Pictured: Allison Colman poses for a T-ball photo as a youth.
Join us for the first-ever Youth Sports in Parks and Recreation Summit at the 2026 NRPA Annual Conference in Philadelphia as we rally around the power of parks and recreation in creating transformative sports experiences for young people.
Why This Summit Matters
Like many athletes, my interest in sports started with my family. I was born into a passionate sports family with Boston roots, the kind where the joy (and pain) of loving the Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots was inherited. Some of my earliest memories are of sitting in my grandparents’ den with my family, all of us yelling at the TV, pacing around the room, anxiously waiting for the next play. Sports were part of our culture and traditions before I ever stepped onto a field myself. They were how we bonded, celebrated and connected across generations.
Playing sports became a natural extension of that identity. I tagged along with my brother to the neighborhood pick-up games at the park, and we often shot hoops, playing HORSE and knockout until the sun went down. My parents signed me up and volunteered as coaches for dozens of teams and leagues throughout my youth, and they sacrificed money, time, and a whole lot of patience for me to pursue my passion and play competitively. Sports gave me confidence, belonging, friendships and an outlet. They kept me on track and taught me about discipline, goal setting, teamwork, respect and communication.
Sports also exposed me to inequities, pressures and obstacles that too many kids still face today. I played with boys because there weren’t enough opportunities for girls. I had both incredible coaches who believed in me and shaped who I became as a person, and I had some coaches who probably shouldn’t have been coaching at all. I felt the pressure to specialize early if I wanted to consider playing in high school and college, even when my body and my mind didn’t want to. I played through injuries and difficult physical and mental experiences because that was simply “what athletes did.”
Later, when I became a coach myself, and eventually a sports and wellness director in a community center, everything came full circle. I saw the gaps: inconsistent coaching quality, systems that benefited well-resourced and legacy groups, norms that drove kids toward specialization vs. multi-sport participation, financial barriers, and programs that pushed kids out instead of welcoming them in.
I also saw how powerful community‑based, recreational sports can be when they’re done right. I watched kids find their voice and find connection, and young people discover passions and build skills they didn’t know they had. I saw families come together across generations and build community around the sidelines. I saw how sports can be a place where kids feel safe, supported and seen, and how coaches, parents and community can shape those environments.
That’s why this summit matters. Sports have incredible power, but we must use that power for good.
Why We’re Hosting a Youth Sports Summit
When we create positive, welcoming and affirming spaces for kids to play sports, they grow up healthier, both physically and mentally. They develop essential social and emotional skills, they build relationships and connections, and they are more likely to succeed in school and in their future careers. Despite the many benefits of youth sports, too many young people still miss out. With only 55% of kids participating in sports, widening disparities across the youth sports system, and a host of systemic challenges that contribute to negative youth sports experiences, the need to enact change is urgent.
At NRPA, we believe all children deserve access to high-quality youth sports opportunities and we know that parks and recreation is critical to advancing this vision. Local park and recreation agencies reach more than 50 million youth each year, with the majority of agencies (92 percent) providing youth with opportunities to play sports. As one of the largest providers of youth sports in the nation, park and recreation professionals are catalysts for increasing access to youth sports in communities nationwide, offering affordable, fun, welcoming and multisport options that level the playing field and promote positive youth development.
We’re using this summit as an opportunity to rally parks and recreation around a shared vision and commitment to improving quality of life through the power of youth sports.
What the Summit Will Focus On
The Summit is designed to inspire action and leverage the power of parks and recreation to create change. We’re bringing together partners and leaders from across fields and sectors, as well as local Philadelphia sports leaders and youth, to learn together and explore strategies that are working. We’ll be elevating real-world experiences and evidence-based practices that are effectively improving youth sports environments, building the confidence and capabilities of coaches, leveling the playing field, and increasing participation in youth sports. Sessions will include:
- Rallying Around the Power of Parks and Recreation
- Changing the Game So All Can Play
- Ger Her in the Game
- Leveraging Partnerships to Drive Participation – A Conversation with the Major Leagues
- Sports as a Driver of Positive Youth Development
- Learning from Philadelphia – Building Community and Changing Lives
- Building the Pipeline: Recruiting and Retaining Coaches and Officials
- Parents & Sports: Creating Supportive and Positive Environments
- Partnering with Youth to Shape the Future of Sports
- Making the Case for Recreational Leagues
- Small Towns, Big Plays
- Building a Legacy Sports Culture
- Reimaging Youth Sports Policy
Why You Should Be There
The summit provides an opportunity to hear directly from people leading this work and benefiting from these efforts. It’s a chance to build connections, align agency efforts to evidence-based strategies and national priorities, and co-create bold solutions that drive real progress. Together, we’ll spend 1.5 days connecting and strengthening cross-sector collaboration, exploring shared challenges and promising solutions, and designing spaces and programs that increase access to positive youth sports environments and build character, confidence and connection across community.
If you’re like me and grew up playing sports, are coaching sports, or are managing sports programs and facilities, it’s a full-circle moment. This summit is a chance to build the future we want every child to experience – a future where sports are safe, inclusive and fun. A future where coaches and administrators have the training and resources they need to create more positive experiences. A future where every child has a place to play, grow and belong.
The summit is a milestone moment for the future of youth sports, and you should be there.
Allison Colman (she/her) is NRPA's senior director of programs.