How Baltimore is improving sports access for children

Baltimore has a rich history of developing its children and communities through sports – from the childhood of Babe Ruth to the proliferation of recreation centers in the 1960s and ‘70s, from the rise of decorated Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps to the basketball successes of Carmelo Anthony, Angel Reese and many others. The Aspen Institute recognized as much in State of Play Baltimore, the first community landscape analysis from our Project Play initiative, which included findings and recommendations shaped by an eight-member local advisory board that included then-City Council member Brandon Scott. Since 2017, Scott - now Mayor - and local leaders have worked hard to make Baltimore’s children active through sports.

The long-awaited Commission report on sports governance is here. What does it say, and what comes next?

Three years after it was authorized, the final report of the group seated by Congress to study the organizations at the center of the Olympic and Paralympic Movement in the United States is now out. The 13-member group took a home run swing. It hit a broken-bat double. Broken bat, because not everything connects. A double, because it sets up a chance to score.

February 2024 newsletter

Featured highlights:

  • 1,860,000 quality years of life gained if we lift sports participation rates from 51 to 63% by 2030

  • UPCOMING EVENT: Future of Sports: College Sports Reform in the Public Interest

  • Christine Brennan joins Project Play Summit 2024

  • Last chance for early bird ticket prices!

  • and more…

Maryland pioneers model that brings soccer into high-poverty schools

TAKOMA PARK, Maryland – It’s 3:40 pm on a fall afternoon, and as classes let out, about 40 children flood into the outdoor patio at Rolling Terrace Elementary School. They come for snacks and soccer and receive life lessons along the way.

On this day, many are antsy to play soccer, tying their free cleats and chatting loudly with friends rather than listening to their mentors discuss what optimism and persistence mean. Lukas Barbieri, a high school student who is the youngest of Rolling Terrace’s soccer mentors, eventually quiets the kids down.

“Does anyone remember what optimism means?” Barbieri asks.

“Helping your friends,” says one child. “Being thoughtful,” adds another.

“Sort of,” Barbieri replies. “Optimism means you have to believe in yourself.”

In a sense, this scene represents what optimism for youth sports looks like.