Opportunity, Motivation, And Access
Continue to seek out sports opportunities for all kids
By John Engh
The National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS) has always championed the idea that active kids are likely not only to be more physically fit but to be mentally healthy as well. This is especially important during the recent and present situations involving the pandemic.
Mary Taylor, Pexels
We are proud that NAYS has been recognized by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as a Champion for its National Youth Sports Strategy. This initiative recognizes that children need “opportunity, motivation and access to play youth sports.” Of course, as an organization that has led the charge on these issues for more than 40 years, we couldn’t agree more with this approach.
We are all victims of the 24-hour news cycle and can recognize things can seem way worse than they are. But every time I see a news alert about a tragic happening involving children, I immediately say to myself, “I bet this kid wasn’t involved in sports.” Of course, this isn’t an absolute. Sports aren’t going to cure all the ailments of every teenager in every town in America. But many studies have shown that sports can be a powerful force in helping to lower anxiety, depression, and stress, to reduce rates of suicide, to promote better grades and graduation rates, and to lower the risk of drug use. Sports may not be the cure-all, but they certainly can help!
And do we really need to be told? All we have to do is spend 10 minutes on a treadmill, walk around the block, or shoot some baskets, and we feel better mentally almost immediately. Honestly, I don’t think there’s anything more important that we can pass on to our kids than a love of physical activity.
That gets me back to HHS and its strategy. We have to give all kids an opportunity. We have to motivate them to go outside. And we have to give them access.
Recently, NAYS was shooting one of our training videos, and we were lucky to have access to an exclusive prep school’s facilities as a backdrop. Pristine fields, an amazing basketball facility, and an immaculate aquatic center. This was at 8:00 in the morning on the first Monday of summer break; there were hundreds of children involved in swimming, basketball, and baseball.
Opportunity, motivation, and access – these kids had all three. I wonder about all the other kids waking up on that same Monday without any of those three elements and how they would spend their morning.
Youth sports administrators are the real “champions” in this cause. We need to continue to fight for the scarce resources in our communities so all kids have opportunity, motivation, and access.
John Engh is executive director of the National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS) in West Palm Beach, Fla. He can be reached via email at jengh@nays.org. To join more than 3,000 communities by starting a NAYS Member Organization, visit www.nays.org, email nays@nays.org or call (800) 729-2057.