CHANGING THE PLAY:

USING ACTION RESEARCH TO

REFORM YOUTH SPORTRaquel HutchinsonLaurence ChalipJarrod Scheunemann

University of Illinois, Urbana-

Champaign

THE ISSUE

Declining youth sport participation

DECLINE OF YOUTH SPORT

WHY WE CARE

Physical activity, including sport, is essential for combatting the

current obesity epidemic, especially among children

Participation in sport has the potential to be a means by which

young people learn and develop desirable social skills and

behaviors

Children of color and from low income homes are more likely to

be obese and less likely to have access to sport than non-

Hispanic white youth

Behaviors established at a young age transfer to adulthood

Young participants are both the talent pool and future fans

FUNQUALITY OF

EXPERIENCE

PROGRAM

DESIGN

PROGRAM

DELIVERY

COACHING

QUITSTAY

THE CHALLENGE

Reform of youth sport in a disconnected (federalist) policy system

POLICY CONSIDERATIONS

U.S. has no formal institutionalized system of sport development

Amateur Sports Act gives responsibility to USOC

Policy decisions are generally made at higher organizational

levels without input from those who organize and run programs

Fundamental disconnect between organizational leaders,

academic experts, and practitioners at the coal face

What are the legitimations of youth sport participation

NATIONAL POLICY INITIATIVE

Launched in 2013

Influence the influencers

Convene leaders and experts

to discuss specific topics

Publish short research briefs

and post-roundtable reports

Raise awareness and set the

agenda

THE NEED

Inclusion of non-elite, local-level practitioners in policy

implementation

ILLINOIS YOUTH SPORT SUMMIT

Goal 1: Include park and

recreation professionals in

the conversation

Goal 2: Bring the discussion

to those responsible for daily

implementation

Goal 3: Develop an action

plan

State, regional, and local

level providers

Partnered with Project Play

ILLINOIS YOUTH SPORT INITIATIVE

IYSI AS ACTION RESEARCH

Summit functioned as formative evaluation

Identify key challenges and contribute to definition of problem

and attributions

Develop activities and resources with and for

practitioners, so that they are useful and empowering

Actions also serve as data points that provide insight

for policy formulation

Increase stakeholder buy-in and subsequent

commitment to change by listening to and valuing their

voices

RESULTS (thus far)

Project Play: The 8 Plays IYSS: 6 Realms of Action

1. Ask kids what they want

2. Reintroduce free play

3. Encourage sport sampling

4. Revitalize in-town leagues

5. Think small

6. Design for development

7. Train all coaches

8. Emphasize prevention

1. Design & implement child-centered programming

2. Manage parents

3. Train coaches to be sport & life skill mentors

4. Creatively develop & manage resources

5. Build status for participatory youth sport programs

6. Improve programming for traditionally underserved populations

NEXT STEPS

Working groups/sub-committees

Identify and develop demonstration sites and communities

Synthesize findings from both reports at the level of action

Continue agenda-setting at state and local level

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Positive sport experiences at a young age provide the foundation

for the broader sport industry

Successful policy implementation requires integrating (listening

and valuing) grassroots practitioners into the conversation

An effective means to enable the inclusion and integration of local

stakeholders is through participatory action research

Early stages of action research may benefit by conducting data

collection and agenda setting simultaneously

Developing and coordinating both top down AND bottom up policy

action necessary to reform youth sports

QUESTIONS?

CHANGING THE PLAY:

USING ACTION

RESEARCH TO REFORM

YOUTH SPORTRaquel HutchinsonLaurence ChalipJarrod Scheunemann

University of Illinois, Urbana-

Champaign