Sports and Society Program

What We Do

The mission of the Sports & Society program is to convene leaders, foster dialogue, and inspire solutions that help sport serve the public interest. The program addresses a range of topics and is currently focused on the role of sports in the development of healthy children and communities, given the modern barriers that limit access to participation opportunities into and beyond the teenage years.

Through roundtables, symposiums, book talks and other events, the program engages leaders from across the sports landscape, as well as those from policy and other circles. The launch meeting was held in May 2011 when more than three dozen leaders and prominent citizen-athletes met in Washington D.C. to consider the role of sport organizations in defeating childhood obesity. Topics at that meeting and since then have included: the power of play for children, lessons learned from video games about creating competition-friendly environments, the state of physical education in schools, and the challenge of creating a national sport development model. Programming in 2012 will include a May 31 symposium on Title IX and access to sports for girls in low-income communities, and, for the first time, a full sports track at the Aspen Ideas Festival from June 27-30 that will offer panels on the future of college sports, the Olympic movement and new directions in concussion prevention.

Creating conversation around access to participation opportunities is a focus of the program because the health benefits of playing sports are well-established. Research shows that regular physical activity helps build and maintain healthy bones, muscles, and joints; helps control weight and reduce fat; prevents or delays the development of high blood pressure; and reduces feelings of depression and anxiety. Academic and social benefits may also flow from sports participation. A 2010 Centers for Disease Control review of 50 existing studies concluded that physical activity can help improve academic achievement, including grades and standardized test scores. A 2005 report by the U.S. Department of Education found that high school athletes are more likely than non-athletes to attend college and get degrees. Historically, many athletes have become leaders, from former General Electric CEO Jack Welch to activist Billie Jean King to President Barack Obama.

However, for many children today, the barriers to participation emerge early. Largely gone is the era of the sandlot, a form of play that for generations of Americans organically promoted inclusion, innovation and physical fitness. Now, adult-organized play prevails—but is not widely available to all. At some large, urban high schools, no more than one in five students play a sport. The loss of school programs and a lack of safe, viable recreation spaces in distressed communities limit the options for many children and adolescents. Communities with greater resources face their own challenges, as multi-season, often expensive “travel” teams are formed to segregate the top child athletes before they enter middle school. Support has shifted away from in-town leagues and school intramurals, often the only options for the late bloomer, the economically disadvantaged, the child of a single parent, the boy or girl of average athletic ability, and the kid who needs exercise more than any other—the clinically obese.

The prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents has nearly tripled since 1980, to approximately 12.5 million. Among high school students, only 25 percent of boys and 11 percent of girls receive the federal government's recommended level of one hour of daily physical activity, with the rates lowest among African Americans, Hispanics and other minorities. In a 2012 report, the Government Accountability Offices recognized that sports plays a key role in preventing obesity-related diseases, which cost $147 billion a year and are predicted to rise in the coming years. Other research shows that adolescents who play sports are eight times more likely to do so at age 24 as those who did not.

The role of the Sports & Society Program is to provide a venue for thought leadership, in the Aspen Institute tradition. We aim to ask all the right people all the right questions in all the right settings. Our events promote balanced dialogue on topics that sit at the intersection of sports and society, while highlighting breakthrough ideas and helping “connect the silos” among the entities that comprise our disjointed sport system—the schools, clubs, U.S. Olympic Committee, parks and recs, professional leagues, coaches’ groups, et al—so that best practices may be shared and systemic breakdowns may be addressed. Invited to join these conversations are leading figures from government, philanthropy, academia, medicine, media and industry.

To get involved with the Sports & Society program, or if you have questions, fill out this form or call Sports & Society director Tom Farrey at (860) 798-0752.