2024 Project Play Impact Report

The coming decade in sports will be the most consequential in history, or at least since a Teddy Roosevelt-era coalition of cross-sector leaders installed sports as a tool of youth development and nation-building more than a century ago. Over the next 10 years, the U.S. will serve as host of an unprecedented series of international events, from the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup to the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, two Rugby World Cups to the 2034 Winter Olympics.

What story will we tell the world?

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Baton Rouge youth need more, better sports options

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Washington, DC –– Not enough Baton Rouge children can access sports to enjoy the associated benefits, including notably lower participation rates among girls and children in North Baton Rouge, according to a report released today by the Aspen Institute’s Project Play initiative. “State of Play Baton Rouge” offers solutions on how to grow sports opportunities.

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™.

Schools in Kansas City can increase access by promoting integrated, adaptive sports

Children with disabilities often face more barriers to access sports. These challenges exist due to lack of awareness from those without disabilities to include them, lack of opportunities for training and competition, lack of accessible facilities, limited resources and perceptions about the interests and abilities of youth with disabilities to play sports.  Greater promotion in schools of integrated sports — meaning pairing children with and without physical or intellectual disabilities on the same team — can help increase access to sports for children with disabilities.

November 2024 newsletter

Featured highlights:

  • Sports participation among girls is the highest in a decade — but it's way down for boys. Black youth now play less than Hispanic and Asian youth. Children specialize in one sport more than ever. Explore these findings, 10 Trends to Watch and more in our 2024 National State of Play report

  • Project Play Summit 2025 is coming to the Bay Area, California and the beautiful campus of U.C. Berkeley, March 24-25

  • Applications are open for the 2025 cohort of Service Learning Through Sports

  • and more…

One way to support coaches in Kansas City: Pass state laws requiring coach training and conduct policies in youth sports

A child’s experience in sports is often only as good as the coach. And too few coaches are trained in key areas. For instance, less than 60% of surveyed coaches have ever taken trainings in trauma-informed practices, performance anxiety, emotional regulation and how to work with parents, according to the National Coach Survey as administered by the Aspen Institute, Ohio State, Nike and partners in 2022.

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Project Play Communities Council: How local philanthropy is mobilizing to support 63% by 2030

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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.

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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.

August 2024 newsletter

Featured highlights:

  • Learn how five state governments have taken action to increase access, equity and quality in youth sports, and download a new two-page resource with 20+ examples to guide your work

  • Learn about our first state initiative, Project Play Colorado, and get involved with Colorado Youth Sports Giving Day

  • Players Health joins the 63X30 roundtable. Meet chief mission officer Kyle Lubrano and learn how Players Health got involved in youth sports policy in Colorado

  • and more…

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How five states got in the game of youth sports

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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.

Players Health exec: How insurance helps close gaps in athlete safety

A few years ago, there were about 30 carriers offering youth sports insurance. Today? Just a handful. And rates are skyrocketing, all of which impacts the provision and affordability of programs. That makes Players Health, one of the few carriers still writing policies, a key actor in the rapidly evolving, largely disjointed landscape of youth and school sports. It’s one big reason why the Aspen Institute is excited to welcome Players Health to 63X30.

Chief mission delivery officer Kyle Lubrano recently talked with Tom Farrey about what the Minnesota-based firm brings to that table as it develops opportunities to get and keep more children playing sports.