Recap: Purposefull Stories: The $8.5B Bailout Plan for Youth Sports and Why It Matters to the Future of Sport
On this past Tuesday’s Purposefull Stories webinar series, 17 Sport cofounder Neill Duffy spoke with Olympic gold medalist Benita Fitzgerald-Brown and Active Policy Solutions CEO Terri Lakowski. Both are prominently involved with the PLAY Sports, a coalition formed to provide support to youth sports during COVID19, and were perfectly positioned to talk about why the topic of youth sports is so relevant during the pandemic.
The full video can be found below as well as some of the key learnings from the talk.
Stronger Together
Sports was among the first industries to shut down in the wake of COVID19. And while there was little doubt that for professional sports the shut down would only be temporary, it became quickly apparent that youth sports were in trouble. But they were also quick to act. The normally disparate youth sports leagues and organizations around the country quickly mobilized and formed a coalition realizing that their voices were stronger together. And that coalition made all the difference when fighting for the limited time of congressional leaders.
The $ is Big, but it Shows the Importance of Youth Sports
Almost everyone has anecdotes about youth sports either in their own lives or the lives of someone they care about. But youth sports play a more important role than just filling up parks on Saturday mornings. They have many benefits for our young people and our communities such as improving physical and mental health, stimulating local economies and providing safe spaces where communities can come together and grow.
These are just two of the many interesting topics that came up in this latest episode of Purposefull Stories and we would like to invite you to continue the conversation with us on our Sport 2.0: Slack Channel.
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