Youth sports provide significant physical, mental, and social health benefits, yet participation remains uneven across population groups. Structural and programmatic barriers—including cost, transportation, limited facilities, unsafe or unwelcoming environments, and inconsistent coaching practices—continue to limit access to and the quality of youth sports experiences. Although communities are developing innovative, low-cost approaches to expand access to high-quality sports opportunities, many of these efforts remain underdocumented and are not widely shared.
In July 2026, the workgroup convened more than 35 invited experts for a two-day workshop titled Defining Quality Youth Sports Environments: A Conceptual Framework and Examples from the Field. The workshop introduced a draft conceptual framework for quality youth sports, highlighted programs that exemplify its key dimensions, gathered feedback to refine the framework, and identified opportunities for future research and practice to advance high-quality, accessible youth sports environments.
View the workshop presentations and slides here.
The NCCOR Sport & Youth Well-Being workgroup is joined by the workshops’ distinguished co-chairs:
- Stephanie George, PhD, MPH, MA, National Institutes of Health
- Jennifer Matjasko, PhD, MPP, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Malorie Polster, MPH, CHES, US. Department of Health and Human Service
