy money.