The Ultimate Youth Sports Newsletter Vol. 48: USA Wins 2025 Junior Ryder Cup, C-Suite Corner, DICK’S Sporting Goods House of Sport Expands,Tuition of Best Private High School Football Teams

When asked what it will take to move youth sports beyond its echo chamber, our executives delivered a unified message: the industry’s endless cycle of talk without action has reached a breaking point.

PlayersHealth CEO Tyrre Burks cut straight to the core issue, noting that “the same conversations about safety, cost, and access happen year after year, often within the same small circle. At some point, talk is not enough, and you must put real resources behind solutions.” Burks backed up this philosophy by committing 1% of his company’s revenue to youth programs exactly the type of concrete action the industry desperately needs.

BASE Sports Group CEO Mark Dvoroznak echoed this call for substantial commitment, emphasizing that breakthrough requires “strong commitment…from large brands/organizations, professional sports teams/leagues or the government” rather than simply “throwing money at an issue.” The distinction? Strategic, sustained investment versus superficial gestures.

Perhaps most intriguingly, TeamSnap CEO Pete Frintzilas identified a growing divide in how companies approach market intelligence. He urged leaders to engage “in market everyday speaking to participants & partners” rather than “creating a media narrative based on others POV” or “amplifying the growing ‘hype’ of topics in the echo chamber to drive clicks.”

YSBR’s Insight:

While these C-suite leaders call for breaking through youth sports’ echo chamber, Youth Sports Business Report recognizes our unique responsibility in this transformation. As an industry publication, we sit at the intersection of conversation and action, with the power to either perpetuate the cycle these executives describe or help disrupt it.

That’s why we’re committed to advancing beyond traditional sports media approaches. Rather than simply amplifying the same voices and perspectives, we’re building strategic partnerships with organizations across the youth sports ecosystem and leveraging rich data insights to uncover stories that haven’t been told. Our goal isn’t just to report on the industry’s challenges around safety, cost, and access, but to illuminate the innovative solutions and diverse voices that often get overlooked in industry discourse.

We’re working to bridge the gap between the conference room conversations these leaders reference and the real experiences of families, athletes, and grassroots organizations. Through data-driven storytelling and strategic partnerships, we aim to surface the concrete actions and measurable impacts that move beyond industry rhetoric, exactly the type of substantive progress our executives are calling for.
More on this coming from YSBR soon 😁

📋 Today’s Lineup

🇺🇸 U.S. Defeats Europe 17½-12½ in 13th Junior Ryder Cup

🏪 DICK’S Sporting Goods House of Sport Expands in Jersey City and Dallas

🎮 LeagueSpot Extends Three-Year Esports Partnership with Epic Charter Schools

🏈 MaxPreps Shares Annual Tuition of Best Private High School Football Teams in America

🤝 Vantage Foundation Partners with Laureus Sport for Good on Global Youth Programs

📊 New Study Shows Private Club Sports Participation Tripled Across Generations

⛳ U.S. Reclaims Junior Ryder Cup with 17½-12½ Victory Over Europe

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The U.S. junior golf team reclaimed the Junior Ryder Cup with a 17½-12½ victory over Europe at Nassau Country Club in Glen Cove, New York, improving their overall record to 8-4-1 across 13 editions. The competition featured 24 elite amateur golfers under 18, with equal gender representation of six boys and six girls per team.

U.S. Captain Suzy Whaley, a PGA Past President, led the American squad in the match-play format that mirrors the professional Ryder Cup. Stanford University commits Anna Fang and Asterisk Talley secured crucial early points in decisive singles matches, while captain’s pick Rayee Feng clinched the cup with a 4&3 victory.

“Being a captain of a team holds a lot of responsibility, but it wasn’t just me. This was a team effort for Team USA to bring that Cup home and set the tone for tomorrow’s Ryder Cup,” said Whaley.

The tournament serves as a premier pathway for elite amateur golfers, with winning U.S. team members set to attend the Ryder Cup opening ceremony at nearby Bethpage Black. The event’s positioning alongside the professional Ryder Cup creates operational synergies while connecting junior and professional levels of the sport.

🏪 DICK’S House of Sport Expands in Jersey City and Dallas

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DICK’S Sporting Goods opened House of Sport locations in Jersey City and Dallas, as the retailer integrates youth sports programming into major store launches. The Jersey City location marks the chain’s first NYC-area House of Sport at 85,000 square feet, while the Dallas opening featured structured youth basketball programming with Wings stars Paige Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale.

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The Dallas launch included a youth 3-on-3 tournament on a custom half-court, with The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation awarding a surprise $20,000 Sports Matter Grant to Top Achievers Foundation. This funding model shows how retail partnerships create direct financial support for youth organizations beyond traditional sponsorship arrangements.

Both locations feature interactive experiences including climbing walls, TrackMan golf simulators, and multi-sport training cages, positioning DICK’S as a destination for equipment testing rather than transaction-based shopping. The Jersey City store carries 13,000 unique footwear SKUs despite being the smallest House of Sport format to date.

DICK’S now operates 26 House of Sport locations with plans to reach 75-100 by fiscal 2027, representing significant acceleration from current pace. The company’s strategy integrates professional athlete community engagement with corporate foundation investment, creating measurable youth sports impact while building authentic community connections through retail expansion.

🎮 LeagueSpot Extends Three-Year Esports Partnership with Epic Charter Schools

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LeagueSpot renewed its partnership with Epic Charter Schools for the 2025-2026 school year, marking the third consecutive year serving one of Oklahoma’s largest virtual school systems. The platform delivers FERPA/COPPA-compliant esports experiences to over 30,000 K-12 students statewide.

Since launching in 2022, the program has engaged over 600 student participants across Rocket League, Minecraft, and Fortnite tournaments. Epic Charter uses LeagueSpot’s white-label platform to run compliant tournaments and digital clubs while maintaining brand consistency and educational technology security standards.

The partnership expansion includes varsity tryout integration, student leadership pathways, and enhanced competitive offerings. The Games Club model focuses on academic and life skills development through structured gaming activities, emphasizing communication, collaboration, and digital citizenship.

“Our efforts have allowed us to impact the lives of hundreds of students through the sheer passion of gaming,” said Steve Briggs, Head Coach of Epic’s Esports Program. The virtual school model allows Epic Charter to scale esports programming across Oklahoma’s diverse student population without geographic constraints.

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If you want to play big time High School Football in the US, here is what tuition costs today… via MaxPreps

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🤝 Vantage Foundation Partners with Laureus Sport for Good on Global Youth Programs

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Vantage Foundation announced a partnership with Laureus Sport for Good Foundation Spain, expanding the charitable organization’s global youth development initiatives. Laureus operates more than 300 programs worldwide using sport to help underprivileged youth build resilience and inclusion in vulnerable communities.

The partnership, announced from Madrid on September 24, explores how sport-based programs create measurable impact for youth facing challenging circumstances. Laureus programs extend beyond traditional athletic training, incorporating lessons in respect, teamwork, and perseverance while creating safe spaces for confidence and life skills development.

Vantage Foundation, launched in 2023 at McLaren Technology Centre in the UK, has established partnerships across Indonesia, Nigeria, Malaysia, and Brazil. “It was truly inspiring to see how Laureus is changing lives through sport. This is work that strengthens individuals and builds more resilient societies,” said Steven Xie, Executive Director of Vantage Foundation.

📊 Research Shows Private Club Sports Participation Tripled Across Generations

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A comprehensive study of 3,938 adults published in the Journal of Sport and Social Issues reveals youth born in the 1990s were three times more likely to play club/travel sports than those born in the 1950s. Only 4% of 1950s-born adults played club sports compared to 13% of 1990s-born participants.

Parental education emerged as the strongest predictor, with college-educated parents’ children showing 16% participation rates versus 6% for non-college families. For families born in the 1950s, parental education made virtually no difference in sports participation rates, indicating a fundamental shift in access patterns.

The research, led by Chris Knoester of Ohio State University and Chris Bjork of Vassar College, used National Sports and Society Survey data tracking athletic experiences from ages 6-18. Youth sports costs jumped nearly 50% between 2019-2024, with parents now spending over $40 billion annually.

“The experience of playing sports is a lot different for kids growing up today compared to those growing up in previous generations, with the shift from school-based and community-based sports to private club sports,” said Knoester, the study’s lead author.

The findings reveal that talent alone no longer determines athletic success, as family income, education, and community sports culture now play decisive roles. “Opportunities are steadily declining for less educated families that don’t have the knowledge or the money to invest in their kids’ sports careers,” noted co-author Bjork.

About Youth Sports Business Report

Youth Sports Business Report is the largest and most trusted source for youth sports industry news, insights, and analysis covering the $54 billion youth sports market. Trusted by over 50,000 followers including industry executives, investors, youth sports parents and sports business professionals, we are the premier destination for comprehensive youth sports business intelligence.

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