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sports? In Iowa, the soaring demand for youth basketball courts is attributed to Clark. Her deep shooting range inspires younger players and may change the women's game much the way NBA star Stephen Curry changed the men's game more than a decade ago. 2. Climate change is affecting the safety of young people in sports. As global temperatures continue to rise and extreme heat lasts longer, sports providers will have to invest more in safety. Five high school football players died in the summer of 2024 of suspected heat-related illnesses. Fiy-eight players have died from exertional heatstroke between 1992 and 2024, according to the Korey Stringer Institute, and thousands more are sickened each year. In ad- dition to restricting outdoor sports during the hottest hours, some cli- mate experts and medical officials stress that moving traditional sports seasons to cooler months will have to eventually happen. 3. Private equity is investing more into youth sports. Private equity – an industry famous for squeezing out value – claims it will make sports better for families who are used to an expensive, high-pressure experience. That remains debatable, but the increased activity is not. Private equity firm KKR recently acquired Varsity Brands, the parent company of BSN Sports, from buyout firm Bain Capital for about $4.75 billion. Platinum Equity acquired Augusta Sportwear Brands and Founder Sport Group. And LeagueApps, a platform for managing youth sports teams, announced a new round of fundraising led by new investors Accel-KKR with Arctos Partners. 4. The Paris Olympics and Paralympics in- spired youth to play, but for how long? e 2024 Summer Olympics drew 30.6 million viewers across NBCUniversal's platforms, marking an 82 percent jump in viewership compared to the Tokyo Games in 2021. e Paris Games were the most-streamed Olympics of all time. Historically, the Olympics and Paralympics have inspired youth to try new sports for the first time. But oen, partici- pation rates then fall back to their previous levels. e past creates a challenge for NGBs and advocates of a sport: How to move more kids past the sampling stage. 5. There is growing support by states for pros- thetics and orthotics allowing more people to play sports. Millions of children and adults in the U.S. with limb loss, limb indifference and mobility impairment are unable to afford and access life-changing care that helps them be physically active. e organization "So Every BODY Can Move" is disrupting this healthcare inequity by mobilizing grassroots advocates to champion local, state-by-state legislative change to create insurance coverage for recreational prosthetic and orthotic care. 6. Pickleball becomes a varsity high school sport. "Pickleball for all" is the slogan used by Montgomery County (MD) Public Schools, which launched pickleball in high schools in 2024. Montgomery County said it's the first school district in the country to offer pickleball as a varsity sport, as part of its corollary sports pro- gram that provides increased access and participation opportunities for students with disabilities. Pickleball participation increased 45 percent for children ages 6-12 and 86 percent among youth 13-17 between 2022 and 2023, according to the SFIA. 7. There is growing acceptance of NIL money among high school athletes. e vast majority of the country allows high school athletes to monetize their name, image and likeness, an offshoot of NCAA athletes being allowed to get paid in recent years. NIL in high schools offer opportunities and risks for young people. 8. Clubs, high school teams and families are increasingly using artificial intelligence. e analytics that dominate pro and college sports are now trickling down to younger levels – for those who can afford the investment. The growing sports tech industry is selling computer vision algorithms, wearable biometric sensors and predictive analysis services through AI to youth clubs and high school athletic depart- ments. For better or worse, it's supercharging the dynamics of some club and high school teams. 9. Physical activity among U.S. youth contin- ues to trend downward. e Physical Activity Alliance's latest U.S. Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth showed another year of C and D grades. Overall physical activity received a D- grade — the same as in 2022 and 2014. Today, only 20-28 percent of youth ages 6-17 meet the 60 minutes of daily physical activity guideline — and that has not increased in the past decade. e C grades mean the U.S. is succeeding with about half of children. e D grades mean there's success with less than half. 10. Major cities are investing more in parks. In the 2023 fiscal year, $11.2 billion was invested in city parks across the 100 most populous U.S. cities, up from $9.7 billion in 2022, ac- cording to Trust for Public Land. at's the most since the pre-2007 Great Recession even aer adjusting for inflation. A research report by Trust for Public Land found that civic and business leaders are investing in parks and open spaces to respond to pressing economic challenges. Local public park and recreation agencies in the U.S. generate more than $201 billion in economic activity and support almost 1.1 million jobs that boosted labor income by more than $63 billion from their operations and capital spending in 2021. n The vast majority of the country allows high school athletes to monetize their name, image and likeness, an offshoot of NCAA athletes being allowed to get paid in recent years. sportstylemag.com • sportstyle January/February 2025 • 35

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