Project Play recognizes the essential role that schools play in preparing young people for life – and the cognitive, educational and health benefits that flow to students who are physically active. We offer data, research, insights and these eight breakthrough strategies that leaders can use to meet the needs of more students through sports, aligned with the mission of schools.
Play 1: Align School Sports with School Mission
Play 2: Understand Your Student Population
Play 3: Create Personal Activity Plans
Play 4: Introduce Other Forms of Play
Play 5: Develop Community Partnerships
Play 6: Bolster Coaching Education
Play 7: Prioritize Health and Safety
Play 8: Measure and Evaluate Programs
SCHOOL SPORTS PLAYBOOK
Our Playbook to Develop Every Student Through Sports is a framework to help engage the 6 in 10 students who do not play high school sports, while improving the outcomes for those who do. The playbook is the final report in our Reimagining School Sports series. It collects the best ideas to emerge from two years of research and a national search for innovators.
HIGH SCHOOL REPORTS
Decisions related to sports are shaped by a school’s size, mission and resources. So, Project Play began its work by exploring the challenges and opportunities faced by eight different types of high schools and the populations they serve. Each report includes a story on a winner of our national search that awarded $160,000 to the most innovative schools, made possible by project partners Adidas/BOKS, The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation and Hospital for Special Surgery.
We studied real, youth-led movements for school sports equity to create a resource that helps emerging youth leaders address concerns about access to sport opportunities, equipment and resources. Through captivating stories and practical strategies, the toolkit supports future leaders by revealing diverse methods, partnerships and pathways to change.
We hope this toolkit helps young leaders everywhere use their voice, passion, and talents in service of students in their community who lack opportunities to play.
The Healthy Sport Index, developed with Hospital for Special Surgery, is the world's first-ever tool that assesses the relative benefits and risks of participating in each of the most popular sports.
Learn what the data show about physical activity, injury rates and psychosocial outcomes to find the sports that best meet the needs of students here.
We thank the leaders on our Advisory Group for their support of this project. +
| Jon Alfuth National Governors Association |
Garland Allen inCourage |
Will Aubin Harvard School of Education |
Sarah Axelson Women's Sports Foundation |
| Talmage Bayer Kreiva Academy Public Charter School |
Megan Blanco National Association of State Boards of Education |
Cheri Blauwet Spaulding / Harvard Medical School |
Matt Bowers University of Texas at Austin |
| Jamira Burley Adidas |
Dawna Callahan All In Sports Consulting |
Kamal Carter A Long Talk About the Uncomfortable Truth |
Michelle Carter SHAPE America |
| Anna Maria Chávez National School Boards Association |
Daycia Clarke Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo |
Jay Coakley University of Colorado, Colorado Springs |
Caleb Coats STRIVE Prep Schools |
| Kelly Cornett Healthy Schools Branch, Centers for Disease Control |
Al Dyer Camden Health and Athletic Association |
Susan Eustis WinterGreen Research |
Linda Flanagan Writer |
| Ed Garza Urban Champions Academy |
Brian Gearity University of Denver |
Alana Glass Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan |
Michael Glosserman JBG Smith |
| Jayne Greenberg International Sport and Culture Association (ISCA) |
Maria Guadagnino The DICK'S Sporting Goods Foundation |
David James Major League Baseball |
Joe Janosky Hospital for Special Surgery |
| Neeru Jayanthi Emory Sports Medicine Center |
Bill Kellick United States Association of Blind Athletes |
Michele LaBotz InterMed/Tufts University School of Medicine |
Patrick Lawrence Challenged Athletes Foundation |
| Brad Lowell Mobile County (Alabama) Public Schools |
Jimmy Lynch The School District of Philadelphia |
Julie McCleery University of Washington Center for Leadership in Athletics |
Deborah McFadden Competitive Edge Management Associates (CEMA) |
| Tatyana McFadden Paralympic gold medalist |
Glenn Merry Move United |
Vincent Minjares Sport Development Officer (New Zealand) |
Craig Morris U.S. Tennis Association |
| Stephanie Morris SHAPE America |
Wayne Moss National Council of Youth Sports |
Bri Newland New York University |
Jessy Newman American Institutes for Research |
| Karissa Niehoff National Federation of State High School Associations |
Bridget Niland Project Play Western New York |
Sheila Ohlsson Walker Tufts University/Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development |
Lisa Perry Alliance for a Healthier Generation |
| Elliott Pettit U.S. Tennis Association |
Chris Pulley Fairfax County Government |
Natalie Randolph Sidwell Friends School |
Jennifer Rheeling National Athletic Trainers' Association Secondary School Athletic Trainers Committee |
| David Ridpath Ohio University |
Laura Robbins Hospital for Special Surgery |
Andy Rotherham Bellwether Education Partners |
Renata Simril LA84 Foundation |
| Caeli Sullivan BOKS (Build Our Kids' Success) |
Isaiah Thompson Inter Tribal Sports, Inc. |
Valerie Truesdale AASA, The School Superintendents Association |
Kathleen Tullie Reebok International |
| Nicole Vollebregt Adidas |
Joe Walsh Adaptive Sports New England |
Aimee Watters The DICK'S Sporting Goods Foundation |
Laurie Whitsel American Heart Association/Physical Activity Alliance |
| Kyle Williams A Long Talk About the Uncomfortable Truth |
Eli Wolff Power of Sport Lab |
“The NFHS is excited to work alongside the Aspen Institute in this endeavor. We encourage high schools to examine their sports and activities offerings and take this opportunity to reach as many students as possible in new ways. A reimagined school sports model that keeps high school education-based sports activities at its core is a proven roadmap for success.”
Karissa Niehoff, CEO, National Federation of State High School Associations
“This is the best document on school sports that I've ever read. It was difficult to contain my excitement -- and I'm 77 and seen quite a bit in my lifetime! If Project Play can stimulate and facilitate this form of excitement among physical educators and coaches, it would revolutionize young people's perspectives on physical activity in their lives.”
Jay Coakley, sports sociology professor and author, Sport & Society: Issues and Controversies
SUPPORTED BY
MIDDLE SCHOOLS
We found some of the most innovative middle school sports programs in the country as well. Learn what they’re doing in this best practices guide.
SUPPORTED BY
