Fixing Youth Sports in America: Part II - National Governing Bodies
There is a lot to be written on this topic. The initial blog on the crisis of youth sports in America was inspired by a nice reaction to a post on X. This is the second of a three-part series (or more).
Thoughts and Ideas from Tom Farrey
As part of that piece, I mentioned the work of Tom Farrey at Project Play including his involvement in the September 6, 2023 public hearing on ‘“The Future of Olympic and Paralympic Sports in America” that brought to light and challenged some of the issues within the current model of sports governance in the United States - that being the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act of 1978 and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and its National Governing Bodies (NGB).
I also included a link to the article posted on the Project Play website summarizing the hearings and adding insights for solutions.
As I was looking for a photo on my iPhone I serendipitously came across a screenshot of a tweet posted by Farrey following the Congressional hearing. As you can read, Farrey’s big idea for solving the American sport issue - create NGB incentives.
You can read more of Farrey’s comments here
One quote that rang true to me as a youth athletic development scholar-practitioner was the following:
““What we need is for every NGB to submit a ‘grass-roots performance plan,’ or a ‘GPP’ “
Although he is using GPP as an abbreviation for grass-roots performance plan, I think a lot of us in youth athletic development know it could also stand for something else we need a bit more of in youth sports - general physical preparation.
What are NGBs?
Some readers may still be wondering about NGBs. What are they?
National Governing Bodies are organizations housed under the USOPC umbrella that govern and manage all aspects of their individual sports within the United States. The NGBs are responsible for training, competition and development for their sports, as well as nominating athletes to the Olympic and Paralympic teams.
In total, there are 50 NGBs - 37 Olympic summer sport NGBs, 8 Olympic winter sport NGBs and 5 Pan American sport NGBs. Although several NGBs are headquartered in Colorado Springs alongside the U.S. Olympic Training Center, others are located elsewhere. For example, USA Football, where I served as Director of High Performance & Coach Education, is located in Indianapolis, as is USA Gymnastics and USA Track & Field.
I think most of us can relate to the NGBs through the Olympic and Paralympic games but few are aware of the development aspects - which is largely what Farrey (and others) have critiqued. Honestly, ask a youth sport coach or parent who the national governing body is for their sport or what they do or offer. I am willing to bet that many or most are unaware.
As I mentioned, I worked at USA Football and although this is a bit of an odd-ball NGB, many people I spoke with had no idea that it even existed. I think the same is for other sports as well. Of course, there are also some exceptions - namely, USA Hockey, USA Swimming and perhaps US Lacrosse.
What NGBs Offer Youth Sports
In 2009, USA Hockey created their long-term athletic development or LTAD model - the American Development Model (ADM). In 2014, the USOC created a universal model for all NGBs to adopt. The ADM is comprised of four key elements: 1) a statement, 2) a visual model, 3) NGB programming, and 4) resources. While at USA Football, I helped guide the development of the Football Development Model, and in 2020 revised the ADM for USA Hockey.
Many of the NGB sport-specific ADM’s provide a general framework for age- and stage-appropriate technical, tactical and physical development, and also offer resources and coach education (including certification). However, others offer a pretty chart or two and a brochure - and unfortunately, that’s it. Here are links to a few of them -
Education + Implementation + Accountability
The ADM serves largely as an awareness campaign for the importance of long-term athletic development with some educational materials in most, if not nearly all, cases. However, these educational efforts only go so far. What about implementation and accountability? Are the NGBs supporting the implementation of the ADM into leagues, communities, states, etc.? And, even if implemented, who is holding the league commissioner or coaches or other stakeholders accountable for carrying out the best practices in youth sports outlined within the ADM?
A Top Down and Bottom Up Approach
I have been on the inside of the NGB world trying to fix the youth sports crisis. I have seen bright spots in leagues and communities - and I agree with Tom Farrey that every NGB needs to submit a grass-roots performance plan. But, it also needs to be supported with resources and support from the top. And over the years, I have seen many of my former colleagues at NGBs who were ‘fighting the good fight’ for youth sports have their position and/or allocations slashed; often times because the priorities of the NGB changed (i.e. from grassroots and youth development to the Olympics).
…to be continued, Part III. (P.S. Read Upsteam and Switch by Dan and Chip Health)