NAYS advocates for youth sports relief on Youth Sports Day

7/22/2020

The National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS) is joining other members of the National Council of Youth Sports (NCYS) today to participate in a Virtual Hill Day with Congressional leaders to advocate for federal assistance for community organizations through the creation of a loan program for youth sports providers.

NCYS scheduled this series of Congressional meetings to educate lawmakers on the importance of youth sports to young people, families, and communities.

The youth sports industry, comprised almost entirely of volunteers, nonprofits, and small businesses, risks a complete collapse.  The economic losses suffered by this forced pause, while not unique to youth sports, disproportionately impacts under-resourced communities.

“Every child deserves access to quality sports programming and COVID-19 is threatening the existence of many programs,” said Kate Nematollahi, Director of Education Programs for NAYS. “I am proud to represent NAYS and the organizations we serve on Capitol Hill to advocate for support of recreational youth sports organizations that need assistance during these challenging and unprecedented circumstances.”

NCYS has been at the forefront of the PLAY Sports Coalition (#unite2PLAY), which stands for Promoting Local and Youth Sports, a unique coalition of 3,700 community and national sports organizations formed to support young athletes, working families, coaches and volunteers across all 50 states, particularly those in underserved areas, through the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Their efforts earned the attention of Congressman Max Rose (D-NY), who introduced HR 7562: the COVID-19 Youth Sports and Working Families Relief Act, which is one of the primary pieces of legislation supported by Hill Day Participants.

The National Council of Youth Sports (NCYS) is nationally recognized as a leading advocate for young people to have full access to sports participation and to ensure that games are played in safe environments. As the largest organization in America serving the industry, NCYS serves 60 million registered participants in organized youth sports programs. Its members are recognized as gatekeepers, key decision-makers, influencers and advocates for youth sports participation.

COVID-19

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