Redefining Sports as a Tool to Address the Critical Issues Facing

Today’s Youth

ISDPA Power of Sport SummitNortheastern University, June 2010

•Coalition of almost 500 member organizations- schools, universities, intermediaries, and practitioners

•Rooted in practice- a project created at America SCORES; developed by leaders in the youth sports field

•Goals:• Support organizations so that they can improve the quality of their programs• Build a workforce in sports-based youth development; raise the human capital• Make the case for youth sports- advocate for resources• Serve more kids!

Up2Us

•Coach Across America•Youth Sports “Revitalizers”•Quality Metrics•Regional Conferences•Member Services• Insurance• Job Bank• Funding Opportunities

Up2Us Initiatives

Data from a study published in the Journal of School Health that covered over 50 countries concluded that “…in each of the domains discussed – physical, lifestyle, affective, social, and cognitive – there is evidence

that…sport can have a positive and profound effect.” (Bailey, 2006, p. 399)

Why Youth Sports?

Why Now?Sports at Risk- Budget Cuts•Estimated that at least $2 billion dollars was cut from afterschool sports and activities budgets nationwide during the 2008-2009 school year.

•In New York City, enrichment and afterschool activities were a major target of a $405 million cut for the 2009-2010 school year.

•In Los Angeles, a proposed $1.3 billion budget cut across the district between 2009 and 2011 targets extracurricular programs outside of the regular school subjects.

•Chicago Public Schools cut their budget by $1 million by eliminating 2010 spring sophomore sports. This was on the heels of a 2009 report that showed 28% of schools were cutting extra-curricular activities, including sports, as a way to compensate for a budget shortfall.

Why Now?Sports at Risk- Pay to Play

•Get:Set – Creating Stronger Communities through Sport

•Key collaborators: Alliance for a Healthier Generation, Hands On, Women’s Sports Foundation, America’s Promise and…

•Get:Set is charged with motivating an investment in youth sports by:• Creating an efficient and effective resource platform: Get:Set Sport Exchange• Addressing the disconnect between value and priority of youth sports:

Get:Set Making the Case

What are we doing?

Making the Case

Individual Benefits Societal Benefits

Physical Fitness/ Heath Obesity Prevention

Academic Achievement Drop-out Prevention

Pro-social Behaviors Civic Engagement

Avoidance of Risk Behaviors Crime/ Youth Violence Reduction

•Regular exercise through sport regulates weight gain and decreases the risk of heart disease. The National Survey of Children’s Health showed non-athletes to be 60% more likely to be overweight than athletes.

•Youth who play sports are more than eight times as likely to participate in sports activities as adults than youth who do not.

•Currently, only 1 out of 3 high school students meet federally recommended levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Youth athletes are far more likely to meet these requirements than non-athletes. A recent evaluation of after-school programs in California showed that young people reached MVPA for an average of 24.4 minutes when they participated in structured activities including sports, and received only 13 minutes through unstructured activities

Sports and Health

•Students in Naperville, Illinois who received early morning physical activity made 1.34 years worth of growth on standardized literacy tests, compared to a control group of students who only made .7 year’s growth. Additionally, a math tutoring plus physical activity intervention increased standardized algebra scores by 20.4%, compared to the control group’s 3.8% score increase.

•Another recent study also showed that not only does exercise have positive cognitive benefits, but that the benefits actually increase as the amount of exercise increases. In this study, students in Augusta, Georgia, who had the greatest improved scores in academic tests and executive function were the children who exercised the most.

•At age 9, 30% of children do not meet a proficient reading level, and by age 13 this figure is almost 40%. Sports participation is linked to improved standardized test scores in math and English and increased time spent on homework

Sports and Education

•A 2-year study by the University of Virginia of The First Tee, a national youth golf program, found that participants scored higher than a comparison group in a wide range of social skills: managing emotions, meeting and greeting, resolving conflicts, appreciating diversity, setting goals, perceived academic competence, moral conduct, and self-efficacy to resist peer pressure.

•Girls in the Game found that after one year of participation in their program, participants had a healthier body image and better social skills than their peers who did not participate.

•When comparing the benefits of sports to other extracurricular activities, researchers have found that sports are better suited to help young people acquire emotional control, teamwork skills, and initiative

Sports and Pro-social Behavior

•Students involved in sports had significantly higher odds for milk consumption and healthy self-image, and significantly lower odds for emotional distress, suicidal behavior, family substance abuse, and physical and sexual abuse victimization.

•Sedentary adolescents are more likely to get pregnant. Additionally, the Women’s Sports Foundation found that the rate of teenage pregnancy in non-athletes was 11%, over twice the pregnancy rate as for adolescent female athletes, 5%.

•Multiple studies show athletes are less likely to smoke cigarettes or marijuana.

•Police calls reporting juvenile crime drop by as much as 55% during the summer when Phoenix basketball courts and other recreation facilities are kept open until 2 a.m

Sports and Avoidance of Risky Behavior

Are Youth Sports Cost-Effective?

7.5 million high school

athletes

With $100 in pay to play

fees, 10% of athletes, or

750,000 students drop off of sports

teams

An estimated 67,000 of those

750,000 will drop out of school.

Only roughly 5,000 would have

dropped out if they still played

sports

The California Dropout Research

center says that 62,000

dropouts will cost $23 billion

dollars

It would have only cost $75

million to keep them on the

field (750,000 x $100 fee that

caused them to stop playing).

Value vs. Priority

Value Priority

Positive Impact on Youth Development

One of the first things to be cut from school budgets

Address critical issues such as school disengagement, obesity and risky behavior

No regulation of pay to play, which disproportionately affect those already disenfranchised

Sports are a relatively inexpensive investment with a potentially high return

As sports disappear from schools, many communities have no other institution to fill the void

What evidence is missing?

What can the research community do to prove the value of sports? What should research studies of youth sports look like?

What can practitioners and organizations do? What should programs be doing to evaluate themselves?

Making the Case…Better

Want to help make the case for youth sports?

Join Up2Us!

Contact: Megan BartlettDirector of Research and Training

mbartlett@up2us.orgwww.up2us.org

Get: Set…Go!