Vincent Minjares

High-Stakes Team Sports Leave Many Boys Without a Way to Play

A report from the Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society Program and the American Institute for Boys & Men finds that boys’ participation in sports is declining even as youth participation overall has risen. Aspen’s Tom Farrey and AIBM’s Richard Reeves argue that many boys value sports for fun and connection but face high-stakes, narrow routes into play, shaped by cost, coaching and pressure to be good enough. They call for schools and communities to offer more ways to participate without reducing opportunities for girls.