Project Play collaborates with businesses, universities and independent researchers to develop knowledge that helps stakeholders build healthy communities through sports. Through surveying and analysis, Project Play’s insights shape national efforts to grow children’s access to quality sports activities.

Project Play
In The News

Project Play research is frequently cited by major media, including:

Project Play can offer insights into the youth sports system in your community or sector. We look forward to hearing from you.

PROJECT PLAY SURVEYS

NATIONAL YOUTH SPORTS
PARENT SURVEY

Project Play has partnered with Utah State University and Louisiana Tech University on surveys of youth sports parents to address the rising costs of youth sports, patterns in participation and sport specialization, parents’ involvement in youth sports, and the settings in which children play sports.

INSIGHTS FROM NATIONAL PARENT SURVEYS
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Project Play survey: Family spending on youth sports rises 46% over five years

Participation in youth sports is getting more expensive – and there seems no end in sight.

The average U.S. sports family spent $1,016 on their child’s primary sport in 2024, a 46% increase since 2019, according to the Aspen Institute’s latest parent survey in partnership with Utah State University and Louisiana Tech University. The rising commercialization of youth sports impacts who can access quality sports opportunities or whether some children play at all.

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Survey: Parents grow more worried about their child returning to sports

As COVID-19 cases spike again in parts of the country, parents of children playing organized youth and school sports are increasingly worried about the health risks associated with their child returning to play compared to how they felt earlier during the pandemic.

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Survey: Sports parents now spend more money on girls than boys

This article shares new insights on the sports experience for youth by gender, based on a national survey by the Aspen Institute’s Project Play initiative and Utah State University’s Families in Sport Lab.

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Survey: African-American youth more often play sports to chase college, pro dreams

This article shares new insights on the sports experience for youth across racial subgroups, based on a national survey of sports parents by the Aspen Institute’s Project Play initiative and Utah State University’s Families in Sport Lab. The data show sharp differences in access, and in pressures experienced by young athletes.

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Survey: Low-income kids are 6 times more likely to quit sports due to costs

In this post, we break down the data by family income. Youth sports have become an estimated $17 billion industry, often leaving behind families who cannot afford to keep up with the escalating arms race. In our latest analysis of the parent survey, we explored participation rates, free play, pressure on kids, and costs to play by evaluating responses against household income.

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Survey: Kids quit most sports by age 11

The average child today spends less than three years playing a sport, quitting by age 11, most often because the sport just isn’t fun anymore. Their parents are under pressure, too, with some sports costing thousands of dollars a year and travel expenses taking up the largest chunk.

These are among the findings of a new national survey of parents of youth athletes conducted by the Aspen Institute with the Utah State University Families in Sports Lab. The results offer key insights on the contemporary challenges of getting and keeping kids involved in sports, the theme of a new public awareness campaign, “Don’t Retire, Kid”, that launches Aug. 4.

STATE OF PLAY
YOUTH SURVEY

In each community Project Play analyzes, we deploy a youth survey with Resonant Education to understand the sports experiences of children. The results help communities understand which sports children play or want to try, why they do or don’t play sports, experiences with coaches, and other information.

INSIGHTS FROM STATE OF PLAY YOUTH SURVEYS
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Girls play sports and move their bodies less than boys

Louisiana ranks second to last in the U.S. in sports participation rates for girls (39%), behind only Mississippi, according to the National Survey of Children’s Health. Far more Louisiana boys (55%) participate in sports. A similar gender gap exists in Baton Rouge.

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Baton Rouge youth are socially isolated and struggling with mental health

We heard positive and negative sports experiences from Baton Rouge youth. Many talked about the joy and freedom they feel when they play, describing how sports are an escape from problems in life. In addition, too many young people told us they feel anxious and pressured by adults in sports.

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Transportation is limited for children in Baton Rouge to access sports

East Baton Rouge Parish Schools offers magnet programs to retain students, but that has consequences for extracurricular activities: Thousands of students don’t attend schools near their homes and are transported right after school back to their homes. For many children, their only way home is the school bus, which can be a long ride across the parish.

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How sport activities can help mental health struggles

The mental health struggles for children are real. So is the value of physical activity. When sports activities are delivered properly, children in Kansas City told us they receive immense benefits, such as joy, distractions from problems at home and school, and a sense of freedom.

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Kansas City takes steps to serve youth with disabilities through sports, but opportunity gaps remain

We heard that learning about diverse sports opportunities is a problem for all youth. This gap gets magnified for children with disabilities.

Ohio State AD: Eliminate tackle football for kids until age 13

Tackle football becomes embedded culturally with many children in the Central Ohio region at young ages. They practice and play during the week – it’s not hard to find tackle leagues as young as kindergarten – and then join their parents to watch the pageantry of major college football on fall Saturdays at Ohio State University.

But if Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith had his way, football would dramatically shift to flag as the only option until age 13, in order to protect children from brain injuries.

ANALYSIS, INSIGHTS & REPORTS

Sport for All, Play for Life:
A PLAYBOOK TO GET EVERY KID IN THE GAME

For over two years, Project Play convened 300+ thought leaders in a series of roundtables, identifying ways to get and keep all children through age 12 active through sports. This report, released in January 2015, aggregates the eight most promising strategies for the eight sectors that touch the lives of children. Supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Sport for All, Play for Life: A Playbook to Get Every Kid in the Game is a unifying document, collecting in one place the best opportunities for stakeholders — from sport leaders to mayors, parents to policymakers — to work together to grow access to an early, positive sport experience.

READ THE REPORT • GET YOUR COPY

REIMAGINING SCHOOL SPORTS

A Project Play initiative of the Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society Program, “Reimagining School Sports in America” recognizes the essential role that high schools play in preparing young people for life – and the cognitive, educational and health benefits that flow to students whose bodies are in motion. The initiative surveyed the landscape of high school sports across eight different school types and finished with a capstone School Sports Playbook in 2022.

VISIT OUR SCHOOL SPORTS PAGE

NATIONAL STATE OF PLAY:
TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS

An annual report on how well stakeholders are serving children and communities through youth sports. The last report was released in October 2024. In 2025, the national State of Play report was discontinued in favor of releasing national insights and analysis on a rolling basis.

2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016

COMMUNITY STATE OF PLAY:
ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

In collaboration with a local partner, the Aspen Institute's community State of Play reports are analyses of how well a region’s stakeholders are serving the health needs of youth and communities through sports. For each report, more than 1,000 local adults and youth contribute through interviews, roundtables, focus groups, and surveys. These reports provide a comprehensive analysis of the current trends in youth sports, outdoor recreation and physical activity, along with concrete suggestions to mobilize the region to improve/increase opportunities for all young people.

In each State of Play effort, we work with community partners to provide the research and evidence necessary to catalyze community movement in growing access to quality sport experiences for all youth, regardless of zip code or ability. These relationships are central to creating lasting impact, combining our expertise in youth sports, landscaping communities and collective impact, with our partners’ leadership to identify and mobilize people and resources around a common goal.

To date, community reports have been completed in: Washington D.C.; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Kansas City, Missouri; western Colorado from Aspen to Parachute; Tacoma and Pierce County, Washington; Oakland, California; Camden, New Jersey; Central Ohio; Seattle and King County, Washington; the state of Hawai‘i; Mobile County, Alabama; East Harlem, New York; Baltimore, Maryland; Greater Rochester & the Finger Lakes in upstate New York; Western New York; and Southeast Michigan.

VISIT OUR COMMUNITIES PAGE

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

CALLS FOR COACHES

The Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program and the National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development explore the role youth sports can play in developing young people’s social and emotional skills and translate research into actionable calls for coaches to implement in after-school and community-based sports leagues.

LEARN MORE • READ THE REPORT

FUTURE OF FOOTBALL WHITE PAPER

The Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program analyzed what if flag becomes the standard way of playing football until high school. The 27-page white paper examined the impact of such a change on public health, youth participation, Friday Night Lights, the football industry, and civic life. Our conclusion: Children, the game and communities are likely to benefit if flag football becomes the standard way of playing before high school, with proper tackling technique taught in practice settings in the age group leading into it.

READ THE REPORT

PHYSICAL LITERACY IN THE UNITED STATES:
A MODEL, STRATEGIC PLAN, AND CALL TO ACTION

This report offers a deep dive into the central idea behind Project Play. This report builds on research showing that children with motor skills competence are more likely to stay physically active into adolescence and adulthood, identifies the populations in greatest need, and offers 150+ activation ideas. The report, released in June 2015, was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and received guidance from a 15-member, cross-sector working group. Published alongside the report was a global environmental scan of physical literacy policies, featuring Canada, Wales, England, Australia, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands, Venezuela, and the United States.

READ THE REPORT • READ THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY •
READ THE GLOBAL SCAN

RESEARCH ARCHIVE

No one can improve youth sports on their own. Since 2013, Project Play and its partners have worked collaboratively to produce many materials on youth sports. See our archive for other useful documents on what good looks like in youth sports.

PROJECT PLAY RESEARCH ARCHIVE