How do we get more boys to play sports and keep them involved?
Seattle Mariners’ newest player shares promotion with family
Cole Young announces his move to the big leagues playing for Seattle Mariners during an emotional phone call with his family.
BERKELEY, CA – If you saw Antonio Davis on the court, you remember a fierce power forward and rebounder. As he played, he saw failure as something he couldn’t afford.
“If you would have taken sport away from me, where would I be today?” says Davis who helped lead the Indiana Pacers to four NBA Eastern Conference finals in the 1990s.
“That’s a scary feeling for me, and I don’t know what a 6-9 skinny kid would have been doing, but it wouldn’t have been pretty. Growing up here in Oakland, I could have done a lot of other things.”
We were at March’s Project Play Summit, asking him and two other successful men brought up in their own distinct ways through sports, about why they think the athletic participation rate among boys has crashed.
As the Pacers play the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals, a trend you might find troubling lurks at the grass-roots levels. It underscores the thesis of Richard Reeves’ 2022 book, “Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male is Struggling, Why it Matters, and What to Do About it,” and a more recent brief undertaken by his institute about “The quiet decline of boys’ sports.”
According to the latest data from Sports & Fitness Industry Association, half of boys aged 6 to 17 participated regularly in sports in 2013. But only 41% did in 2023. The number has been at 41% or lower for eight straight years as the participation rate for girls (35.6% in 2023) has remained steady.
At the same time, according to Reeves’ research team, sports are the only extracurricular activity boys are more likely to do than girls.
“It’s not like on the average, boys are going to go to theater or math club – maybe they should,” Reeves tells USA TODAY Sports. “Participation in youth sports is a big issue in and of itself, but the stakes are even higher for boys than they are for girls, because they’re less likely to do other stuff and they need to move more.”
How do we get more boys to play sports, and keep the ones who are playing? We spoke with Reeves and sat in on his discussion with Davis and Larry Miller, the chairman of Nike’s Jordan Brand advisory board, to help find answers that could help you and your young athlete.
Another ‘way out’
Miller, who grew up in Philadelphia, says he was the teacher’s pet through elementary school. He was in junior high when he got distracted.
“The cool guys were doing the stuff that was in the street and I got pulled into that,” he told the crowd in Berkeley.
At 16, he killed another teenager he mistakenly believed was a rival, according to ESSENCE.com, and spent years in a juvenile correction center.
He rehabilitated himself first by taking college classes in jail, eventually matriculating at Temple University.
“Of all things, as a criminal I decided to get an accounting degree,” he said.
After revealing his dark background to a hiring manager cost him a job with Arthur Anderson, he kept the story to himself for 40 years. After Miller built his career at Nike, though, his eldest daughter, Laila, suggested it might inspire other people. They collaborated to write, “Jump: My Secret Journey from the Streets to the Boardroom.”
Michael Jordan and Phil Knight, the company’s chairman, supported his decision, and he meet with the family of the young man he shot to ask for their forgiveness. In February, Miller launched the Justice and Upward Mobility Project (JUMP) to provide opportunities to those affected by the justice system.
“Part of our goal is how can we provide more opportunity for people who have the talent but just don’t have the ability to utilize that talent?” he said.
Why not through sports?
“I think in the Black communities, brown communities, the sense of hope has kind of dissipated,” Miller says. “And I think that’s why boys in particular are saying, ‘Hey, there’s no reason for me to do this, because it’s not going to lead to anything.’
“In our community, people saw sports as a way out. And I think what happens as boys advance, (they) realize that, ‘I’m not gonna be able to play professionally, I’m not gonna to be able to get a college scholarship, so I’m just going to fall off and try to figure out a different way out. I’m gonna go do something else that can allow me to get paid.’ ”
A re-education starts, Davis suggests, with a change in perception of what it means to be a kid, and what it means to be a man.
‘Get back to the basics’: Normalize what success means for kids
Davis’ dad was killed when he was in high school. He remembers being singularly motivated to provide for his family. After he played for 13 years in the NBA and raised a son (A.J.) and daughter (Kaela) who both played high-level college basketball and professionally, he thinks more about the benefits he got from sports.
Today, youth coaches seem to link their self-worth with winning a game more than providing kids with an experience.
“All the pressure that’s being put on them by their team and their parents, I just think they’re opting to do all the other stuff that’s kind of pulling and tugging on them, whether it’s playing video games or just hanging out or doing other things,” Davis says. “I think they’re just being kind of turned off. And I feel we just have to get back to the basics of the importance of all the other life lessons that you’re going to learn from just playing sport. I’m a big advocate of just give kids space to move around and move their bodies and learn how to be in shape and to be healthy.
“And then as we go on, as I did with my kids, introduce all kinds of sport and whatever they gravitate towards, because that’ll be something that’ll be tugging at their heart and not forced into.”
Coach Steve: American kids get a D- in physical activity. What can we do about it?
Davis, who is also the CEO of the National Basketball Retired Players Association, says the No. 1 thing former players say they miss about the NBA is the camaraderie.
That’s a benefit from sports we all get.
“I’ve played almost every sport you can think of really badly, but I had a great time,” says Reeves, the British author, who played rugby at the University of Oxford. “The great thing about sport is that someone has to lose. I think one thing that should be zero-sum in sport is you have to lose. And by God, you can lose brutally sometimes. Some of my strongest memories were playing in subzero temperatures (against) these massive kids and losing like 67-0. So you lose. …
“And because I moved around from different sports, probably I would lose more. And I think that that sense of you can compete, you can lose, and that’s great, was actually an incredibly important life lesson for me because you lose in life all the time.”
Coach Steve: Have we lost the sportsmanship in high school sports?
What do we ‘call a man’? Boys need male role models
Reeves, who raised three boys who are now in their 20s, writes in “Of Boys and Men” about how girls consistently outperform boys in school, and about how men are struggling to fit into society and the workforce.
He founded the American Institute For Boys and Men (AIBM), which shares in its brief that while we don’t have definitive answers as to why boys might be playing sports less often, one hypothesis behind it is the decline in male teachers who serve as coaches, particularly at the high school level.
Meanwhile, according to AIMB research, men account for 23% of U.S. elementary and secondary school teachers, down from about 30% in 1988.
“Coaches of boys sports are mental health professionals in disguise, and part of it is because they do it shoulder to shoulder, which is a much more male friendly way of doing it,” Reeves tells USA TODAY Sports, “but the coach sitting next to the young man or the boy on the bench saying, ‘How you doing? You seem off today. How are things at home?’ … that may be one of the most important men in that boy’s life. That’s very interesting to me, coming from a different culture and raising my kids here, is the almost iconic position of coach in American culture.”
Davis was raised in Oakland by his mom. He says his grandmother told him what to avoid, and he had influential men around him who gave him sports opportunities and a safe space. Being a professional athlete, he says, doesn’t make you a role model. What does is taking accountability for yourself and what you make out of your life.
“I hate that if we play sport and we don’t make it, we feel like a failure,” Davis says. “Whether you are a young man or a growing man, we have to learn how to take this stance, that no matter what society says, no matter the outcome, I’m doing the things that I’m supposed to do: Being a contributor to my community, taking responsibility if I have kids,” Davis says. “And we have to find ways to let our kids know that it’s OK to hopefully graduate from high school, go off to college if he or she is lucky, and then go on to get a job.
“It’s not bad to just say, ‘Hey, I got a job. I’m making good money, I’m taking care of my kids, I got a ride that can get me from A to B.’ We don’t have to have the best car and the biggest house and a pocket full of money in order to be what we call a man.”
Ask your kids about what they get out of sports, and always be there to support them
Our life in sports doesn’t have to end when our career does. Reeves plays squash and tennis, “and I can still beat my kids at badminton,” he says.
Working for Jordan Brand, Miller has gotten to travel the world, where, he says, he can attend any sporting event he wants.
“I never even came close to being a professional athlete,” he says. “There are all these other incredible benefits that come from playing sports and I think we’ve gotten away from teaching that: The teamwork you learn, the working with others, the being able to be part of something that’s bigger than yourself.”
Basketball remains perhaps the most popular sports for boys and girls to play. According to the Aspen Institute’s State of Play 2024 report, more than 7 million kids between the ages of 6 and 17 played it regularly in 2023. However, the percentage of kids who play it has declined or remained the same since 2013.
“As I kind of move around and watch a lot of youth basketball, and coach youth basketball, I feel that there’s just kind of this pressure: If you’re not the best, if you’re not going to succeed, then why even try?” says Davis, 56. “And I think there’s a lot of layers to why that happens: Parents, the way that it is today with social media and I think a lot of our young men are getting turned off very early by I guess the system.”
He has a grandson who plays football.
“I ask him why is he playing,” Davis says. “Regardless of what’s going on outside of my house and all this other stuff that I can’t control, what I can control is his perception: ‘Did you learn something? I saw you get knocked on your butt. How did that feel?’ We have to fight against it by getting into the heads of your kids and the teams that you run.
“We can’t let it take away what we know to be true, which is, if our kids play sports, they’re eventually gonna be better off than not playing.”
His grandson is a 12-year-old lineman. When Davis watched him recently, though, he was allowed to play quarterback. He took the ball, went a couple of steps, and was tackled. Davis acted like he scored a touchdown.
“I’m not sure why I did it,” he said, “but I needed him to understand the fact that he did something should be celebrated: that he was out there and he was engaged and he got up and he was smiling and having fun. Like, make that the normal, not being a champion.”
Reeves said the anecdote reminded him of when he was 12, and he finally managed to break through that rugby line. As he ran to score, he saw someone tagging along with him on the sideline. It was his father.
“He was more excited than I was,” Reeves said.
Steve Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He spent 10 years coaching his two sons’ baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents for two high schoolers. His column is posted weekly. For his past columns, click here.
Got a question for Coach Steve you want answered in a column? Email him at sborelli@usatoday.com
ALMATY – Kazakhstan’s athletes delivered another successful year in the country’s sporting history in 2025, achieving breakthroughs across football, boxing, tennis and winter sports.
Kairat FC team. Photo credit: Kairat FC
From historic firsts to record medal hauls, Kazakhstan’s presence on the world sports map grew stronger than ever.
Football: A breakthrough year and growing international recognition
The defining moment of the year came when FC Kairat qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time in its history, defeating Scotland’s Celtic FC in a dramatic penalty shootout in Almaty. The club’s international rise was further reinforced, when FC Kairat was ranked among the 500 best football clubs in the world by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS). Kairat became the only Kazakh club on the list, placing 240th overall with 90.75 points.
FC Kairat’s momentum culminated on Dec. 9 when Anarbekov became the first Kazakh footballer ever to be named UEFA Champions League Player of the Match. His exceptional performance against Olympiacos earned him a 9.2 rating from UEFA, which also included two of his saves among the best of the matchday.
Kazakhstan’s young football talent also gained international visibility, with 17-year-old forward Dastan Satpayev being recognized among the world’s top five young players by Score 90. Meanwhile, Italian giant Inter Milan highlighted Anarbekov’s skills in a dedicated feature. Institutional progress followed as well as the Kazakhstan Football Federation’s national academy received official FIFA Talent Academy status, making Kazakhstan only the ninth country in the world to achieve it.
Boxing: Dominance continues and a new Hall of Fame legend
At the IBA World Championships in Dubai, the Kazakh team finished second overall, collecting six medals – three gold, one silver, and two bronze. Saken Bibossinov (54 kg), Orazbek Asylkulov (57 kg), and Abylaikhan Zhussupov (71 kg) captured world titles.
Gennady Golovkin. Photo credit: olympic.kz
The year also brought historic recognition for Kazakhstan with Gennady Golovkin becoming the president of World Boxing Federation and his election to the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Golovkin, selected in the 2025 ballot, became the first Kazakh boxer inducted into the Hall and joined global legends such as Muhammad Ali, Manny Pacquiao, and Mike Tyson.
Kazakhstan further cemented its dominance by topping the medal standings at the World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, where the national team earned seven gold medals.
Tennis: International titles and historic rankings
Kazakhstan strengthened its global presence in tennis with some of the most significant victories to date. Elena Rybakina made history when she became the first Kazakh player to win the WTA Finals, defeating World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets in Riyadh. She finished the year ranked fifth in the WTA standings, while Yulia Putintseva entered the top 20 for the first time in her career.
Elena Rybakina (L) and Yulia Putintseva (R). Photo credit: Kazakhstan Tennis Federation
On the men’s side, Alexander Bublik captured the ATP 500 Terra Wortmann Open in Halle, Germany, securing his fifth career ATP title after defeating a series of top-ranked players, including Daniil Medvedev.
The next generation also delivered promising results as 17-year-old Amir Omarkhanov climbed to No. 4 in the global junior rankings, bolstered by a breakthrough season. Kazakhstan also continued expanding its tennis ecosystem, hosting the ATP 250 Almaty Open.
Chess
Kazakhstan continued its rapid rise in global chess, achieving historic results across elite, youth, and team competitions. A historic moment took place inside the British Parliament when top Kazakh grandmasters played an exhibition match against members of the UK Parliament.
Bibisara Assaubayeva. Photo credit: Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan
A major milestone came when FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich announced that Kazakhstan won the most medals worldwide in all FIDE competitions in 2024. The momentum continued into 2025 with the national women’s team placing fourth at the FIDE World Women’s Team Championship in Linares and earning three individual medals.
Kazakhstan’s rising star Meruert Kamalidenova delivered another impressive result by finishing as women’s vice-champion at the sixth El Llobregat Open in Spain, a major international event featuring participants from 33 countries.
Youth achievements further underscored Kazakhstan’s depth of talent. At the 27th Asian Youth Chess Championship in Bangkok, Kazakh players captured 11 medals, including five gold across classical, rapid, and blitz events.
Bibisara Assaubayeva also achieved the norms required to become Kazakhstan’s second female grandmaster, following Zhansaya Abdumalik, reinforcing the nation’s expanding influence in the chess world.
Winter sports
Kazakhstan’s athletes delivered a series of outstanding results in winter sports, particularly at the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, where the national team earned 20 medals – four gold, nine silver, and seven bronze. Among the most significant accomplishments were the country’s first-ever victories in short track and freestyle acrobatics.
Mikhail Shaidorov. Photo credit: olympic.kz
The men’s 5,000-meter relay team secured Kazakhstan’s inaugural gold in short track, while the freestyle acrobatics duo defeated two leading Chinese teams to win the nation’s first gold in that discipline. Kazakhstan’s men’s hockey team also continued its tradition of excellence by winning the Asian Winter Games title for the fifth time.
Figure skating brought additional triumphs when Mikhail Shaidorov secured silver at the 2025 ISU World Championships in Boston, marking Kazakhstan’s third-ever medal at the event and earning him a place at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Expanding success beyond traditional arenas
Kazakhstan also reached new heights in sports outside its long-established strengths. In motorsports, Artline Kazakhstan became the world champion in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series, marking the country’s first world title in the sport.
Kazakh player Daniil Golubenko, representing the Brazilian organization FURIA. Photo credit: digitalbusiness.kz
Kazakhstan also saw a breakthrough in eSports when Kazakh Counter-Strike player Daniil Golubenko, representing FURIA, won the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Chengdu 2025 tournament with a dominant 3:0 performance and was named MVP.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan launched its first professional women’s eSports league, the Female Pro League, which aims to promote inclusivity and create new opportunities for female gamers.
Youth and junior success: A foundation for future champions
At the Asian Youth Games in Bahrain, Kazakhstan achieved its best-ever result, winning 93 medals and ranking third overall. The country’s next generation of boxers also excelled at the ASBC Asian U22 & Youth Boxing Championships in Colombo, where Kazakh athletes captured 22 gold medals, including sweeping all women’s weight divisions.
Kazakh athletes competed in more than 20 sports. Photo credit: National Olympic Committee’s press service.
Kazakh juniors continued to show promise in tennis, figure skating, and athletics, demonstrating the growing depth of talent across multiple sports.
From Champions League debuts and world titles to Hall of Fame inductions and record-breaking youth performances, 2025 solidified Kazakhstan’s reputation as a rising global sports nation.
The driver of a stolen car crashed into Lightning’s Boxing Club in Oakland early New Year’s Day after colliding with another car — sending two people to the hospital — then fleeing on foot. The estimated repair costs are between $50,000 and $1000,000.
As KTVU reports, a boxing ring used by heavyweight champion George Foreman in the 1980s sustained extensive damage after a car thief crashed into Lightning’s Boxing Club on 5845 MacArthur Boulevard in Oakland at some point in the early hours Thursday morning. Kris Lopez, who co-owns the gym with his wife Denise Lopez, said the impact of the crash was forceful.
“It’s like an earthquake,” Kris Lopez told KTVU. “The force knocked over the ring stairs and pushed the ring out of place.”
Per KRON4, the Lopezes are raising funds for the repairs and staff payroll through GoFundMe, which was close to $10,000 Sunday morning. According to the fundraiser’s page, the boxing ring will need to be replaced.
Per KTVU, the gym has played a crucial role in supporting underserved youth in the community, some of whom have become professional boxers.
“Dear Oakland Community, we have given our all to this city for the better good—mentoring youth, creating positive members of society, and even producing the occasional boxing champion,” the fundraiser’s page states. “Your donation will help us continue this important work and keep our doors open for the next generation. Please give what you can so we can get back to saving the community and inspiring our youth through the sport of boxing!”
Per NBC Bay Area, the boxing club is temporarily relocating to Geoffrey’s Inner Circle, a local nightclub and event space in Oakland’s Black Arts and Business District, but the Lopezes hope to reopen as soon as possible.
“I just want to keep the boxers going,” Kris Lopez told NBC Bay Area. “We have a nationally ranked amateur boxer, and of course my son and all the other kids who need this place to participate in something positive.”
“I’ve had so many people tell me, your husband changed my life,” Denise Lopez told KTVU. “That makes it worth doing.”
Authorities are still searching for the suspect in the crash.
FARGO — A move to take a youth initiative out of the purview of the city of Fargo is expected to expand student civic engagement, the city said.
The City Commission voted Monday, Dec. 22, to give Fargo Public Schools oversight of the Fargo Youth Initiative, an advisory body made up of local high school students.
Commissioners have been discussing over recent weeks whether certain boards are effective or viable. The city’s Planning Department previously coordinated Fargo Youth Initiative events.
“It really did take a village to find a new home for this, but I think it’s the next iteration of greatness,” Commissioner Denise Kolpack said at the meeting.
Isabella Meyer, chair of FYI and a senior at Fargo North High School, told commissioners many decisions are made for youth without involving them.
“The Fargo Youth Initiative has been a great way for us to be able to share our voice and our opinions on what actually works and what we actually need,” Meyer said.
The youth advisory group will now be housed within Fargo Public Schools and will include liaison representatives from the Fargo City Commission, the FPS Board of Education and the Fargo Park Board, with potential for expansion.
The group will meet at and receive administrative support from the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Red River Valley.
Fargo School Board vice president Robin Nelson speaks during a meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025.
Chris Flynn / The Forum
Robin Nelson, Boys & Girls Clubs CEO and Fargo School Board vice president, became involved in the Fargo Youth Initiative as it was created in 2013.
She said connecting the high school students with School Board, Park Board and city representatives will provide for even better opportunities.
“Now that they’ve got some more direction, it’s really ignited their excitement,” Nelson said.
Liaisons are expected to be Kolpack from the City Commission, Kristin Nelson from the Fargo School Board and Zoë Absey from the Park Board.
Proposed areas of focus for the Fargo Youth Initiative include education relating to North Dakota Century Code, open meeting regulations and local governance and policies.
Advocacy opportunities include raising the profile of youth public health issues and youth homelessness and speaking out on city, parks and school policies and initiatives.
Community impact ideas could include organizing student-led events or service projects, and regularly attending and participating in local government meetings.
“Youth are a big percentage of our population, so the more they can learn about how our city governments work and serve as a conduit and voice for youth so they are heard at those elected levels, is beneficial,” Robin Nelson said.
A goal is to achieve a total of 15 members on the Fargo Youth Initiative, which plans to continue to meet monthly.
Huebner is a 35+ year veteran of broadcast and print journalism in Fargo-Moorhead.
LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) — Young athletes showed they could perform under pressure as they competed in the Elks Hoop Shoot competition.
The Northwest Ohio District brought winners from 10 different Elks lodge Hoop Shoot competitions to Ohio State Lima for the next step in the national contest.
The Elks have hosted the Hoop Shoot program for 52 years. Boys and girls ages 8 through 13 were divided into three age groups to see who could sink the most baskets.
While organizers hope the event is fun for the participants, they also emphasize the importance of developing skills through practice.
“They’re our future, and you don’t know who’s going to be able to benefit from all the practice that they put in, and further their careers in basketball, not only in the high school level, but in college and perhaps the professionals. We want them to increase their skill level and also show the sportsmanship and the camaraderie with the other shooters and enjoy the time that they have with this program,” says Jean Zink, Northwest Ohio District Elks Hoop Shoot Competition.
The top boys and girls from each age group in the Northwest Ohio District will advance to the state competition in February.
Copyright 2025 by Lima Communications Corporation. All rights reserved.
Since the Vegas Golden Knights arrived in 2017, youth hockey participation in Southern Nevada has more than doubled, according to USA Hockey and local youth programs. While that growth has created new opportunities, it has also strained existing facilities.
Usufzy said programs like learn-to-skate and youth leagues are reaching capacity, and without additional infrastructure, families may be forced to look elsewhere for competitive opportunities.
“We’ve seen incredible growth, but without places to support it, that growth can stall,” she said. “We want kids to be able to play and develop right here in Las Vegas.”
To meet that demand, the foundation has launched a capital campaign to build the Las Vegas Community Sports Complex, the first nonprofit community ice rink and multi-sport facility of its kind in Southern Nevada.
The proposed complex would feature two NHL-sized ice rinks and a versatile indoor turf field designed for sports like soccer and lacrosse, . The goal is to create affordable programming and expand scholarship opportunities for families across the valley.
The Jake Kielb Hockey Foundation’s capital campaign is entirely community-driven. Those interested in learning more or supporting the project can find additional information at HelpVegasPlay.com.
Usufzy hopes the project will ultimately give every child — regardless of background a place to play, grow, and belong.
The organization that governs Nordic ski events in New England said it is seeing considerable growth in interest in the sport. The executive director of NENSA, the New England Nordic Ski Association, was a guest on this week’s episode of NBC5 In Depth.”The sport of cross-country skiing is much younger than alpine skiing in America, I think it’s fair to say,” said Heidi Lange of NENSA. “But we are seeing incredible growth and success at all levels.”On the Jan. 4 episode of NBC5 In Depth, Lange said the fame and success of Jessie Diggins, who won three Olympic medals in cross-country skiing and an array of other championships, has helped attract young athletes to the sport.”We see a lot of glitter at our races,” Lange said, referring to how Diggins popularized wearing glitter on her face during competitions. “We see kids embracing that joy and the sportsmanship that she emulates. And it goes deeper than that, of course. Jessie is an incredible mentor and role model in so many ways. She’s so willing to be open and vulnerable and very transparent about her journey, not just celebrating the successes, but sharing what she’s experiencing through challenges and struggles. And I think that has had a very powerful influence on skiers as they’re developing and navigating what are hopefully long journeys in the sport.”Lange told NBC5 In Depth that over the past two Olympic cycles, 50% of U.S. Olympic team members in Nordic skiing had an affiliation with a New England program. She went on to say that a closer examination of the numbers revealed that 30% of that population grew up in NENSA’s youth and junior programming in New England. “We’re incredibly proud of that,” Lange said. “It’s early to say yet for this year, but trends are tracking in a similar fashion.”Lange provided other encouraging signs for the future of the sport in the NBC5 In Depth interview. She also discussed advancements in snowmaking technology for Nordic ski areas, and offered recommendations of what fans of the Olympics should watch for in the Nordic competitions at the upcoming Winter Games.The video atop this article has the full interview with NENSA’s Heidi Lange that aired on the Jan. 4 episode of NBC5 In Depth.Previous coverage: Olympic gold medalist Jessie Diggins discusses climate activism
LYME, N.H. —
The organization that governs Nordic ski events in New England said it is seeing considerable growth in interest in the sport. The executive director of NENSA, the New England Nordic Ski Association, was a guest on this week’s episode of NBC5 In Depth.
“The sport of cross-country skiing is much younger than alpine skiing in America, I think it’s fair to say,” said Heidi Lange of NENSA. “But we are seeing incredible growth and success at all levels.”
On the Jan. 4 episode of NBC5 In Depth, Lange said the fame and success of Jessie Diggins, who won three Olympic medals in cross-country skiing and an array of other championships, has helped attract young athletes to the sport.
“We see a lot of glitter at our races,” Lange said, referring to how Diggins popularized wearing glitter on her face during competitions. “We see kids embracing that joy and the sportsmanship that she emulates. And it goes deeper than that, of course. Jessie is an incredible mentor and role model in so many ways. She’s so willing to be open and vulnerable and very transparent about her journey, not just celebrating the successes, but sharing what she’s experiencing through challenges and struggles. And I think that has had a very powerful influence on skiers as they’re developing and navigating what are hopefully long journeys in the sport.”
Lange told NBC5 In Depth that over the past two Olympic cycles, 50% of U.S. Olympic team members in Nordic skiing had an affiliation with a New England program. She went on to say that a closer examination of the numbers revealed that 30% of that population grew up in NENSA’s youth and junior programming in New England.
“We’re incredibly proud of that,” Lange said. “It’s early to say yet for this year, but trends are tracking in a similar fashion.”
Lange provided other encouraging signs for the future of the sport in the NBC5 In Depth interview. She also discussed advancements in snowmaking technology for Nordic ski areas, and offered recommendations of what fans of the Olympics should watch for in the Nordic competitions at the upcoming Winter Games.
The video atop this article has the full interview with NENSA’s Heidi Lange that aired on the Jan. 4 episode of NBC5 In Depth.
