As the cost of youth sports continues to rise, families across Arizona are being priced out of participation.

From local clubs to travel teams, the expenses add up with equipment, uniforms, tournament fees and more totaling thousands of dollars annually, putting pressure on families and widening the gap between those who can afford to play and those who can’t.

The financial strain is reshaping who gets to participate, raising concerns among researchers, nonprofits and parents about long-term access and equity.

According to a 2023 study by the Aspen Institute’s Project Play, Arizona ranked second to last in the country for youth ages 6-17 who played on a team or took lessons. 

Less than half of high school students reported playing on one or more sports teams during the past 12 months according to research done by the Arizona Department of Health Services Bureau of Nutrition and Physical Activity.

“Costs are rising and as a result of that we are seeing lower rates of participation, particularly in under-resourced, traditionally underrepresented communities,” said Eric Legg, assistant professor in Arizona State University’s School of Community Resources & Development. 

“It’s a wrecked relationship,” he said. “Costs go up, participation goes down, and it most impacts underrepresented communities.”

Youth sports play a crucial role in children’s development, allowing for positive social, emotional and physical growth.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) found that physical activity enhances self-perceptions of body, competence and self-worth and that playing a sport can even protect against suicide risk in youth.

At the Boys & Girls Club of the Valley (BGCAZ), the importance of youth development is embedded in their subsidized sports, fitness and recreation programs.

“Unfortunately, as kids have started to specialize in sports, they’re dropping out of sport at a younger and younger age,” said Josh Stine, BGCAZ vice president of external affairs. 

“Our goal is to keep [them] playing sports longer. We want you to play for the health benefits, for the social recreation, for the communication skills you build.”

Rising costs for both families and organizations like BGCAZ affect equipment, staffing and facility rentals.

Project Play found that the average U.S. sports family spent $1,016 on a child’s primary sport in 2024. This is a 46% increase from 2019, twice the rate of price inflation in the U.S. economy during the same period.

Some companies and organizations are trying to fill the financial gaps for these families.

“Our corporate partners and our community partners are able to provide access to equipment and uniforms at a lower cost or donated so kids have access,” Stine said. “We don’t want a kid not playing or not signing up because they don’t have the proper shoes or the glove. 

“It’s really trying to lean into our partners where we can to help cover the costs that were traditionally passed on to our students or players.”

Local government has been an option, but Legg said a major issue is the massive reduction in how much local governments invest in youth sports.

Legg said that youth sports programs were at one point primarily subsidized by tax dollars and community support. This practice has shifted as the more commonly used funding model is the “pay to play” model, where the program is supported by participant fees.

“Youth sports create healthy youth, healthy youth create healthy communities,” Legg said. “It’s actually a cost saver in the long term and investing more in those communities through tax dollar support.”

The “pay to play” model is just one of the effects of the rapid commercialization of youth sports. This commercialization is prominent in the increase in club sports, programs that are run by private associations and often have much higher fees than traditional school or nonprofit youth sports programs.

For many families, cost is often the most important factor when considering youth sports programs.

Nick Girard, father of two and current president of Recreation Association of Madison Meadows & Simis (RAMMS), said cost is something he and many other parents weigh thoroughly.

“From the parents’ standpoint, I see that [rising cost] when I pay the registration fees, in RAMMS recreational sports and club sports,” Girard said. “I have kids who do club sports so I see all aspects of this.”

RAMMS is a parent-run, volunteer-led nonprofit that provides recreational youth sports for children in North Central Phoenix. Like BGCAZ and similar nonprofits, it relies on registration fees and sponsorships to fund venues, uniforms, equipment and improvements to local schools.

RAMMS was created to provide recreational sport options for families who may be priced out of club or travel teams. 

Another factor that often deters parents from club sports involves the number of costs involved. Unlike recreational sport programs that charge one upfront fee, club and travel teams come with add-ons parents may not have accounted for.

 “In club sports, you’re typically paying a monthly fee for the club, you’re paying per event fees, you’re paying admission fees to get into those sports, you’re paying for the cost of uniforms separately oftentimes,” Girard said. :There’s a lot of different add-on pieces that add up.”

Even with the higher costs, parents often feel pressure to turn to club programs for many reasons, most notably when their child specializes in one sport.

Project Play found that the most common justifications for parents to enroll their children in club sports and specialize in one sport are that their child wants to play in high school, college or professionally. 

The study also found that one in four parents felt societal pressure to have their child stick to one sport while parents of older children feel the most pressure from their child and school coaches to specialize.

Girard, who’s been involved in youth sports for over eight years, said he’s noticed more younger children being pushed into club sports out of fear of being left behind.

But the great fear these days may be one of being left out by costs.

“What worries me the most about where youth sports are headed is kids leaving,” Girard said. “If it’s too expensive to play and families can’t sign up then kids stop participating.”  

President Donald Trump announced plans for an athletic competition to help celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary next year.

Trump, 79, announced his idea for the “Patriot Games” as part of “the most spectacular birthday party the world has ever seen” in a video shared by Freedom 250 on Thursday, Dec. 18.

“Already, we’ve had big celebrations to commemorate the 250th birthdays of the Army, the Navy and the United States Marines, but there is much, much more to come,” he said. “We’re going to have a good time.”

Trump said the Patriot Games would take place in the fall, describing the competition as “an unprecedented four-day athletic event featuring the greatest high school athletes, one young man and one young woman from each state and territory.”

He added, “But I promise there will be no men playing in women’s sports,” in a reference to his administration’s efforts to keep trans athletes from competing in sports corresponding to their gender. The president signed an executive order in February titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” attempting to ban trans women from competing on women’s sports teams.

He added on Thursday, “You’re not gonna see that. You’ll see everything but that.”

The official Freedom 250 website did not share much additional information about the Patriot Games beyond what Trump said in the video. The site shared, “From opening heats to the live final day in front of a live audience, these competitors will light the torch for a new generation of Americans.”

The Patriot Games were not the only event Trump previewed on Thursday. He also announced plans for a state fair on the National Mall and “the largest fireworks display in the world,” as well as a “National Garden of American Heroes” that will feature “statues of all-time greatest Americans,” plus a “triumphal arc.”

Trump has previously teased his plans to host a UFC event at the White House as part of the country’s birthday celebrations, and gave a bit more detail about the fight on Thursday.

“It’ll be the greatest champion fighters in the world, all fighting that same night. The great Dana White is hosting, and it’s going to be something special,” he said.

Trump spoke about his plans for the nation’s milestone birthday while addressing a crowd at the Iowa State Fairgrounds on July 3. During his remarks, he announced that nationwide celebrations would take place “every one of our national parks, battlefields and historic sites.”

The celebration, he said, would include “special events,” including the UFC fight. Trump has a friendly relationship with UFC owner and CEO Dana White, who supported him at the 2024 Republican National Convention.

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“We’re going to build a little [octagon]. We’re not, Dana is going to do it. Dana is great, one of a kind,” Trump said at the time. “[There’s] going to be a UFC fight, championship fight, full fight, like 20,000 to 25,000 people, and we’re going to do that as part of ‘250’ also.”

Trump shared earlier this month that the event would take place on June 14, 2026, and would feature between eight and nine championship fights, according to USA Today.

PHILADELPHIA – Austin Williford and Khaafiq Myers had breakout games, leading a shorthanded Saint Joseph’s men’s basketball team to a 67-51 win against the Delaware State Hornets on Thursday night.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Williford set career-highs with 14 points, four three-pointers and five steals.
• Myers tallied 11 with three assists and three rebounds.
• Overall, freshmen or redshirt freshmen combined for 30 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.
• Dasear Haskins came close to his first career double-double with nine points and eight rebounds.
• Anthony Finkley scored eight and matched Haskins for team-high honors with eight boards.
• Justice Ajogbor had four blocks. As a team, SJU blocked nine shots, the second-highest total this season for St. Joe’s.

 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Hawks started off on fire, connecting from beyond the arc on each of their first three possessions, two of them coming from Williford as SJU opened a 9-4 lead in just 86 seconds.
• Delaware State found its rhythm after a 2-for-11 start from the floor, pulling to 15-12 heading into the second media timeout. St. Joe’s responded by scoring five in a row, opening a 20-12 lead midway through the frame.
• Williford continued his impressive first half on both ends of the floor, scoring 14 points with three steals as Saint Joseph’s took a 33-18 lead into the locker room.
• In the second half, Myers picked up his offensive game, scoring nine of his points in the frame.
• SJU pushed the lead out to as many as 26 points before the Hornets made a late run to create the final score.

 
UP NEXT
Saint Joseph’s continues its three-game homestand, hosting Coastal Carolina on Monday, December 22. Tipoff from Hagan Arena is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. with the game to air on ESPN+.
 

(CNN) — President Donald Trump announced Thursday the White House will host the “Patriot Games,” a competition with young athletes from across the county, as part of the celebration of the United States’ 250th anniversary next year.

“In the fall, we will host the first ever Patriot Games, an unprecedented four-day athletic event featuring the greatest high school athletes — one young man and one young woman from each state and territory,” Trump said.

Democrats have mocked the athletic competition online, comparing it to “The Hunger Games,” a dystopian young adult novel and popular movie franchise in which children are forced to fight to the death in televised arenas.

The president revealed the plans for the Patriot Games in a video announcement from Freedom 250, which was launched Thursday. It is a “a national, non-partisan organization leading the Administration’s celebration of America’s 250th birthday,” according to a news release.

Trump previously previewed the competition in July, saying at the time it would be televised and led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy.

During the video, Trump also highlighted his plans to begin construction soon on a new arch monument in the nation’s capital.

“We are the only major place without a triumphal arc. A beautiful triumphal arc, one like in Paris, where they have the great, a beautiful arc. They call it the Arc de Triomphe, and we’re going to have one in Washington, DC, very soon,” Trump said.

A UFC fight on the South Lawn is another of Trump’s ideas for the 250th celebration and will take place on his birthday, June 14.

“On Flag Day, we will have a one-of-a-kind UFC event here at the White House. It’ll be the greatest champion fighters in the world, all fighting that same night. The great Dana White is hosting, and it’s going to be something special,” Trump said.

Trump has long touted his desire to shape the nation’s 250th celebrations. In the past year, the Trump administration has moved quickly to align federal funding with the president’s anniversary priorities, and agencies have followed suit.

The Department of Agriculture, for instance, has embraced the president’s Great American State Fair initiative. The idea was first floated by Trump on the campaign trail in 2023, and it asks states to compete to have their fair chosen by Trump as the “most patriotic.”

Meanwhile, the White House is conducting a sweeping review of the Smithsonian Institution and has demanded the 250th content at the nation’s largest museum complex renews national pride.

This story has been updated with additional details.

The-CNN-Wire

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CNN’s Piper Hudspeth Blackburn contributed to this report.

Chinese sportswear manufacturer ANTA Group has announced the continuation of its three-year philanthropic alliance, known as the ‘Moving for Change’ partnership, with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). This follows an initial phase in which the corporate entity contributed $1.5 million in financial aid and over 1.2 million units of apparel and sporting goods to displaced youth populations in several African nations.

The ‘Moving for Change’ corporate social responsibility initiative is designed to support UNHCR’s Sports for Protection programming and Primary Impact education initiative. The first focuses on utilizing structured sports activities for child protection and psychosocial support, while the second aims at sustaining primary education in refugee settings by funding teachers and essential learning materials.

ANTA Group reports that these combined efforts have reached an estimated 300,000 children and adolescents to-date.

Image Credit: UNHCR/Eric Bakuli

The California Department of Education is requiring the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District to follow state law in another clash over transgender athletes in youth sports in the state. 

Currently, student-athletes in Tahoe Truckee Unified play sports in Nevada because of how close they are. But Nevada now bans transgender athletes in girls’ sports, which is against California state law. 

So after decades of playing in Nevada, California’s Department of Education is requiring the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District to compete in California to comply with state laws that allow student athletes to compete based on their gender identity.

David Mack is the co-founder of Tahoe Pride and describes the new youth sports divide in the Tahoe region.

“So no one’s happy, it’s really sad, it’s quite tragic in that way,” Mack said. “People feel really upset that the school moved so fast on this. They feel blindsided, they feel not listened to, and then other people, like the trans kids, are getting steamrolled over like they’re not recognized in this argument.”

Nevada state lawmakers passed a law in April requiring a mandatory physical signed by a doctor to deem the athlete male or female based on their birth sex. 

“This is a politically manufactured issue to try to divide people,” Mack said. 

The Tahoe Truckee Unified School District is responding to the California Department of Education with a solution that the district legally join the California Interscholastic Federation in 2026, but continue to play in the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association through 2028.

When asked if transgender athletes would be able to compete while operating in the NIAA, the district said it’s “still in the early stages of this transition, and many details are still being developed.”

In an October letter addressed to the California Department of Education, the school district’s attorney, Matthew Juhl-Darlington, said the Tahoe Truckee Unified is “not aware of any transgender youth who have expressed interest in participating in its 2025-2026 athletic programs.”

“While the NIAA recently updated its polices to define ‘male’ and ‘female’ based on sex assigned at birth and not as reflected in an individual’s gender identity, as required under California law, the District is interpreting and implementing this policy in a manner consistent with California’s legal requirements,” Juhl-Darlington said in the letter. 

California Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley is opposed to the state order, arguing the weather conditions in Tahoe need to be considered.

“So in order to compete in a California league, you have to deal with this snowy weather and the travel dangers and so forth,” Kiley said.

The school board was expected to explain its solution to both join California’s CIF while playing in the NIAA through 2028 to parents and students Wednesday night at a board meeting.

So far, the California Department of Education has not said if it will accept this as a solution.