Congratulations to our partners at The Aspen Institute for another successful #ProjectPlay Summit. We were proud to sponsor the event, and be in attendance alongside the DICK'S Sporting Goods Foundation team. See below from our VP, Community, Rebecca Wasserman, on some of her takeaways ⬇
Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the Aspen Institute Sports & Society #ProjectPlay Summit for the first time, with GameChanger as a sponsor. It was powerful to gather with folks from across the youth sports industry to explore the potential of collective impact. The Aspen team challenged us to consider ways to meet the Healthy People 2030 national public health goal of 63% of youth playing sports by 2030. Currently, only 54% of children ages 6-17 in the U.S. played on a sports team or took lessons in 2022, down from 58% in 2017, according to federal data. Discussion focused around three key priorities to help move the needle: ⚡ Coach training 🏀 Encouraging sport sampling 🤝 The role of policy and the emphasis on the Children’s Bill of Rights in Sports Beyond the tactical, the thing that particularly resonated was a deep commitment to centering athletes in the work. In a panel of local young people called "Listen then Lead," Jon Solomon reminded us to “ask children what they want and then actually listen.” A big thanks to Rick Jordan and the DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation team for showing us the ropes, the Aspen team for hosting, the speakers, and fellow attendees for making this event so enriching!
