Major League Soccer has joined the Aspen Institute’s Project Play 2024 initiative to grow national sport participation and related metrics among youth.
The four-year effort by 21 leading sport, health, media and other organizations is designed to mobilize industry leaders to develop shared goals and take actions around making sports accessible to all children, regardless of race, gender, zip code or ability.
Project Play 2024 focuses on participation rates for kids through age 12, particularly low-income youth and girls, and is the second phase of the initiative, which launched in 2017 with Project Play 2020. According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, only 23% of low-income youth ages 6-12 consistently played sports as compared to 49% of wealthier kids.
“Collective impact works,” Tom Farrey, executive director of the Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society Program, said in a statement. “Organizations from across sectors came together through Project Play 2020 and, guided by a theory of change, attacked a complex challenge from a variety of angles, delivering real results. Now, we take next steps with Project Play 2024, with members who can turn today’s crisis into tomorrow’s opportunity and help build a new state of play for youth in the US.”
The members of Project Play 2024 are: American College of Sports Medicine, Augusta Sportswear Brands, The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation, ESPN, Hospital for Special Surgery, LeagueApps, Major League Baseball and Major League Baseball Players Association Youth Development Foundation, Major League Soccer, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, National Lacrosse League, Nike, PGA of America, Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, Sports Facilities Companies, Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), TeamSnap, Under Armour, U.S. Soccer Federation, US Olympic & Paralympic Committee and US Tennis Association.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and PHICOR at the City University of New York are also serving as technical advisors.
