Youth Sports: Supply. Demand. Access.
The fragmented world of youth sports presents challenges to both availability and affordability for kids and their families.
Coaching
‘Participation Trophies’ Are a Fake Crisis. Here’s the Real Problem for Youth Sports.
A proposed ban on hardware hits North Carolina, ignoring a far bigger issue
Youth sports promise elite status, but they often feel like a marketing ploy
Originally posted in the Kansas Reflector as an opinion piece by Eric Thomas The Kansas State University men’s basketball team advanced to the Elite 8 last month before falling to tournament upstarts Florida Atlantic. For first-year coach Jerome Tang, the accomplishment was exceptional, especially for a team that had a losing record last year. In those ways, playing in …
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Health experts: It’s time for more high schools to budget money for athletic trainers
Originally posted on the Aspen Institute’s Project Play Page on April 3rd by Jon Solomon Consider how the American sport system typically functions in high schools. The school identifies an athletic director, whose budgetary expenses include coaches, uniforms, equipment, transportation, officials, and facility maintenance. “And after they’re done with all of that, they ask themselves …
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The Income Gap Is Becoming a Physical-Activity Divide
Originally published in the NYT on March 25th By Matt Richtel Nationwide, poor children and adolescents are participating far less in sports and fitness activities than their more affluent peers. Over the last two decades, technology companies and policymakers warned of a “digital divide” in which poor children could fall behind their more affluent peers …
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Why California Coaches Feel There Are Not Enough Athletic Facilities
Why Coaches Feel There Are Not Enough Athletic Facilities If you ask any coach in Northern California if they think that there are enough athletic facilities almost uniformly, the answer would be “no”; speaking as a former baseball coach that was the most consistent complaint among my fellow coaches. Based on our Northern California facility study, …
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My Daughter Quit Sports, and This Is What Youth Sports Parents Need To Know
Originally published in I love to watch you play by Asia Mape My daughter quit sports, and this is what youth sports parents need to know. This is my oldest daughter Piper, and yes, I got her permission to write this. She’s a water polo player. Well – she used to be. She dreamed of playing for …
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Why are fewer Maine students playing high school sports?
Participation in athletics in Maine dropped by 12% over the past 10 years, far higher than the national rate of decline. Pandemic-era disruptions are only part of the answer. Originally posted in the Press Herald by STEVE CRAIG and DREW BONIFANT The Cape Elizabeth High girls’ basketball team lines up for the national anthem prior to its final …
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The Aspen Institute’s Participation Trends for 2022
Originally published in the Aspen Institute’s State of Play 2022 Kids are back to sports – sort of. As the impact of COVID-19 on our society lessened in 2022, how children participated in sports continued to evolve. The trends below come from the Aspen Institute’s State of Play 2022 report, courtesy of data collected or …
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How France Really Won the World Cup
Originally published in the aspen institute by Tom Farrey on 10/2018 his was a tough summer for anyone who cares about soccer in the United States. The men’s national team failed to qualify for the World Cup, and on the day of the championship game won by France, a front-page story in the New York …