Brian Greenwood, a Cal Poly recreation, parks and tourism administration (RPTA) assistant professor, met with White House staff to discuss the current state of youth sports in America. Since the economic downturn has affected the rise in obesity and crime, Greenwood spoke to the staff about how sports programs are necessary in public schools.
“It’s not just sports, it’s arts, it’s drama, it’s all those aspects we tend to think of as extraneous. Whenever there’s financial trouble, those are always the first to be cut,” he said. “We’re basically working to reverse that trend.”
Up2Us is a national coalition of organizations that emphasize sports in youth development. Greenwood and other Up2Us members, including International Tennis Hall of Fame member Monica Seles; Kevin Jennings, assistant deputy secretary of the Office of Safe & Drug Free Schools; and U.S. Olympic Speed Skater Nathaniel Mills, met from Oct. 21-23 with representatives from six White House offices for a meeting titled “The Critical State of Youth Sports in America.”
More than $2 billion was cut from the nation’s youth sports programs in 2008, according to research commissioned by the coalition.
“The ‘ripple effect’ of these budget cuts will extend far beyond the playing fields,” said Paul Caccamo, Up2Us executive director, in an October press release.
Up2Us director of research and evaluation Megan Bartlett said the coalition’s goal is to ensure that every child who wants access to a high-quality sports environment has it. Involvement in sports has an edge over traditional mentoring programs because it has the dual benefit of being physically active. In under-served communities, that’s especially important, she said, because of the rising childhood obesity rates.
The movement with Up2Us is focused on increasing sports-based youth development. Research has shown that children who play sports are less likely to join gangs or become pregnant as teenagers, or suffer from lifelong medical conditions like diabetes and asthma or childhood obesity. They’re also more likely to graduate from high school and college.
“The benefits are truly endless, everything from keeping kids out of trouble to building character to build confidence, decreasing obesity to lifelong fitness,” Greenwood said.
Cal Poly RPTA senior Lynn Hutchins said sports are a crucial part of a child’s development. Hutchins has worked with children as a swim instructor and lifeguard and said she has seen children develop socially, physically and mentally to become well-rounded as a result of their involvement in sports.
Hutchins played sports throughout high school and partly in college, which she said kept her on the right track. Her brothers stopped playing early in high school, which had a detrimental effect on their development, she said.
“Sports kept them busy and out of undesirable activities,” Hutchins said.
The impact of sports on a child’s development is long-lasting and spans beyond youth.
“The core, almost the baseline effect has to do with people being in structured activities,” Bartlett said. “It’s kind of a microcosm of what you face everyday as far as challenges and working together.”
Greenwood’s role in Up2Us is in research. He studies everything from decreases in funding for school sports to the trend “pay to play,” where students are charged to play in school sports. He said Up2Us is making the case of the critical nature of the situation we find ourselves in so multiple entities will come to the table and donate money. Right now, Nike and NFL are major players in sports-based youth development; Nike funded a report Greenwood helped write on sports’ impact on development that will be released early next year. We’re seeing more and more interest from those who are making a great deal of money to give back, he added.
He hopes that continued involvement with Up2Us will lead to grant money that enables students to become involved in the research, but the most important thing people can do is get involved with a member organization as a volunteer, he said.