How do YOU make soccer/sport possible for your player(s)?

2024 has been an exciting year for San Francisco Youth Soccer!

We are honored and proud to have been this year nationally recognized as an Aspen Institute Project Play Champion! Project Play Champions are organizations recognized for their innovative commitment to build healthier communities through sport in alignment with Project Play's 8 strategies to enhance accessibility and improve quality in youth sports. 

The Aspen Institute's Sports & Society program, in partnership with Utah State University and Louisiana Tech University, have developed a survey to assess the important roles parents play on children’s developmental outcomes in sport. The study is utilizing a national sample of youth sport parents and will ask them to answer specific questions about their children’s sport participation, the ways they are involved in that participation, and aspects of sport, school, and community settings that shape their children’s involvement experiences.

“This is a great forum for parents to share their perspectives on youth sports today and to further shape the way school and community stakeholders design and deliver youth sport in the future,” said study leader, Dr. Travis Dorsch, who serves as the founding director of the Families in Sport Lab at Utah State University.

 

YOUR VOICE IS NEEDED! 
San Francisco is unlike most cities in the nation, in that we are not a one club, one league town. Due to the fact that all sports share SF Rec & Park field resources, San Francisco offers families rare opportunities with multiple soccer clubs to choose from as well as the opportunity to create and coach their own teams. Your insight and experience with a club, school or independent team is invaluable and will resonate nationally as responses are collected and analyzed. The study has been designed to learn more about parent involvement in youth sport in the United States and may help researchers and practitioners design interventions to help with access to and delivery of sport. 

 

The survey takes 15-20 minutes to complete. The Aspen Institute will publish results in 2025 and explore the findings at the Project Play Summit in March where leaders will consider solutions to gaps and challenges identified through this research.