youth are up to four times more likely to participate than other races and ethnicities, even though there is strong interest among all children to try archery. The highest population of youth who have tried archery comes from the Montclair, Dimond and Laurel neighborhoods in the hills, where the Redwood Bowmen Archery Club is located through East Bay Regional Parks. Ohlone Archery, located in San Leandro right outside Oakland, offers a weekly beginner class.
Ice sports offer promising opportunities.
Figure skating and ice hockey were two of six sports in which Oakland youth reported at least two times greater interest in trying compared to their actual exposure to the sport. The Oakland Ice Center and San Jose Sharks pilot a street hockey program at the nearby Lincoln Square recreation center. Upwards of 75 kids participate in the once-a-week, free street hockey program that the Sharks hope to replicate at other Oakland rec centers. Oakland Technical High School has fielded a coed hockey team since 2009 – an encouraging sign since Oakland girls in our survey reported nearly the same interest in hockey as boys. Also, 24% of girls and 5% of boys want to try figure skating – a sport that has produced elite Bay Area skaters such as Kristi Yamaguchi, Vincent Zhou, Alysa Liu and Karen Chen. Oakland School for the Arts partners with the ice center on a PE skating program and several other schools take free field trips there. "Step one is understanding you can be part of ice skating as a hobby by destigmatizing the sport's competitiveness and that you're done by age 16," said ice skating coach Michelle Hong, who uses TikTok to promote accessibility.
OUSD assessed athletic facilities, practice and competition times, publicity, and transportation so girls have equitable experiences. The district earmarked about $120 million in future sports facility improvements that will create greater gender equity, OAL Commissioner Franky Navarro said. “Many of our facilities were built in the 1960s so they weren’t constructed with a lens of equity for boys and girls,” he said. The settlement’s three- year monitoring period, which ends in June 2023, includes the expectation that OUSD will annually survey high school students about their sports interests. In 2021-22, OUSD’s sports participation ratio was 54% boys vs. 46% girls. 23
Archery is the No. 1 sport all youth want to try.
One in four Oakland youth expressed interest to pick up a bow and arrow and aim for a bullseye. “Archery is super fun,” said a 9-year-old boy who tried it at camp. “I just like the idea of using a projectile to hit something.” Surprisingly high interest in archery is a trend the Aspen Institute has found around the country. But children need access to programs. While 26% of Oakland youth want to try archery, only 12% have participated more than once and 2% do so regularly. White
STATE OF PLAY OAKLAND
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