Reimagining the public value of sports betting

Andre Fountain

In May, the Supreme Court overturned a 25-year old federal law, the Professional Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), that prohibited sports betting in every state except for Nevada. With the legalization of sports betting, states are moving swiftly to explore the opportunity to enter the lucrative industry. Since May, four more states – Delaware, New Jersey, Mississippi, and West Virginia – have introduced this form of gambling. As more states enter the market, an essential question to consider: How can sports betting serve the public interest?

The Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program took on this question to discuss possible solutions by convening experts from gambling, law, politics, professional sports, and health and fitness for our “Future of Sports Betting” conversation on Sept. 14, as part of our Future of Sports conversation series.

During the two-hour discussion at the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, DC the six panelists and two moderators helped to identify a path forward on ways sports betting can reimagine its public value for the good of society. Read coverage by USBETS here, an op-ed by Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program Executive Director Tom Farrey here, and research on other countries’ experience with sports betting here.

Below are highlights from the conversation.

MLB Shares its Position

Now that sports betting can be legalized in all US states, this will have massive effects on professional sports. As a creator of the sporting events that influence gambling, pro sports leagues want a cut of the action through a small “integrity fee” from gambling revenues.

“[The sports betting] industry, is 100 percent entirely reliant on the sports leagues to create the events on which the bet takes,” said Morgan Sword, Major League Baseball senior vice president. “So, we think it’s reasonable that the league that is spending all this money to create the events on which the bets are happening, receive some small compensation from the casino that’s offering the bet.”

Morgan Sword, Keith Whyte, Laila Mintas, and James Kilsby

Sword added that other countries have similar models where the sports leagues are receiving compensation. From MLB’s perspective, “it’s good policy,” Sword said.

Right now, out of the five states that offer sports betting, none pay royalties to the leagues. Despite the 0-for-5 start, Sword remains hopeful that an integrity fee will be granted in other states.

“There’s legitimate arguments on both sides … whether or not legalized sports betting is a good thing, in aggregate, for the country,” Sword said. “It no longer matters what our position is on that, because it’s here. So rather than hand-wringing around whether we are for it or against it, we decided that we would do everything we could to study the countries around the world that offer sports betting and [find out] the absolute best way to do this.”

Central Sports Betting Portal

To ensure the integrity of the games, gaming and sports law attorney Daniel Wallach said there is a need for an integrated integrity sports platform. The platform would be a central portal for information sharing on bets by all of the gambling states.

Such a platform would track possible “match-fixing” and in real-time that would help lead to arrests. Ohio state Senator Bill Coley, president of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS), agreed in theory about the suggestion, but doesn’t foresee this type of platform being mandated on the federal level. He argued that states could work together to create a portal.

Funding Youth Sports Through Sports Betting

Tom Cove, CEO of the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, made the case that the revenue from sports betting should go towards youth sports and physical fitness. Data show that household income is a major factor in whether children are physically active and play sports.

“We have a public policy imperative and there’s a public policy solution here, and there are many historical and particularly current analogies that suggest that we could take resources from this need,” Cove said. “There is a logical and moral relationship between sports betting and youth sports.”

Norway and China have models of using sports betting and lottery revenue to fund youth sports. In the United States, Colorado uses its lottery revenue to be distributed in three ways – 50 percent goes to the Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund, 40 percent goes to the Conservation Trust Fund, and 10 percent to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Cove encourages states to develop funding priorities around sports betting and use Norway, China, and Colorado as models.

Aiding Gambling Disorders

Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG), brought a unique perspective to the discussion by focusing on finding solutions to help bettors with gambling problems and prevent new bettors from creating bad habits. Still, Whyte mentioned that NCPG is neutral on legalized gambling and hopes to work with all stakeholders – professional sports leagues, states, and bettors.

Nevada only started receiving public funding in 2005 for problem gambling programs, Whyte said. All those years prior, “the gambling capital in America did not put a single cent of public money into problem gambling programs,” he said. “Most of the states that have legalized so far have followed suit. So, we’ve got a fundamental baseline problem here.”

Like Sword, Whyte is dissatisfied with the pace of legalization to adopt some of the methods that the NCPG is advocating for, but he remains hopeful that some of the populous states will build a strong framework soon.

Mobile Gambling Is the Future

The future of sports betting is in mobile and online, and the casinos ought to get ready. “Online is king,” said Wallach, a gaming and sports law attorney. Wallach said that to maximize revenues, casinos for sports betting must have a mobile and online presence.

Daniel Wallach and Tom Farrey

Right now, New Jersey is leading the market with eight online sportsbooks, and the state expects more to become available. The other states that offer sports betting are following the brick-and-mortar method.

The experience that New Jersey has with online casino gaming over the past five years is helping the state stay ahead of the pack. And the true value of the mobile and online sports betting presence will be its impact after one month of the NFL season.

Professional sports leagues like MLB and the NBA support mobile and online betting too. Sword thinks that such a platform will be good to control and monitor the books since a “paper trail” would now be in an electronic format.

“When you walk into a sportsbook and you make a bet at a window, we have no information about who you are, what other bets you’ve made,” Sword said. “And, when you’ve been making a bet on a mobile phone, we know a lot more than that. And, our ability to combine information, across bettors, across casinos, across states is dramatically improved.”

Dr. Laila Mintas, deputy president of Sportradar US, said it’s very important to have a mobile presence because, “people want to place a bet no matter where they are and whenever they want to do it.” In the UK, around 70 percent of betting is done on mobile. If the US lacks mobile options for bettors, they will continue to wager offshore, Mintas said.

Collective Action Among Key Stakeholders

The NCPG has been in talks with MLB and other pro sports leagues about a possible partnership to combat compulsive gambling. “This could be like the United Way [commercials],” Whyte said. “There could be major league stars saying, ‘Hey, bet with your head, but not over it.’”

Another collaborative effort could be between the leagues and the sports betting operators on the different types of sports betting to include.

“Smaller bets that happen during the course of the game … the first pitch of the game [being] a ball or a strike – that is problematic for us, because it’s very easy for an individual player to manipulate the outcome of that bet and very hard for us to detect,” Sword said.

A sports betting operator offered bets on this year’s Home Run Derby, which was won by Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper over the Chicago Cubs’ Kyle Schwarber. There were some questions on whether Harper’s batting practice pitcher threw some pitches too quickly – and against Home Run Derby rules – in order to catch up and win the contest.

Those who placed a bet on Schwarber became furious and blamed the MLB on social media. “If anyone asked us, we would tell you don’t offer bets on the home run derby,” Sword said. “It’s an exhibition event that’s meant for people to enjoy and have fun.”

Biggest Winners and Losers as Sports Betting Expands

Five years from now, who will be the biggest winners and losers as sports betting expands? Predictions varied across panelists, with the leagues perhaps seen as the biggest winners should sports betting be structured well. Cove, meanwhile, focused on the revenue it could produce for defined public purposes, such as building healthy kids and communities through community sports and recreation.

“States that institute programs to deliver back for the generations in perpetuity, focused on a social good, particularly for physical activity and health of kids [will be a winner],” Cove said.

You can read a full transcript of the event here.

Find the original story published here.

Revisiting Title IX 46 years later

Caitlin Morris

Title IX, signed on June 23, 1972, was a game changer. It altered the rules for federally funded activities in education, making it illegal to discriminate against women and girls in this area. It also gave them the opportunity to participate in sports and physical activities, creating a path for some of our greatest athletes, like Mia Hamm and Sheryl Swoopes.

Title IX built a strong policy-based foundation, but 46 years later, we know that our work has really only just begun. While many systemic and cultural changes — from reductions in physical education programs in public schools to increasingly higher costs of participation in competitive sports — have led to a drop in physical activity among all kids, girls are still getting the short end of the stick.

At Nike, we believe if you have a body, you’re an athlete. But fewer and fewer girls hold that statement to be true about themselves. More than 38 percent of girls (versus 25 percent of boys) in America don’t participate in sport. Girls are consistently two years behind boys in physical literacy skills. We may not be entirely sure why this gap exists, but we know the scale of its impact. Generally speaking, when girls lack the competence, they also lack the confidence to engage in sports. Children as young as 8 years old begin defining themselves as athletes, or not.

When girls walk away from sport this early in life, it affects more than just their health and happiness. Research shows that physically active kids are 15 percent more likely to attend college, and earn 7 to 8 percent more money, on average. Essentially, play equals power.

So, the big question today is, how can we all come together to truly, finally deliver on the promise of Title IX to promote gender equality in sports? For starters, we’d love to share some important lessons we’ve learned from our investments with community and school-based partners that we believe could have implications for all stakeholders:

1. Smart program design and coaching are key. If we don’t design programs specifically for and with girls in mind, they will sit on the sidelines, or worse, stop showing up. Also, If we don’t offer the presence and expertise of female coaches, girls will be less inclined to participate. We know that strong women make good role models for girls and help boost their confidence both on and off the court/field/track, yet only 28 percent of youth coaches are female. Programs like the Mamba League have shown us what’s possible in this context. Inspired by Kobe Bryant’s own youth experiences and coaching philosophy, the Mamba League was created to inspire girls and boys to learn basketball fundamentals and to build self-assuredness through leading an active, healthy lifestyle. Nike worked closely with the Los Angeles Boys and Girls Club to create a program that encouraged an equal number of boys and girls teams at every site and targeted female coaches to lead the girls-only teams. Every single girls’ team was led by female coaches, which drew girls to participate in record numbers — they made up 48 percent of the League in its first year. Those numbers held up in year two as well, even after the Mamba League doubled in size.

2. Data gaps will continue to hinder us. We know that what gets measured, gets done. While there is some data available on adolescent and teenage participation in sports in after-school programs, like the Boys and Girls Clubs, the current data sets do not fully capture sports participation for younger kids (12 years of age and under). They also don’t adequately cover gender breakdowns. And we know that physical activity does more than create good health. It contributes to leadership, productivity and innovation. It lowers depression and crime, increases educational achievement and income levels, and generates returns to businesses. This is why it is so critical to create access for girls — and all kids — to have early positive experiences with sport, so they may reap the benefits over their lifetime. More research needs to be performed in order for all of us to better understand — and address — the issues at hand. Without a baseline for how many girls are participating in sports and other physical activities, or details on where and how we are falling short, we will not be able to successfully evaluate any of our current efforts and investments. Once fueled with this information, as program funders, we may better examine and better channel/invest our time, energy and resources toward creating innovative, proven solutions to get more girls — and kids, in general — active.

3. This is everyone’s issue. No one organization or sector can increase girls’ sports participation alone. This has to be a team effort in order to succeed. We need multi-stakeholder engagement — and we need to visit this subject together on an ongoing basis. We applaud the continuing collaboration between the City of Los Angeles, The Getty Foundation, and non-profit as well as corporate institutions who are gathering in L.A. on June 23 to help get more girls moving across the city. The Aspen Institute Project Play 2020 initiative is another great example of multi-stakeholder engagement in the United States. The consortium of organizations — of which Nike is a founding member — aims to develop shared goals and advance collective action around making sports accessible to all kids in the US, regardless of zip code, ability or gender.

Title IX Day is more than just a moment for reflection and celebration on how far we’ve come to build gender equity in athletics. It’s a call to action to break down the existing barriers for girls so they can confidently get in the game. Because we know that once they start, they won’t want to stop.

Caitlin Morris is the General Manager of Global Community Impact at Nike, where she focuses on getting kids active and reversing the physically inactive epidemic. Nike is a founding member of the Aspen Institute Project Play 2020 initiative, which is a multiyear effort by leading organizations to grow national sport participation rates and related metrics among youth. Learn more about Project Play at www.ProjectPlay.us.

Find the original story published here.

NCAA VPs say college need to help repair 'broken' youth sports model

Oliver Luck & Brian Hainline
Aspen Institute Guest Authors

America’s approach to the development of the youth athlete is broken.

As a leader in amateur sports, the NCAA is committed to supporting and promoting solutions to healthy, sustainable, long-term athlete development strategies in youth sports.

As the Aspen Institute notes, participation in sports by children and adolescents can provide a range of benefits that can last into adulthood. These benefits are not limited to the expected physical improvements that come with physical activity, but also include important emotional and social benefits that can translate into stronger social and leadership skills.

But for these benefits to be fully available to our youth athletes, the participation experience must be effective. One troubling trend is the increasing number of young people specializing in a single sport beginning at a young age, typically in their pre-puberty years.

One common myth that often leads to early sport specialization is the misconception that having a single sport to focus on will lead to opportunities to participate in elite levels of competition beyond the high school level. But this myth is not supported by the facts. Indeed, the vast majority of Olympic athletes played multiple sports as children. There are no data to support that early specialization leads to a greater likelihood of a college scholarship or a career as a professional athlete.

The unfortunate reality is early specialization is fraught with risks. For example, researchers are finding that early youth sport specialization is associated with increased rates of overuse injury, burnout, decreased motivation for sport participation and, eventually, complete withdrawal from sports.

Professional athletes, Olympic athletes, NCAA coaches, and countless medical experts have spoken out against the trend, but youth sport leagues and many parents still struggle to find the right balance for their respective young athletes.

Our expectation is that other NCAA sport communities will re-examine their early recruitment rules and practices.

The consequence of sport withdrawal is particularly concerning. According to the American Heart Association, about 1 in 3 American kids and teens is overweight or obese, with the prevalence of obesity in children more than tripling from 1971 to 2011. Stated another way, the United States has become one of the most physically illiterate countries in the developed world (physical literacy means having the ability, confidence and desire to be physically active for life). This is due, in part, to an increasing number of kids dropping out of sport during pre-pubescent years because of sport burnout.

What many youth sports leagues and parents may not realize is that multisport participation — not sport specialization — is the key to developing better long-term athletic performance while simultaneously increasing the potential for a lifetime of enjoyment of physical activity and recreational sports.

Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer and Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney both have been vocal about their preference in recruiting high school athletes who play multiple sports.

“I want the multisport guy,” Swinney told The New York Times. Data from professional sports underscore why Swinney, Meyer, and many other coaches prefer well-rounded athletes.

Early sport specialization has not been beneficial for high-caliber athletic performance at professional levels. The most recent NFL draft supports this concept.

In 2017, 30 of 32 NFL Draft first-round picks were multisport high school athletes, representing high school participation not only in football, but also track and field, baseball, basketball, and lacrosse.

The athletic success and advancement of multisport athletes is not limited to just professional sports. Among Olympic athletes, 7 in 10 report playing multiple sports growing up.

The NCAA is working in partnership with many organizations to help create a healthy, balanced culture in youth sports that supports the positive potential outcomes of sport participation, while strongly discouraging some of the more pervasive, negative elements of youth sport culture like single-sport specialization.

In 2015, the NCAA collected information from more than 21,000 current NCAA student-athletes at Divisions I, II, and III universities. According to the survey results, the sports with the highest percentage of students who had not specialized by age 12 were football, lacrosse, and track.

• 71 percent of Division I men’s FCS football players played other sports before college.

• 88 percent of Division I men and 83 percent of Division I women lacrosse players also played other sports.

• 87 percent of Division I female runners and 91 percent of Division I male runners played other sports before college.

Across all three divisions, the men’s sports in which athletes were most likely to specialize in their sport by age 12 were soccer (63 percent), ice hockey (59 percent), and tennis (45 percent). Among women’s sports, the highest rate of specialization occurred in gymnastics (88 percent), soccer (61 percent), and ice hockey (57 percent).

Nearly 50 percent of college athletes in baseball, football, and men’s soccer said that young athletes in their respective sport play in too many contests, and approximately 40 percent of football and men’s basketball players said they regret not trying more sports when they were young.

We recognize and acknowledge that there is substantial room for change and improvement within the NCAA model of recruiting as well.

Results from a recently released survey of more than 15,000 NCAA student-athletes show that although a strong majority of college athletes view their recruiting experience as positive, early recruitment is related to less positive feelings about the recruiting experience.

Additionally, young people who commit to a school before 11th grade are less likely to enroll there or to have known what they wanted to study at the time of commitment. Those who commit before 11th grade are also more likely to have had a coach leave before their enrollment and to experience a change in their scholarship offer.

Recruiting rules vary by sport, but the college lacrosse community is among those leading the way to address early recruitment via rules changes.

Last April, the Division I Council passed a rule — submitted jointly by the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association and Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Coaches Association — prohibiting college lacrosse coaches from communicating with prospective student-athletes until Sept. 1 of their junior year of high school.

Additionally, a Division I governance group is examining the issue of early recruitment for all sports. We all need to keep in mind that talent identification is quite unpredictable before age 17 — another reason to question the value of early recruitment.

The encouraging news is that some very good work already has been done, and many organizations are taking seriously ongoing steps to help encourage change where it’s needed. Specifically, the American Development Model is a targeted effort between the United States Olympic Committee and its national governing bodies of sport, including the NCAA, to apply long-term athlete development principles in a way that improves the culture of sport in the United States.

Importantly, the American Development Model emphasizes the importance of kids having fun in sport, while also participating in multiple sport activities before the age of 12. This approach allows young athletes not only to develop motor skills that transfer from sport to sport, but also to cultivate a passion for sport and an active lifestyle. The American Development Model brochure, which is free and available online, serves as a valuable resource for parents and coaches of young athletes, regardless of age, sport, or ability level.

The guidance provided by the American Development Model long has been supported by experts in the field, but the concerning results of recent research has amplified the importance of re-examining the way in which we approach youth sport participation in this country. We welcome the news that the Aspen Institute’s Project Play 2020 coalition of leading industry organizations and non-profits plans to make sport sampling and multisport play a year one priority.

Our expectation is that other NCAA sport communities will take a cue from lacrosse and work with the NCAA national office and its governance structure to re-examine early recruitment rules and practices. Similar rule changes in other sports may prove to be a key step in encouraging multisport participation at the high school level.

We strongly believe that athletics should be an integral part of youth development and society as whole, but it’s important that we do it properly. Kids need to be physically active, but they also need time to recover both physically and emotionally.  And if they’re not having fun, they are less likely to be physically active for life.

Oliver Luck is NCAA executive vice president for regulatory affairs and strategic partnerships. Brian Hainline is NCAA senior vice president and chief medical officer.

Story was originally published here.

Preparing our children for a lifetime of fitness

Chris Watts
Aspen Institute Guest Author

It is widely known that this generation of kids is the least active in our nation’s history. At the National Fitness Foundation, we find this unacceptable and are on a mission to reverse this trend so that all children can benefit from a lifetime of health and fitness.

That is why we recently joined with more than a dozen leading national sports organizations, including the US Olympic Committee, NBC Sports, and Nike, on a multi-year commitment to boost youth sports participation rates for kids, regardless of ability or zip code. Led by The Aspen Institute, Project Play 2020 will execute evidence-based strategies to get more kids in the game and help them continue playing for life. This unique effort is an unprecedented partnership in which industry and non-profit groups are coming together to develop shared goals and specific actions so we can truly start making progress by 2020.

These national collaborations are important, but it is the work at the local level that makes the most meaningful difference. Last month I was proud to announce our Foundation’s commitment to train physical educators for the newly announced Project Play: Baltimore initiative, because when kids receive quality PE, they are more likely to participate in sports, embrace physical activity and perform at their highest potential both inside and outside the classroom.

This commitment demonstrates how the National Fitness Foundation uses cross-sector partnerships to deliver long-term results towards a healthy, active nation. As America’s health and fitness charity and the nonpartisan nonprofit partner of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition, we are focused on making sure students are empowered to be fit for life by enhancing and elevating quality physical education.

Six Decades of Championing Fitness

Project Play 2020 is the latest national push to prepare kids for a lifetime of health and fitness, one that the federal government has been trying to drive forward for more than 60 years. In the 1950s, alarming research showed that American youth lagged in several fitness measures. President Dwight D. Eisenhower responded by convening a White House Conference on Youth Fitness and establishing the President’s Council on Youth Fitness in 1956. It’s striking to see how similar the goals of that conference are to Project Play 2020, as both make universal access a top priority. Project Play strives to make “sport accessible to all kids, regardless of zip code or ability.” In 1956, Vice President Richard Nixon vowed to work on behalf of kids in “urban, suburban and rural homes, in crowded tenement sections and in well-to-do neighborhoods.”

The stats haven’t changed much either. In his keynote speech to the White House Conference on Youth Fitness, Nixon noted that less than 50 percent of high school students were taking physical education. Today, half of US high school students reported not attending any physical education during an average school week. Other numbers paint an equally dire picture today: more than 66 percent of youth don’t get the daily physical activity recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; only 37 percent of 6- to 12-year-olds played on a team sport last year; and one-third of children are obese.

Getting kids active will pay dividends in many ways. Children who are active and fit are better behaved in school, display a greater ability to focus, and have lower rates of absenteeism. And, of course, the health care system will see significant savings if we can make a dent in childhood obesity and physical inactivity.

More than 66 percent of youth don’t get the daily physical activity recommended by the CDC.

Despite the presidential focus and the commitment of other high-profile figures, such as past chairs of the President’s Council Arnold Schwarzenegger and Dominque Dawes, the problem of youth physical inactivity worsened. Council members serve an important role advising the president on national priorities and serving as official ambassadors to the country, but with a $1.1 million budget, they are limited in their ability to provide grants and make long-term investments.

Private Sector Partner Needed to Accelerate Mission

In 1970, President Nixon made high school basketball star Tom McMillen the youngest member ever to serve on the Council. McMillen went on to careers as an NBA player and Maryland congressman, and then returned to the Council in the 1990s, this time as co-chair under President Bill Clinton. As a Council insider, Tom believed its mission would benefit from an outside-the-government partner. He conceptualized the idea for a congressionally-chartered foundation to support and supplement the Council and championed the cause for 15 years, when finally, in 2010, President Barack Obama signed a law creating our Foundation. McMillen was named its inaugural chairman and still serves on the board.

“It was clear that Congress wasn’t going to come up with any significant investment for the President’s Council,” McMillen said. “So it was important to create a foundation to fill the leadership and funding gap at the federal level, and really make a full-throttled effort to get kids active.”

Although the Foundation was established to support the mission of the Council, we operate independently and are not part of the government. Our board members come from innovative companies such as Facebook, Helix, and UFC — empowering us to develop unique strategies and partnerships capable of producing tangible results. Although private-sector business leaders help drive our priorities, we work closely with our ex-officio members from the government, such as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to ground our priorities in evidence and expertise.

We need to work across sectors to make sure all children are prepared for a lifetime of health and fitness.

Freed from the constraints of tight government budgets, we’ve already earned a return on the early investment from corporate backers, with a $10 million grant from the General Mills Foundation that kick-started efforts to get kids to be more active. This grant helped us modernize the old Presidential Physical Fitness Test, remembered by generations of Americans as the blue patch test for doing pull-ups, sit-ups, and other activities. Research showed that the test was 25 years out of date, so with guidance from the CDC and the Institute of Medicine, we developed a new program that focuses on student health and personal progress towards lifelong fitness, rather than athletic performance.

Participating schools get access to expert training and professional development for physical educators; national youth fitness standards to measure endurance, strength, flexibility, and body composition; student incentives and school recognition; and grants for equipment and training, among other things. Since 2012, more than 10,600 schools and 5.3 million students have used the program, and we’ve trained over 1,200 physical educators and given out more than $3 million in grants in 47 states. We’re excited to build off that early success by teaming up with players from pro sports, the sporting goods industry, the US Olympic Committee, and others in Project Play 2020.

Of course, there will always be a role for the federal government when it comes to lifelong health and fitness, as we need a full team to deliver on our mission. We are encouraged that Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price identified reducing childhood obesity as one of his three priorities, and that President Trump singled out youth fitness and sports participation in his proclamation this spring of National Physical Fitness and Sports Month.

The nation has been fighting this battle for 60 years without much success and in this unique time in our country, the National Fitness Foundation is committed to accelerating progress to finding innovative solutions by working across sectors to make sure all children are prepared for a lifetime of health & fitness.

Chris Watts is the executive director of the National Fitness Foundation. 

The story was originally posted here.

An Olympian explains how video games can get kids active

Angela Ruggiero
Aspen Institute Guest Author

After four gold medals, Hockey Hall of Famer Angela Ruggiero retired from the US women’s national hockey team in 2011. Her new career may be even busier and more impressive. Ruggiero is the co-founder and managing director of Sports Innovation Lab, chief strategy officer of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic bid committee, and an executive board member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). On Sept. 6, she will speak at the Aspen Institute’s Project Play Summit on a panel titled, “From Pokémon Go to Esports: Lessons and Opportunities.” Portions of the Summit will be streamed live. See the full agenda here.

Tom Farrey, executive director of the Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program, recently spoke with Ruggiero. Their wide-ranging conversation touched on sports tech innovation, improvements to youth sports through the LA 2028 Olympics, and whether the rising popularity of esports video gaming undermines — or actually helps — participation in traditional sports.

The Sports Innovation Lab seems like a great canvas to pursue your many curiosities. Why create such a firm?

Part of my motivation to found the Sports Innovation Lab was all the time I spent on various boards shaping decisions with very little objective and analytic information. I’m obviously curious about business in general. I got my MBA at Harvard and studied how technology has changed multiple industries. I realized if there is a way to help the industry I love — the sports industry — adopt the right technology quicker, accelerate innovation, create the right partnerships, find the right people, and find the right markets, I wanted to do that. We want to help companies that are on offense come in and test out products and services in sports that they could actually leverage into wider markets. Sports is just the test bed, but can be the platform to tell the story.

How do you look at the opportunity around the LA Olympics in 2028?

LA 2028 is unlike any Olympics ever. Usually, there’s a seven-year horizon between the bid selection and the Games. This is the first time ever it will be an 11-year horizon, and on top of that, we’re not building a single new venue. It’s a sustainable bid at the core. We’re going to build a Games that fits the needs of the city, not the other way around. We’ll build some temporary venues, but we’re using existing infrastructure in LA.

So people go, “Well, where’s the budget going to go?” What’s important to us is using the Olympics as a platform to inspire America, inspire Angelenos, and get kids more involved. Starting in 2018, we’re going to create more opportunities for youth sports in LA — a full 10 years before the Games — as a lasting and impactful pre-legacy.

It’s been reported that the IOC will provide $160 million for youth sports programs. It’s very early, but are there specific ideas LA has of how to disperse that money?

Disbursement is at LA 2028’s discretion, but it will fund youth sports in Los Angeles today. It’s basically an advance on the payment that’s typically given during the Games to help endow youth sports today. That’s another innovation in and of itself, where a lot of the focus of this is on the pre-legacy and not the post-legacy.

When I had youth camps, everything was a disguised competition. Kids love that.

The topic of your panel at the Project Play Summit overlaps here a little bit. There’s talk of Paris adding esports to the 2024 Olympic set of sport offerings. How should we feel about that?

I look at sports and think, ok, people huddle around a TV and they watch football and they don’t participate, and they never will participate, but they just love watching. Kids might do the same thing with esports. You can’t deny the numbers.

At Sports Innovation Lab, we’re actually spending a lot of time really understanding the dynamics between sports and esports, and how traditional sports could leverage what esports is actually doing right. Within this trend, esport athletes are engaging with their fans more, they’re creating an atmosphere where no one’s looking on their phones. They’re actually present in the building. It is worth studying and understanding at the very least.

Is there anything that youth sport organizations can learn from esports?

If all you do is sit and play games and watch people play games and you’re never active, that’s definitely not in line with getting active fans to participate in your sport. But, if traditional sports organizations can figure out the mechanism to turn them into participants – maybe they play Madden (the NFL video game) and there’s an easy way for them to sign up and play football. That’s part of the reason the NBA is investing in the NBA2K esports league. The hope is that they’ll convert some of these kids into participants of basketball as well.

Think about adults with Fitbit and a lot of fitness options that they gamify to get more activity into their day. If you think from that same framework then yeah, absolutely, traditional sports and youth sports could learn from esports and Pokémon Go. When I had youth camps, everything was a disguised competition; it was a game. Kids love that. They push themselves a lot harder. Maybe youth sports creates a virtual community so then there are more ways to stay in touch with those kids. There’s a company creating a mechanism for marathoners to meet up with other marathoners in advance so they can train eight months out with someone they know is going to be running alongside them on the day of the race. Suddenly, you’re using technology to bring communities together to do physical sport — to actually move.

You’ve done so much in your early part of your career. What drives you?

What I think I have realized is that you can have a personal impact at a very individual level. When I was coaching kids’ camps — I had a girls hockey school for 10 years — I got to know the girls’ names, I saw them develop, and I stayed in touch with them. But now in my capacity with the IOC or LA or with my company, I’m trying to change the world in a more scalable way – affecting change that’s on a policy level or creating a new business model that doesn’t exist. What drives me is finding those right endeavors and then just putting my heart into those pieces, and seeing real change. I think in some cases I’m driven to win a game (while playing hockey), and in others I want to help shape the world. I want to help change the world in a positive way.

The story was originally published here.

Play is the work of children

Wayne Moss
Aspen Institute Guest Author

During 2015 Spotlight Health, the Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program released a white paper that bears consequence for the health of the nation, “Physical Literacy in the United States: A Model, Strategic Plan, and Call to Action.” Supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the paper builds on research associating movement competence with physical activity.

Wayne Moss, senior director of sports, fitness, and recreation for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, is a member of the 15-person working group that contributed to and reviewed the report.

When school is out, summer camp is in for young people at Boys & Girls Clubs. Their days are filled with laughter, participating in games, informal play, and making friends while creating a lifetime of memories. Nearly two-thirds of the children we serve are eligible for free and reduced lunch. If not for the local club, many of these youth could not afford the luxury of structured activities that have tremendous benefits. While kids have a three-month vacation from school, it wreaks havoc on activity levels — and their development of physical literacy.

We believe in physical literacy because we believe that every young person should feel confidence and self-assurance to move with their bodies.

Physical literacy is defined as the ability, confidence, and desire to be physically active for life. It means being able to move with poise and confidence, being able to “read” a wide variety of physically challenging situations, and having the talent to respond with imagination, agility, and intelligence. I grew up playing tag, hide-and-go seek, sandlot baseball, basketball, and riding bikes and remain active today.

At the Boys & Girls Club of America, we believe that physical literacy is so important that we’re committing to revising the curriculum of our signature healthy lifestyles program, Triple Play, to align with these life-changing concepts. For more than a decade, Triple Play has provided sports and fitness activities, making nearly 10 million connections with kids. As we continue to improve this program, infusing concepts of physical literacy is essential for elevating our kids’ physical abilities. By investing in physical literacy for all youth in our clubs, we will be able to reach our bold goal of the youth in our clubs achieving four billion hours of physical activity by 2018.

We believe in physical literacy because we believe that every young person should feel confidence and self-assurance to move with their bodies. This can be accomplished by working on fundamental movement skills such as running, jumping, skipping, throwing, catching, and balancing. As young people increase their physical literacy they:

• Increase their knowledge, understanding, and comprehension around their physicality

• Increase the creativity in which their bodies move

• Increase their ability to move with deftness in different environments

Physical literacy also includes children and adults being able to be agile and strong and even able to navigate something like a slippery surface in a safe way. Physical literacy can also prepare young people for a physically active career, such as those of firefighters, police officers, and construction workers.

In my role as senior director of sports, fitness, and recreation for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, I see the direct benefits these young people get with a summer filled with activities like baseball, basketball, tag, and hopscotch. Some members, like ballet great Misty Copeland, received their start by running, jumping, and dancing at Clubs like the one in San Pedro, California. Copeland is now a member of the American Ballet Theatre and recently made history by becoming the company’s first African-American principal dancer.

I challenge all other youth-serving organizations to join us on this journey. Organizations such as schools, recreation and community centers, after-school and sports programs, day-care facilities, and youth scouts organizations should commit to integrating physical literacy principles in their respective programs. I invite those organizations to design physical literacy frameworks and programs by 2018 and have them fully implemented by 2020 so that together we can change the future for the next generation.

There’s an incredible urgency to move now to change the opportunity equation for our kids and our nation.

The original story was published here.

Why make room in sports for kids with developmental disabilities?

Darrin Steele
Aspen Institute Guest Author

The USA Bobsled and Skeleton Federation has partnered with the Aspen Institute Sports and Society Program’s Project Play initiative to explore ways to get and keep children active through sports. Below, the USA Bobsled Federation CEO Darrin Steele reflects on what he’s learned about the power of sports in raising a child with a developmental disability.

Some people find their calling working with kids with developmental disabilities. Other people find themselves in that world unexpectedly. For parents like me, it’s the latter. 

The learning curve is steep, and to call the education an emotional roller coaster would be a gross understatement. I have to confess that when we got the diagnosis that my son has autism, I assumed there was an established path we would plug him into. The comfort we got from finally having a diagnosis was eclipsed by the realization that America was ill-prepared to handle the fastest growing developmental disability in the nation. We quickly realized that he wasn’t entering a path; he was exiting one.

My son loves physical activity and he has natural athleticism. He reminded me of me when I was young, and I was happy his motor skills were very good. I was troubled by the therapy he got, which took a lot of time and involved a lot of sitting. He didn’t do well. He was immersed in an inclusive classroom, which we supported and still do. He stays in the classroom as much as possible, but goes to the special needs room when necessary. He’s in a great school and we are lucky to have him there.

Even though this might be as good as it gets, the reality is that the system wasn’t built for kids like him and he really doesn’t belong there. All too often, we are reminded that kids like my son don’t really belong anywhere. He makes too much noise, he doesn’t follow directions, he can’t keep up with his peers, and he gets in the way.

This is where sport comes in. I experienced the power of sport as a child and quickly figured out that my social stock rose due to my achievements in sports. That was great news for a shy kid like me. Sport has the unique ability to not only provide an experiential education that serves real life, but it is one of the only possible experiences that rewards heart, drive, and teamwork. 

Sport offers something else that no other experience does: the concept of the “personal best.” There is a universal understanding in sport that a personal best is something special because in sport, you compete against yourself. Sure, there are other competitors, but they are there to help bring out the best in you. Sport allows us to define success at an individual level.

These kids with disabilities are reminded of their weaknesses on a daily basis. While most kids gravitate toward their areas of strength, the Individualized Education Program process for kids with special needs is primarily focused on areas of weakness. What would happen if these same kids were introduced to sport? Fortunately, we don’t have to guess. I had the pleasure of studying one of the few sports organizations on the country that provides sports programs for kids with developmental disabilities. Sports Plus, in Montgomery County, Maryland, allowed me to observe the programs and talk with the parents of participants.

Sports Plus quickly realized that having positive coaches — who had fun with the participants while demanding incremental sport improvement — was an absolute requirement for success. The kids took pride in their improvements and experienced social gains from both engaging the coaches and feeling a sense of belonging with their peers. More than 95 percent of participants are repeat customers. 

I have seen the impact of physical activity on my son Darrin Khan as well, although he’s never participated in organized sports. This is a kid who has been on the move since he came out of the womb. He is a lot like I was as a child and we both fit the definition for ADHD. Dr. John Ratey, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, has studied the outcomes of exercise on those with ADHD and regularly prescribes exercise rather than drugs to his ADHD patients. Not only does physical activity make my son happy while he’s doing it, but he’s much calmer and less inclined to have meltdowns after.

I have yet to find a sports program that can handle him. Although he has a high level of athletic ability, mainstream sports require too much cognitive application and team sports require too much communication and social interaction. For now, he swims, climbs, and dances for fun. I recently took him to a martial arts class because I trusted the coach and the coach knows my son. He certainly enjoyed the experience, but he didn’t understand why he was punching and kicking the heavy bags and he doesn’t like to stand in line.

Above, watch Steele’s son in his first Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) class.

Kids like my son need much more one-on-one instruction at the beginning and they will learn faster if they are shown what to do rather than told. The other kids will accept these kids, strange behavior and all, if the coach sets the tone. Those aren’t major modifications and they could make all the difference. 

I have seen some resistance to creating programs specific to kids with developmental disabilities. I certainly think we should include them in mainstream programs where, when, and if it makes sense. Sports are fun when the challenge is reasonable and the athletes and teams are evenly matched. Yes, there should be winners and losers because there are important life lessons to be learned. If evenly matched means that teams are exclusively made up of kids with developmental disabilities, then we should encourage it. If we can include them into mainstream programs with some adaptations to their training, then we should most definitely do that.

The thing that we should remember about all sports is that we are ultimately competing against ourselves. It’s much easier to define success in general terms that we can all understand, but all participants should celebrate the idea of personal struggles and personal bests.  

A few weeks ago, I was able to see a video that my son’s 3rd grade teacher took. She does a great job of including music and dance in class throughout the day. This is a regular inclusive classroom and we worry about how he’s doing when we’re not around. This video showed him leading the class in a dance to the song Ghostbusters. This is something he’s good at and his teacher recognized the opportunity to play to his strengths in front of his peers. It’s something that kids like him don’t get to experience often and it brought tears to my eyes to see it. That is what sports can do if we get it right.

This school is an exception, unfortunately, but the experience above is one of the reasons he has kids saying, “Hi” to him constantly and why he feels like he belongs.

An estimated 10 million children in the United States between the ages of three and 17 have a developmental disability and that number is rising. These children often have physical, emotional, social, and cognitive challenges that result in a lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and much lower sport participation rates than neurologically typical children. Youth sports have proven to increase the HRQoL in children.

Often-overlooked aspects of inclusion are the benefits to the children without disabilities. These children have been found to not only increase their social skills when in the same classroom as diverse students, but also see improvements in leadership, self-esteem, and confidence.

So, why make room for kids with developmental disabilities? Because every kid deserves to feel like they belong somewhere. Sports are uniquely capable of offering this to kids who have more challenges than solutions, more questions than answers, and more places where they don’t belong than those where they do. In short, because everyone wins.

RELATED CONTENT:

• 7 Charts that Show the State of Youth Sports in the US and Why it Matters

• Why Do Kids Play Sports? Back to the Basics

• Seven Steps to Improving Youth Access to Sports

• A New Vision, Platform for Youth Sports in America

The story was originally published here.