Project Play Summit 2023 Agenda & Companion Content




Why Sport Matters Now

The pandemic, social unrest, and rapid advance of technology have shifted the value proposition for why all children should have an opportunity to play, and develop as people, through sports. We gather the latest research and recruit leaders – and kids! – to help you make the case with stakeholders and unlock new funding and policy opportunities.

To Our ChildreN

  • Pepper Persley, 12-Year-Old Reporter, Dish With Pepper

  • Noah Braswell, 13-Year-Old Breakdancer

  • Chloe Johnson, 17-Year-Old Unified Partner and Track Athlete

  • Moderator: Karie Conner, Vice President/General Manager, North America Kids, Nike

To Our Families 

  • Travis Dorsch
    Founding Director, Families in Sport Lab at Utah State University


To Our Schools 

  • Denecia Fernandes
    Rugby Coach, ICEF Public Schools 


To Our Communities 

  • Alana Glass,
    Director, Project Play: Southeast Michigan

  • Carla Stough Huffman
    Associate Director, Greater Rochester Afterschool & Summer Alliance

To Our Nation 

  • Bruce Y. Lee
    Executive Director, Public Health Informatics, Computational, and Operations Research (PHICOR)



To Our World 

  • Edwin Moses
    Olympic Track and Field Gold Medalist, Chair of Laureus World Sports Academy

Why Project Play Matters Now

Reflections on where the landscape of youth sports was a decade ago when Project Play was launched, how the initiative has been useful – and the collective work that lies ahead.

Introduction by Elliot Gerson, Executive Vice President, Aspen Institute 



Part I: Next Steps in Building a Better Sports System

  • Tom Farrey
    Executive Director, Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program







Part II: Panel discussion

  • Tyrre Burks, Founder/CEO, Players Health

  • Caitlin Morris, Vice President, Social and Community Impact, Nike

  • Chris Snyder, Senior Vice President of Operations, i9 Sports

  • Tom Farrey, Executive Director, Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program


National ACL Injury Coalition

  • Laura Robbins, Senior Vice President, Education Institute & Global Affairs, Hospital for Special Surgery in conversation with Julie Foudy

Why the Olympic & Paralympic Movement Matters Now

Inspiration: Every Olympics and Paralympics inspires children to try new sports. Olympic and Paralympic athletes explore the legacy of their example and what it will take to keep kids – from all backgrounds – playing past the sampling period. 

  • Jeremy Bloom, Olympic Skiier, Former NFL Player, CEO and Author

  • Edwin Moses, Olympic Track and Field Gold Medalist, Chair of Laureus World Sports Academy

  • Melissa Stockwell, Veteran, Purple Heart recipient, Paralympic bronze medalist, triathlon, author, co-founder Dare2tri

  • Moderator: Kevin Carroll, Speaker/Author, Founder, Kevin Carroll Katalyst

Stewardship: What’s the best role for the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee and its affiliated National Governing Bodies in supporting community sports? Dionne Koller, co-chair of the Commission on the State of U.S. Olympics & Paralympics, seated by Congress, shares where the panel’s work is headed. 

  • Dionne Koller, Sports Law Professor and Director, University of Baltimore Center for Sport and the Law

  • Moderator: Tom Farrey, Executive Director, Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program




COMPANION CONTENT

How to Partner with National governing bodies

Encourage Sport Sampling is a Project Play strategy. Many National Governing Bodies of Sports have youth curriculum or programs, some free, that can be deployed in communities. Learn about the options for local recreation groups to collaborate with NGBs.

  • Marc Bakerman, National Boy’s Development & Los Angeles Field Hockey Manager, USA Field Hockey

  • Amanda Kraus, CEO, USRowing

  • Molly Quinn, CEO, U.S. Association of Blind Athletes

  • Moderator: Denise Parker, Senior Vice President of NGB Services & Sport Operations, U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee


    COMPANION CONTENT

How to Partner with Professional Teams

Revitalizing In-Town Leagues is a Project Play strategy made even more important by the disruptions caused by the pandemic. Professional leagues and teams are investing in this opportunity. Learn from new projects and programs coming online about what’s available.

  • Andre Fountain, Director of External Affairs and Strategic Initiatives, Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Baltimore

  • Jordyn Johnson, Program and Communications Manager, Denver Broncos

  • Izell Reese, CEO, RCX Sports 

  • Moderator: Ryan Kaufman, Talk Show Host, XTRA Sports 1300

COMPANION CONTENT

How to Partner with Philanthropy

The philanthropic sector distributes about $500 billion a year to nonprofit organizations addressing social problems. Youth and school sports programs get little of that – and often don’t try. Foundation leaders offer guidance on how to build the case for support.

How to Partner with Schools

Schools are where all the kids are – not just the 4 in 10 students who play interscholastic sports. Many are open to partnerships with community organizations that can engage more young people, as recognized in Project Play’s school sports playbook. But you have to know how to work with school bureaucracies.

How to Partner with Park and Recs

Municipalities hold the power to transform sports at the local level. Park and recreation departments control most of the spaces that programs use, and offer their own programming as well. Learn new ways to work with them to drive access, inclusion and quality in programs.

How to Partner with Parents

Parents spend more than $30 billion a year on youth sports, according to Project Play research. Explore the new U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee Quality Parenting Framework, a resource released at the Summit that can help improve programs’ relationship with the adults who can make or break the experience of a child athlete – and the organizations that serve them.

  • Chris Clements, Director of Coaching, U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee

  • Linda Flanagan, Author, Take Back the Game

  • Deon Moyd, Recreation Manager, Puyallup (WA) Parks and Recreation

  • Moderator: Travis Dorsch, Founding Director, Families in Sport Lab at Utah State University

COMPANION CONTENT

U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Movement discussions

One of the goals of the 2023 Project Play Summit is to help key stakeholder groups within the larger sport ecosystem understand how they are connected and can more effectively work together to build healthy children and communities. In lunchtime conversations led by co-facilitators from the below three groups, we explore opportunities to collaborate with entities in the Olympic and Paralympic Movement, which includes the 17 million Americans affiliated with the 50-plus National Governing Bodies of sports that the USOPC certifies.

  • National Sport Organizations (USOPC, NGBs, professional leagues, other sport providers or groups that operate at the national level or across multiple regions)

  • Community Recreation Groups (park and recreation departments, YMCAs and Boys and Girls Clubs, sport-based youth development and other local non-profits, club programs, etc.)

  • School Sports (any affiliated with an entity providing or supporting sports in K-12 schools)

Training Coaches in Youth Development

The promise of youth sport depends on coaches. Coaches foster conditions that help young people feel connected, confident and excited to learn. However, as the National Coach Survey revealed, many can lack preparedness and are asking for training in key practices for developing young people. How do we grow the pool of coaches trained? We unpack that with organizations in the Million Coaches Challenge, a national coalition to train one million youth coaches.

  • Nina Johnson-Pitt, Senior Strategy Executive, Little League Baseball and Softball

  • Hannah Olson, Director, University of Washington Center for Leadership in Athletics

  • Rachelle Patel, Director of Marketing and Partnerships, Laureus Sport for Good USA

  • Moderator: Dr. Vince Minjares, Project Manager, Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program

  • Introduction: Kevin Connors, Senior Director, Susan Crown Exchange

    COMPANION CONTENT

Olympic & Paralympic Reform Commission Listening Session
WATCH LIVESTREAM

What resources do NGBs need to better support youth and community sports? How can they more effectively coordinate activities with school programs and local providers? How can they help with coach recruitment and training, abuse prevention, best practices in sport and program development, or other areas of need? Sound off to Commission leadership, which hosts its first listening session since being seated by Congress.

  • Conversation led by Dionne Koller, Co-Chair of the Commission on the State of U.S. Olympics & Paralympics, Sports Law Professor and Director, University of Baltimore Center for Sport and the Law

  • Kathryn Carson, Chair, USA Gymnastics, Member, NGB Congressional Commission Task Force

  • Ron Nocetti, Executive Director, California Interscholastic Federation

  • Renata Simril, President/CEO, LA84 Foundation

  • Introduction: Julie Foudy,  ESPN Analyst and Olympic Gold Medalist

Drawing the Line on Emotional and Physical Abuse

When, if ever, is yelling at players OK? How hard should coaches push children physically? Where’s the line between hazing and team bonding? At last year’s Summit, we encouraged the field to define and address forms of abuse beyond sexual abuse. Now, there are resources to do just that. Learn to prevent, recognize and respond to emotional and physical abuse with the help of, among other assets, a new toolkit by the U.S. Center for SafeSport.

Recruiting Coaches to Serve Their Community

More than 80% of youth coaches strongly agree that their community needs more coaches, according to the National Coach Survey. The need is especially urgent for girls sports, communities of color, and youth with disabilities. Explore challenges and discover opportunities for identifying, recruiting and retaining the next generation of coaches. 

Leveraging Data for Local Advocacy

Understanding the state of sports and physical activities for youth in your community can unearth insights that are essential to creating opportunities for programs, partnerships and advocacy. Learn from communities using data to drive equity and access in youth sports.

Lessons from the Pandemic: Why Some Sports Thrived

Many sports suffered during the pandemic. But not all. We unpack the factors that caused participation rates to spike upward in some sports – from cultural relevance to prioritizing fun, creative use of natural infrastructure to low barriers in terms of cost and skills.

  • Terrell Ferguson, Roller Skating Legend, Brick TV’s “Roll Call”

  • Craig Morris, CEO of Community Tennis, U.S. Tennis Association

  • Megan Scremin, President and CEO, Special Olympics Colorado

  • Moderator: Jon Solomon, Editorial Director, Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program


    COMPANION CONTENT

Mobilizing Students for Action

Youth advocacy is powerful. Discover ways students are helping to create more sport opportunities for fellow students by using their voice and organizational skills. And learn about Project Play’s new School Sports Equity Toolkit.

Game Over: One Family, Three Journeys

Project Play was created in response to Game On: The All-American Race to Make Champions of Our Children, a 2008 book that explored the influence of modern youth sports on the lives of children. Among those profiled: the author’s kids who he hoped would benefit from the research. Did they? Their journeys now complete, they reflect on the pain, gain, and lessons learned from navigating – like all families – the most consequential institution in sports.

The Story We Can Tell by 2030

Leaders share plans for the 2028 Los Angeles Games legacy and the role of the Olympic & Paralympic Movement in building healthy children and communities through sports.

  • Moderator: Julie Foudy, ESPN Analyst and Olympic Gold Medalist

  • Erikk Aldridge, Vice President of Impact, LA28 

  • Rocky Harris, Chief of Sport & Athlete Services, U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee

COMPANION CONTENT

Kids Are Made to Play: How Nike is Reimagining Victory for the Next Generation

Nike believes all kids should have an opportunity to play. Learn how a founding partner of Project Play is leading through its Kids’ business and commitment to Community Impact, focusing on inclusive innovation and experiences, and coach training to keep more kids – especially girls – moving.

  • Megan Bartlett, Founder, The Center for Healing and Justice through Sport

  • Karie Conner, Vice President/General Manager, North America Kids, Nike

  • Chantel Navarro, Nike Athlete and Team USA Boxer

  • Moderator: Matt Geschke, Senior Director of Social & Community Impact, Nike



    COMPANION CONTENT

There’s a Coach in All of Us: Intro to Healing-Centered Coaching

Let’s bring the inspiration from the Nike panel to life, as  Megan Bartlett and the team from the Center for Healing and Justice through Sport share the basics of how the right coaching approach can help all kids feel they are welcome and belong in sport.

COMPANION CONTENT

Beyond Team USA: Sport for All, Play for Life

The first great Olympians for the United States were indigenous: decathlete Jim Thorpe and swimmer Duke Kahanamoku, and breakout stars of the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm. It’s worth noting as we consider the human potential of our Native American youth – and the barriers that many face today. How can we make sport and play accessible for the hardest to reach?

Event Emcees

JULIE FOUDY

World Cup Soccer Champion
Olympic gold medalist
ESPN analyst

KEVIN CARROLL

Author, Rules of the Red Rubber Ball
”Instigator of Inspiration”
Founder, Kevin Carroll Katalyst

Venues

Ent Center for the Arts

U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum

With Thanks To Our Sponsors