How Baltimore is improving sports access for children

Baltimore has a rich history of developing its children and communities through sports – from the childhood of Babe Ruth to the proliferation of recreation centers in the 1960s and ‘70s, from the rise of decorated Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps to the basketball successes of Carmelo Anthony, Angel Reese and many others. The Aspen Institute recognized as much in State of Play Baltimore, the first community landscape analysis from our Project Play initiative, which included findings and recommendations shaped by an eight-member local advisory board that included then-City Council member Brandon Scott. Since 2017, Scott - now Mayor - and local leaders have worked hard to make Baltimore’s children active through sports.

The long-awaited Commission report on sports governance is here. What does it say, and what comes next?

Three years after it was authorized, the final report of the group seated by Congress to study the organizations at the center of the Olympic and Paralympic Movement in the United States is now out. The 13-member group took a home run swing. It hit a broken-bat double. Broken bat, because not everything connects. A double, because it sets up a chance to score.

February 2024 newsletter

Featured highlights:

  • 1,860,000 quality years of life gained if we lift sports participation rates from 51 to 63% by 2030

  • UPCOMING EVENT: Future of Sports: College Sports Reform in the Public Interest

  • Christine Brennan joins Project Play Summit 2024

  • Last chance for early bird ticket prices!

  • and more…

Maryland pioneers model that brings soccer into high-poverty schools

TAKOMA PARK, Maryland – It’s 3:40 pm on a fall afternoon, and as classes let out, about 40 children flood into the outdoor patio at Rolling Terrace Elementary School. They come for snacks and soccer and receive life lessons along the way.

On this day, many are antsy to play soccer, tying their free cleats and chatting loudly with friends rather than listening to their mentors discuss what optimism and persistence mean. Lukas Barbieri, a high school student who is the youngest of Rolling Terrace’s soccer mentors, eventually quiets the kids down.

“Does anyone remember what optimism means?” Barbieri asks.

“Helping your friends,” says one child. “Being thoughtful,” adds another.

“Sort of,” Barbieri replies. “Optimism means you have to believe in yourself.”

In a sense, this scene represents what optimism for youth sports looks like.

Analysis: Serious knee injury among teen athletes grows 26%

Among the most dreaded injuries in sports, the rate of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries among high school athletes has grown significantly over the past 15 years, according to a new data analysis by organizations collaborating to assess and address the problem of serious knee injuries.      

The National ACL Injury Coalition reviewed injury data for 12 major girls and boys sports over five three-year periods from 2007 to 2022, as supplied by certified athletic trainers in the High School RIO surveillance program. From period one to five, the average annual ACL injury rate grew 25.9% to 7.3 injuries per 100,000 athlete exposures. ACL injuries now represent more than 14% of all injuries involving the knee.  

MLS exec: Soccer system should work together to compete for best athletes, fans

Like other professional leagues that are members of Project Play 2024, MLS has come to recognize both the need and the opportunity to introduce programs at the very opposite end of the talent pipeline that delivers their commercial product. Tom Farrey, executive director of the Sports & Society Program, sat down with MLS executive VP and chief engagement officer Sola Winley to ask why.

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Olympic and Paralympic commission hears reform ideas

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Rewarding National Governing Bodies that best support grassroots sports and tying financial incentives to coach training were among the ideas heard Sept. 6 by an independent commission studying entities that shape the sport ecosystem for 11 million Americans.

The Commission on the State of U.S. Olympics & Paralympics (CSUSOP) was established by Congress in 2020 to study recent reforms after the Larry Nassar sex-abuse scandals and make recommendations for policy changes in governance and oversight of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and its affiliated NGBs. After funding delays, the commission began its work in early 2023 and will deliver a final report to Congress and the public in the spring of 2024.