In the Winter Olympics, Norway won the medal count leaving many American pundits to wonder if their highly regulated model of youth sports is something the U.S. should try. As the only country without centralized governance for youth sports, the U.S. is an outlier in its reliance on a primarily market-driven youth sports sector. Growing concerns – like rising costs, overuse injuries and burnout, and limited access for millions of youth who want to play – have raised questions about whether state and federal regulations might be necessary to reign in the market, support access and quality, and bolster youth health and safety.

This three part webinar series will examine the history, the current landscape, and the possibilities of youth sports policy. The goal of the series is to deepen the conversation, learn from other sectors about the path to state policies, and center the health needs of young people in a discussion of policy-focused reform of youth sports.

Webinar 1 on April 8th at 2pm CT will lay the groundwork for understanding our current youth sports model, provide comparisons to other countries, and examine the landscape of safety, quality, and access for youth today. Register here.

Webinar 2 on May 14 at 2pm CT will look at successful policy movements in other sectors from which the youth sports movement can learn: childcare, smoking prevention, school wellness, and after school programming.

Webinar 3 (coming in June) will provide an overview of current youth sport policy work at the state level that can serve as building blocks for next steps.