Report: The Future of Youth Sports
Yogi Berra once said: “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”
Since releasing our first “Future Of” report in 2015 (The Future of Sports 1.0), our most lively discussions about sports — both internally and externally — have been about college sports and youth sports. Over the course of 2 years, we tracked, researched, wrote, designed, and published a report covering youth sports futures. And yes, predictions are tough, but the process of creating them, using our FWD Team methodology is thrilling nonetheless.
Topics
01 Kids Play, Families Pay: Mapping the Youth Sports Industrial Complex
02 Sports Builds Brains: Why Sports Are Key to the Future of Child Development
03 The Future of Recess: Kids Gotta Play
04 Making the Game of Life More Fair: How Sports Can Increase Opportunity and Improve Life for Underprivileged Kids
05 Nonbinary Stars: How Increasing Gender Fluidity Will Transform Sports
06 Selfie Stardom: Who Gets the Money When Media Inundates Youth Sports?
07 Not a Zero-Sum Game: N.I.L. Rules and College Recruiting’s Growing Pains Could Be Terminal for the NCAA
08 Outside the Lines: The Alt Scene Becomes the Mainstream
09 Esports Singularity Ahead: Simulated Sports Means New Options, Not Replacements
10 Infinite Field of Play: Mixed Reality and Augmented Exercise Get Kids Moving