The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) issued a Federal Register Notice for written comments to inform the development of the National Youth Sports Strategy.
HHS invites you to provide input related to youth sports participation in the United States through public comments. In addition to conducting a literature review and an environmental scan to gather information, we are requesting public input to help fill potential gaps about related efforts in your community.
Background: Executive Order 13824 details the administration’s aim to expand and encourage youth sports participation. Section 2 directs the Secretary of HHS to develop a national strategy to expand children’s participation in sports by focusing on the following priority areas:
- Increasing awareness;
- Promoting private and public strategies or programs;
- Developing metrics; and
- Recruiting volunteers
Instructions: You may submit a comment to HHS by emailing sports@hhs.gov . Please indicate which priority area you are commenting on in the subject line of the email. For example, if you wish to provide input on Priority 3: Developing metrics, please ensure the subject of the email is, “Priority 3: Developing metrics.” If you wish to comment on more than one priority, please do so in a separate email with the appropriate subject line included for each message.
HHS will accept public comments until 11:59 PM E.T. on April 1, 2019.
Note: The Department does not make decisions based on the number of comments for or against a topic. Therefore submitting multiple versions of the same comment (i.e., form letters) will not carry additional weight.
HHS requests that you only submit comments that directly address one or more of questions below. For each question, we are interested to know what information is out there; what programs, tools, or resources you use in your community; and what the federal government can do to help further your efforts in youth sports.
1. Increasing Awareness:
HHS wants to increase awareness about the benefits of participation in youth sports. We are interested to know whether the benefits of youth sports are well known to various groups (e.g., youth, parents/caregivers, coaches, schools, policy makers, community leaders, etc.).
a. What do you use (i.e., tools, resources, campaigns) to inform any of the groups listed above about the benefits of youth sports participation?
b. What can the federal government do to increase awareness and promote the benefits of youth sports participation to various groups?
2. Promoting Private and Public Strategies/Programs:
HHS wants to promote private and public sector strategies that increase participation and/or reduce barriers to participation in sports. We are especially interested to know about strategies and programs that have been tested or that are successful with specific demographic groups (e.g., age, gender, race, ethnicity).
a. What strategies, programs, and/or collaborations are available to reduce barriers and increase youth participation in sports?
b. What strategies, programs, and/or collaborations have you successfully used to reduce barriers and increase youth participation in sports?
c. What can the federal government do to promote, encourage, and/or facilitate private and public strategies, programs and/or collaborations to reduce barriers and increase youth participation in sports?
3. Developing Metrics:
HHS wants to measure and track the number of youth participating in sports before, during, and after the school day. HHS also wants to know the different types of sports youth are playing, as well as who the participants are in terms of demographic characteristics (e.g., age, gender, race, ethnicity) in each sport.
a. What do you use to measure and track participation in youth sports?
b. What can the federal government do to improve the measurement and tracking of youth sports participation?
4. Recruiting Volunteers:
HHS wants to learn about organizations or programs that recruit and train volunteers to support youth sports through coaching, mentoring, teaching or administering sports programs.
a. What successful strategies do you use to recruit, train, and retain volunteers that coach or support youth sports programs, practices, or other sports-related activities?
b. What can the federal government do to improve recruitment, training, and retention of volunteers for youth sports programs?
View the Federal Register Notice calling for public comments to inform the development of the National Youth Sports Strategy.
