KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – On Tuesday, dozens of local sports coaches, experts and leaders got their own lesson on how to ensure youth success.
The conference held by The Aspen Institute in partnership with Children’s Mercy is working to tackle barriers and make sure all local kids that was to participate can. It took place at the Kauffman Foundation Center with 150 local experts and coaches.
Those barriers, cost and transportation. The Aspen Institute found this nationwide, and here in Kansas City. This is a major barrier for many families, as their recent study found it costs a family over $1,000 per year to have a child in sports.
They are now rallying individual communities, taking a look at ways to not only pull that cost down but make sure there’s close access to organized sports for all kids around the metro.
Dr. Robin Shook, a professor with Children’s Mercy, says a child’s participation in this kind of physical activity is directly correlated to their health.
“We care about making kids as happy and as healthy as they possibly can be. We know from some of our data collection that kids who are active are more than twice as likely to have a positive attitude and have lower feelings of depression and hopelessness so when we do preventative things like getting kids active, we can make sure that they are happy and healthy,” he said.
The morning kicked off with a presentation about parents. The lesson included ways to foster a healthy relationship with sports for a child; this can mean taking a look at our own competitive side. Dr. Shook added that when they ask kids why they want to play sports, the most common answer is to have fun, not to win or get a scholarship.
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