Moving the Goal Posts: How Chelsea Piers Foundation is Changing the Game for Youth Sports in NY & CT
Participation rates in youth sports continue to decline—an issue exacerbated by COVID. Recent reports from Project Play and the Aspen Institute show a continuation of a very troubling trend. For kids ages 6-12, the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) has seen a 5% decline in regular sports participation. As age increases into the teens, there is a 6% decrease from just 2019 to 2022.
For many, the enticement of interests like video games, social media or individual-centric activities have been a de facto alternative; this can be seen as a direct result of the time, money, and resources needed to commit to playing on a team. For those who can’t afford the cost of registration or travel, there are few recreational sports opportunities to engage in. Each year, 40-50% of children have stopped their involvement in everything from football and basketball to swimming and track. For many, that can be attributed to the average cost of sports participation exceeding $500 per child, per sport, per year. And participation is not a one-time cost: kids grow, uniforms and gear wear out, and costs continue to rise from inflation.
Tom Cove, the president and CEO of SFIA, framed it perfectly when he shared, “… you can't make it either rec (leagues) or $10,000 a family with complete devotion to a sport and have nothing else to do in life. There's a lot more in between and we need to change the way we make it available and the way we talk about it."
Here in New York, participation rates fall below the median average, with only 50% of young people 6-17 playing on a team or taking lessons for any type of sport. In Connecticut, it improves slightly to 54%.
The impact is felt in several ways. First—there has been a significant impact on children’s health. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, only documented in a handful of pediatric cases in 2000, now affects nearly 10% of all children—as common as asthma. Secondly—it has taken a toll on mental health, which bleeds into critical parts of their life, including lower test scores, lower graduation rates, and lower college acceptance rates amongst those that are not involved in a sport or active lifestyle.
The good news? There is an appetite to push money into the youth and school sports sector. Data from SurveyUSA.com, in partnership with the US Olympics and Paralympics, demonstrated that youth sports is the top desired sports-related issue for public funding—regardless of gender, age, income, political or geographic location. This far exceeded the need for taxpayer support to support the Olympics, Paralympics, college sports, and professional leagues. The best way, they propose, to go about this is through corporate sponsorships and grants.
In the absence of a more holistic approach to bringing the essential benefits of sports to young people in New York City and CT, Chelsea Piers Foundation continues to step up to the plate to reduce these barriers to entry. Whether through individual family scholarships to low-income families in our community or through partnerships with mission-aligned organizations like Win and Rising Tides Effect, our focus is on covering these rising costs and connecting families to top resources, coaches, camps, and programs to help young people excel. For nearly three decades, we have connected families to tuition subsidies around camps, classes, and competitive teams. Now, the Foundation looks to expand our impact through grants that bring access to new sports like sailing and fencing, and through creative partnerships to promote both water safety and a passion for swim amongst public school students in New York City.
Interested in getting more involved with Chelsea Piers Foundation? Make a donation today or contact info@chelseapiersfoundation.org.
Sources:
“State of Play 2023”, Project Play & The Aspen Institute
“Rising costs for youth sports represents a challenge for families in keeping children active”, The Associated Press – Sports, June 12, 2024