EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program analyzed the landscape of youth sports in the city of Oakland from June 2021 to June 2022. State of Play Oakland offers a snapshot of how well adults are serving youth through sports and other physical activities, regardless of race, gender, income or ability.
Findings for this report were guided by local Oakland experts in the fields of sports, finance, and physical activity and obtained through multiple methods: individual interviews with a broad collection of stakeholders and community members; focus-group discussions with youth, coaches, and parents and caregivers; youth surveys; media accounts; and existing reports, policy analyses, and publicly available data.
Some key findings in the report:
• Oakland youth are less physically active than the nation. Only 14% of youth in Oakland meet the 60 minutes of physical activity per day recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, below the national average of 23%. Oakland girls (9%) are less likely to be sufficiently physically active than boys (19%). Physical activity decreases as youth get older.
Oakland lacks equitable access to recreational sports league opportunities. White children are three times more likely than Latino/a youth and two times more likely than Black and Asian kids to play on a recreation center team. In the Montclair, Dimond and Laurel neighborhoods, 41% of youth have played sports on a rec center team. In Deep East Oakland, that figure is just 13%. Boys are more likely to play on rec center teams than girls.
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Access to quality parks is unevenly distributed. Residents in Oakland
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• Youth want to try different sports and need more sustainable opportunities. Oakland youth identified 24 sports that at least 10% of them said they want to try. That’s far more interest than youth expressed in Baltimore or Columbus, Ohio, where the Aspen Institute produced previous community reports. Oakland youth don’t have a sustained way to play new sports because the city lacks the capacity to create lasting infrastructure for continued participation. • There’s strong interest in trying individual sports. Archery is the No. 1 sport both Oakland boys and girls said they most want to try. Karate/mixed martial arts, roller
neighborhoods where people most identify as a person of color have access to 66% less park space per person than those in predominantly White neighborhoods. Although 89% of Oakland residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park, the amenities and investments are much lower than comparable U.S. cities. In a study by Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation, 55% of respondents said poor park maintenance was a barrier to visiting or fully utilizing Oakland parks. Most children don't use rec center spaces, and those that do often are in wealthier areas.
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PROJECT PLAY — AN INITIATIVE OF THE ASPEN INSTITUTE
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