States have enormous power — which largely goes unused — to improve the delivery of youth sports, protect children and reduce high attrition rates.

More states should consider a public health bill like this.

Just like Arts & Sciences, arts and sports have more in common than many of us realize.

Love that the founder of the Modern Olympics got it, and even handed out Olympic medals for art. Who knew?

Thanks for the excavation, John Branch
nytimes.com/2024/05/02/us/…

LIVESTREAM ALERT! Join us virtually on May 15th. Although Project Play Summit 2024 is SOLD OUT, we will be livestreaming all plenary sessions from day 2. Register and read the agenda details at as.pn/summit24-live.

Don’t like the way youth sports are delivered in your community? You have the ability to change that.

Five things you should be asking for from city and county officials, captured in a quick guide that serves as a companion to Linda’s terrific story: aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/upl…

The youth sports industrial complex compels early sport specialization, because that's where easy money is. All research suggests your child will benefit from just the opposite, even in developing elite athletic skills.

David Epstein on Caitlin Clark:
open.substack.com/pub/davidepste…

“It’s rare you meet a head coach who genuinely wants to see every player on his roster succeed'

Number 2 is most important. Because it impacts the other 3.

If active, you sleep better, want to eat better, and smoking is stupid.

With many of us, at least.

Yes

$1B to settle lawsuits brought by victims of Larry Nassar.

Imagine if we had invested just one-tenth of that amount in better governance of sport that included abuse prevention.

We need to change the incentives shaping behavior in our sport ecosystem.
nytimes.com/2024/04/23/us/…

Heaven is earth

1. Umpire calls 'strike' for a ball that's inches outside.
2. A fan screams at him, and the ump, mishearing it come from the Yankees' dugout, ejects the manager.
3. Manger: I didn't say anything! Ump: I don't care.

Robot-umpire companies couldn't pay for better marketing.

The problem is structural — travel tournaments at U10. They exist only for adult ego and $$. Plenty of ways to develop players with some creativity in local comp. No need for travel until U12 at earliest.

The USC NLRB trial is over.

USC 🏀 and 🏈 players will likely be deemed employees.

A former Stanford 🏈 player testified his college & pro experiences were nearly identical.

A Stanford track athlete (and former SAAC pres) also testified in favor of employment for 🏀 & 🏈.

Wake-up call about the rebirth of professional bare-knuckle fighting, which had been banned for more than a century — and now is a marketing tool for the far right. frontofficesports.com/newsletter/the…

NEW: College football is great for boosting a school's student body, right?

Wrong, says a comprehensive new study.

It looked at enrollment trends of 36 schools that added football since 2002. My latest for Sportico:

sportico.com/leagues/colleg…

Travel hockey, of course. Didn’t really grow until the ‘80s.

And stoked, ironically, by The Miracle on Ice.

Inspiration (for families to invest in giving their kids a leg up. Early birthdate = early advantage.)