Baton Rouge Youth Need More, Better Sports Options

New Aspen Institute youth sports report shows fewer girls and North Baton Rouge children play; climate change also impacts participation.

Contact: Jon Solomon
Community Impact Director, Sports & Society Program
The Aspen Institute
[email protected]

Washington, DC, December 11, 2024 - Not enough Baton Rouge children can access sports to enjoy the associated benefits, including notably lower participation rates among girls and children in North Baton Rouge, according to a report released today by the Aspen Institute's Project Play initiative. "State of Play Baton Rouge" offers solutions on how to grow sports opportunities.

Read the full "State of Play Baton Rouge" report and executive summary.

Only 14% of surveyed Baton Rouge girls receive at least 60 minutes of daily physical activity as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention compared to 25% of boys. Girls were four times more likely than boys to indicate they do not regularly play sports, and high school sports participation at East Baton Rouge Parish Schools showed similar gaps by gender (only 37% of roster spots were filled by girls).

Who plays sports in Baton Rouge can vary by community. Aside from football and basketball, participation rates in North Baton Rouge lag those in South Baton Rouge, according to analysis by Kinetica, a research partner of the Aspen Institute. North Baton Rouge has a significantly lower household income and larger Black population.

Climate change will continue to reduce playing time outdoors for all children. By the 2050s, East Baton Rouge Parish can expect 34 to 70 fewer days annually suitable for football, the third-largest reduction of playing days in the U.S., according to the Climate Impact Lab. "State of Play Baton Rouge" identifies how youth sports and recreation providers are currently adapting and the opportunities to continue evolving as climate change impacts playing conditions in sports. Adjustments around the margins will eventually not be enough.

"State of Play Baton Rouge" includes survey results from more than 400 local children and highlights eight challenges and solutions to sports access in East Baton Rouge Parish. Additional findings include:

• Too few quality indoor play spaces exist, especially for children in low-income areas. Baton Rouge leads the U.S. with 1.6 recreation or senior centers for every 10,000 residents, according to the Trust for Public Land. But the city's existing rec center model is too large to maintain and meet community needs - 30% of the rec centers lack air conditioning and another 20% are rated in poor condition.
• Youth are motivated by joy and friendship to play sports. The No. 1 reason kids said they play sports is to have fun (53%), followed closely by playing with friends (46%). Winning games ranked fourth, and pursuing college athletic scholarships was 10th.
• Families lack information about available sports programming. Many parents don't have enough information about sports providers, including costs. Baton Rouge could use the MyBR app, run by the mayor's office to inform residents of city-parish services, as the hub for an online directory of youth sports providers.
• Distrust in government has contributed to the privatization of sports, leaving behind children who lack access. Like many communities, Baton Rouge has shifted toward costly travel-team sports at ever-earlier ages. This comes at the expense of community leagues that previously engaged children at scale, creating gaps in the supply of quality sport activities into adolescence.

Baton Rouge's passion for sports is one of its greatest strengths and can be leveraged to help children develop healthy, lifelong benefits through sports. Many Baton Rouge leaders view sports as an economic tourism engine for the city. Building new facilities and attracting youth tournaments generate revenue through sales and hospitality taxes.

Given these efforts, "State of Play Baton Rouge" calls for coordinated investment and strategies that not only benefit Baton Rouge through revenue generated by sporting events but also increases sports access and improve the quality of those experiences. The report recommends creating a Baton Rouge athletic council for public, private and school bodies to develop shared solutions through intentional dialogue that currently is often lacking.

"A lot of good can come from connecting the silos across the Baton Rouge sport ecosystem to talk through the challenges facing organizations serving youth," said Tom Farrey, Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program executive director. "We hope our report and recommendations help local leaders create what we call Sport for All, Play for Life communities."

"State of Play Baton Rouge" was guided by an advisory group of local leaders whose work revolves around sports, recreation, education and the development of healthy communities. It is the 15th community landscape analysis produced by the Aspen Institute's Project Play initiative. The next State of Play report, Washington D.C. will be released in early 2025. Previous reports helped mobilize leaders across sectors to set shared agendas, shape government policies, develop innovative partnerships, and unlock tens of millions of dollars in grantmaking.

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The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization whose purpose is to ignite human potential to build understanding and create new possibilities for a better world. Founded in 1949, the Institute drives change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve society's greatest challenges. It is headquartered in Washington, DC and has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, as well as an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.

The Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program's main initiative is Project Play, which develops, mobilizes and shares knowledge that helps build healthy communities through sports. For more information, visit www.ProjectPlay.org.