Check out Aspen Institute’s new Playbook!

It’s here! Check out Aspen Institute's new playbook [Sport for All, Play for Life: A Playbook to Develop Every Student Through Sports] where they offer eight strategies on how to update the traditional high school sports model to be more inclusive and give every student the opportunity to develop through sports. Students need more options for physical activity, whether through community partnerships, intramurals, student-led clubs or other innovations that supplement the standard menu of interscholastic teams.

The Aspen Institute’s playbook is the product of two years of research with input from more than 60 experts. Each strategy (“8 Plays”) includes five ideas on how policymakers, industry and other stakeholders can help support. The Call for Leadership section explores the power of non-discrimination becoming the focus of the next model.

Key Points

• Fewer than 4 in 10 students play sports in public high schools
• Only 23% get the recommended level of daily physical activity – down from 29% in 2011
• In our national survey, 30% of students said their interest in sports had grown during the pandemic – nearly twice that (16%) of those whose interest had diminished
• The solution? School leaders must put in place a set of aligned strategies and tactics to bring a more robust model to life, tailored to the interests of students and community assets

We envision schools in which all students have the opportunity to develop through sports the
educational, social, emotional, and physical benefits that will serve them in life.

Read a digital version of the report online at as.pn/playbook.