The Project Play Summit is the nation’s premier gathering of leaders building healthy children and communities through sports. On March 24, the Summit will be livestreamed from the Bay Area — the first time the event has been hosted on the West Coast and a world-renowned center for innovation, just the kind of setting leaders from across sectors need to unlock the ideas and innovations to better serve youth. The theme this year is The Path to 63X30, or how we can help the nation get 63% of youth playing sports by the year 2030.

Livestream Schedule

Monday, March 24

ALL TIMES PDT

9:00 AM Welcome to the Project Play Summit

• Project Play Summit emcee: Malika Andrews, ESPN host, NBA Today & NBA Countdown

9:15 AM How to Help Kids Help Kids

Each year, we anchor the Summit in the voice of youth – their lived experience. This year, we ask student leaders what they need to help more peers develop as people through sports.

• Arden Pala, 2024 Sports Illustrated SportsKid of the Year

• Maegha Ramanathan, Founder and CEO, Girls4Sports

• Ayanna Shah, Founder, Second Serve

• Moderator: Kaya Henderson, Executive Director of the Center for Rising Generations and EVP, Aspen Institute

9:35 AM Joy of Sport for All

ESPN and the greatest shooter in basketball history share a common goal: They want all kids to play sports — and play with joy. They announce major new efforts that aim to achieve those objectives.

• Stephen and Ayesha Curry, Co-founders, Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation (pre-recorded)

• Chris Helfrich, CEO, Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation

• Kevin Martinez, Vice President, Corporate Citizenship, ESPN

• Freddy Rolón, Head of Global Sports & Talent Office, ESPN

• Moderator: Malika Andrews

10:00 AM Project Play's Theory of Change for Sport in America

Developed by the Aspen Institute based on a decade of convening leaders, studying the world’s leading sport systems, and with input from stakeholders, the framework offers a set of opportunities to collaborate across a disjointed ecosystem.

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

• Dan Porterfield, President and CEO, Aspen Institute

10:15 AM Rallying Around a Time-Bound Goal: 63X30

Leaders from our industry roundtable unveil plans on how they aim to contribute, starting this year. Learn about opportunities to plug into and build on these commitments in your communities and sectors.

• Pete Frintzilas, CEO, TeamSnap

• Kristine Stratton, President and CEO, National Recreation and Park Association

• Patrick Wilson, President and CEO, Little League International

• Moderator: Ashleigh Huffman, Senior Director, Strategic Partnerships, Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program

10:55 AM Operationalizing the Right to Play

500+ organizations, World Cup host committees, athletes, mayors and governors have now endorsed the Children’s Bill of Rights in Sports. Learn about the various ways that they are now catalyzing for action.

• Flynn Burch, Director, Global Philanthropy, Under Armour

• Lex Chalat, Executive Director, Soccer Forward

• Atuya Cornwell, Director of Parks and Recreation, Town of Chapel Hill (N.C.)

• José Massó, Chief of Human Services, City of Boston

• Moderator: Zaileen Janmohamed, President & CEO, Bay Area Host Committee

11:30 AM Coopertition: When Athletes Are Mathletes

A conversation on what high school sports and robotics can learn from each other, and how to break down school culture walls to encourage students to participate in both science and athletics.

• Cody Burkhart, Neuroscientist, Mechanical/Aerospace Engineer

• Chris Moore, CEO, FIRST

• Lexi Muraco, Student, Pioneer High School, President, Robotics team, Varsity Water Polo

• Moderator: Ward Bullard, Director, Design for America

1:15 PM School Sports at a Crossroads: What's Our Purpose?

NIL, school-hopping and other trends are challenging the traditional model for high school sports. How to ensure that values of health and education are in place as we go forward?

• Ron Nocetti, Executive Director, California Interscholastic Federation

• Ari Manrique, Student Assistant Coach, Cal Women’s Soccer  

• Franky Navarro, Commissioner, Oakland Athletic League

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

2:45 PM How California Can Lead

The Golden State is the land of big ideas. What does California have in mind when it comes to youth and school sports?

• Jennifer Siebel Newsom, First Partner of California

• Moderator: Malika Andrews

3:10 PM How Tech Could Rewire Youth Sports

Artificial Intelligence, streaming, virtual and augmented reality, and other powerful technologies will reshape the games kids play – but how? Can these forces be harnessed for good?

• Sameer Ahuja, President, GameChanger/SVP, DICK'S Sporting Goods

• Arjun Gupta, President of Telesoft Partners, Chair of Aspen Institute’s Artificial Intelligence Steering Committee

• Dan Reed, Chief Operating Officer, Reality Labs, Meta

• Moderator: Malika Andrews

3:40 PM Playing With Fire: How to Rebuild With Resilience

New Project Play research shows the average youth athlete lost seven days annually to extreme weather – and that was before the fires in Los Angeles consumed neighborhoods, parks, pools and schools. What can be done to protect play in a warming world?

• Gary Hall Jr., U.S. Olympic swimmer, former resident of Pacific Palisades

• Matt Libber, Executive Director, Maryland SoccerPlex

• Jessica Murfree, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina

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

4:15 PM Why We Play: How Sports Changed Parenting

A best-selling author reflects on the ways that today’s youth sports model shaped his approach to raising children, how much has changed over the generations, and how the opportunities and pressures have formed the young people who move into adulthood.

• Michael Lewis, author of The Blind Side, Moneyball and Playing to Win

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

FEATURED SPEAKERS

GARY HALL, JR

10-time Olympic swimming medalist

What To Expect

The Project Play Summit brings together 700+ leaders from the U.S. and beyond, a diverse mosaic of game-changers from the treetops to the grassroots, C-suites to the coaching box, who share a common interest: Develop more youth through sports.

We aim to deliver three assets to help you in your work.

Insights

Project Play offers the most trusted data and trends analyses in youth and school sports. This year, many of the 20+ sessions will be shaped by results from our nationally representative survey of sports parents (to be released in March) which offers revealing, sport-by-sport data on costs, how they feel about their child’s coaches, and the impact of sport on their mental and physical health, and many other topics.

Ideas

We will unpack Project Play’s updated Theory of Change for Sport in America, including its fifth pillar or call to action for leaders to “Rally Behind a Time-Bound Goal: 63X30.” More than 50 speakers will explore breakthrough ideas in technology, coalition-building, finance and systems design that can positively disrupt the ecosystem to better serve youth through sports.

opportunities

The Summit offers unrivaled networking. You'll meet leaders from the eight sectors that Project Play recognizes touch the lives of youth: Community Recreation Groups, National Sport Organizations, Policymakers & Civic Leaders, Education, Parents, Public Health, Business & Industry, and Tech & Media. You will be there as funders and other organizations announce new commitments.

We hope to see you there!

About Project Play

With Thanks to Our Sponsors

Interested in sponsoring the Summit? Contact Katherine.Quinn@AspenInstitute.org

Highlights from 2024 Project Play Summit