Keys to creating great sports experiences in afterschool

By Jennifer Brown Lerner, Deputy Director at Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program.

The Afterschool Alliance, in partnership with Ralph C. Wilson, Jr Foundation, is thrilled to launch a series of blogs highlighting the benefits and positive impact of youth sports in afterschool. Through a collection of afterschool program spotlights, we'll be exploring the transformative impact of sports on youth development and sharing best practices for programs working with, starting, and sustaining youth sports programming.

Research has shown that kids who are physically active are less likely to be obese, produce higher academic test scores, have lower levels of depression and higher self-esteem, have better long-term health, lowering healthcare costs and the risk of severe diseases.

These findings underscore the critical role that physical activity plays in shaping the lives of young people. When we invest in creating sports opportunities, we are not only improving their physical health, but also their mental and emotional well-being and their long-term life prospects.

Given that sports take place after school, here are some characteristics of sport experiences that make them ideal places to cultivate positive youth development.

Sports, done well, should put youth in control of the experience

Project Play had long advocated for developing a youth-center sports ecosystem. Play #1 from our Sport for All, Play for Life: A Playbook to Get Every Kid in the Game is Ask Kids What They Want. As we survey youth in communities across the country, they tell us that they play sports to have fun, be with their friends and improve their skills. To center the needs of young people in their sport experience, we designed the Children's Bill of Rights in Sports to create a shared cultural understanding that all youth should have the opportunity to develop as people through sports. Young people are and should be the center of their sport experience.

Quality sport experiences ensure that all children possess the ability, confidence, and desire to maintain a physically active lifestyle.

• Ability means being competent in fundamental movement skills and possessing a level of physical literacy that allows for participation in various games and activities.
• Confidence refers to the self-assurance that one has the ability to engage in sports and other physical activities.
• Desire is the inherent enjoyment of physical activity, regardless of whether it takes place in organized or unstructured settings.

These core competencies are essential, not only related to physical activity, but many other aspects of life. Sports offers a unique environment to foster and develop these skills and many others including teamwork, ability to regulate emotions and giving and receiving feedback.

Coaches, trained well, can be important influences in a youth person’s life

Coaches as the leaders of sport experiences often make or break the experience for young people. Thus training coaches in foundational principles of youth development is essential to ensuring a quality sport experience. Over the course of the few past years, the organizations in the Million Coaches Challenge have committed to training at least a million coaches in youth development. Their efforts have shown early results in:

• Coach knowledge and skill attainment related to youth development
• Shifts in coaches attitudes and behaviors
• Coaches feeling more prepared to support holistic development of their athletes
• Coaches perceiving positive changes for their youth athletes
• Training and supporting coaches can be useful for retention

Sports can positively impact young people's physical, mental, and emotional well-being, but quality experiences are essential to achieve this. We are thrilled that the Afterschool Alliance has profiled many exemplary sport providers and working to bridge sports and afterschool.