October 2019 - Parks & Recreation - 10

P E RS P E C T I V E S A M E S S A G E F R O M N R PA' S L E A D E RS

Leveling the Playing
Field for Youth Sports
Recently, the producers of HBO's
" Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, " a
monthly sports journalism series, contacted NRPA for a segment, titled " The
Price of Youth Sports " (https://tinyurl.
com/yyzxqvm3). This segment asked
the question: " Have we created a system for the haves and put participation
out of reach for the have nots? " The
producers featured sprawling suburban-park sports complexes with professional-grade fields and massive indoor
facilities, describing a $17-billion-a-year
youth sports industry, with parents paying upwards of $10,000 a year per child
for the promise of success and college
scholarships. But, with an 8 percent
drop in child participation rates in the
past decade, the sports gap is growing,
especially for lower-income families in
communities where parks are underfunded.
In July, the Rand Corporation published research
that confirms that youth from lower-income families
are less likely to participate in sports. With low income
defined as below $50,000 and mid/high above $50,000,
only 52 percent of parents from lower-income families
reported that their children in grades 6-12 participated in sports, compared with 66 percent of middle- and
higher-income families. In the mid- to high-income
range, 45 percent of children don't play because of time
constraints, while 24 percent of children from lowincome households have the time and are more willing
but, simply, may not have the opportunity or access.
The HBO segment cites the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as saying that less than 4
percent of schools require physical education, and
those children who are lucky enough to have extracurricular sports opportunities are often discouraged from
participating because they lack the competitive skills
gained from the coaching elite clubs provide. Thus, the
so-called " opportunity for all " is a falsehood and looks
more like a broken promise.

Parks & Recreation

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Nature abhors a vacuum, and where public funding
for recreation is not a priority, the public-private partnership (P3) model for sports academies and complexes has begun to dominate our parklands. This relegates
park agencies to being land custodians and stigmatizes
the traditional volunteer nonprofit sports organizations
as low-quality athletics. From our partners, park and
recreation agencies must insist on their equitable distribution of athletic opportunity and reject tokenism in
the form of a handful of scholarships for only the most
talented children of low-income families.
Rand suggests some simple solutions: Schools, community parks and sports programs, policymakers and
funders can work to lower fees, share land and existing
indoor and outdoor facilities, and provide equipment
and transportation, thereby helping to minimize the
time commitment for parents. Stakeholders can establish community collaboratives where field space and,
potentially, gear and equipment can be shared. If fees
are required to share fields, communities can determine
whether the cost is a barrier for certain organizations
and prioritize funding.
With resource scarcity in play, building our youth
sports and park operations around comprehensive recreation program plans and insisting that our programming partners adhere to our diversity and inclusion
standards require strong park agency leadership and
community commitment. A community that prioritizes equity works to ensure that all residents have access
to what they need to be healthy and successful. Leveling the playing field for youth sports in park and recreation facilities is a critical ingredient for a resilient,
healthy citizenry.

JACK K ARDYS
Chair, NRPA Board of Directors

October 2019 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2019 - Parks & Recreation