A cradle of community sports
This article first appeared in the December 2009 issue
Bidding for the Olympic Games provided Chicago with the opportunity to ignite the interest of young people in sports
The huge political challenge of reforming health care at home almost kept Barak Obama away from presenting to the IOC in Copenhagen. Yet while Chicago didn’t get the Games, the bid itself played an important role in improving public health through sports.
Duke University’s Mike Krzyzewski (right) was one of 17 basketball coaches who visited 19 elementary schools around Chicago on April 14 2009
Doug Arnot, senior vice president of sports venues and operations at Chicago 2016 told Host City: “A physical legacy ties very closely to our programme. Rather than thinking of who would be the tenant of the stadium, we focused on the sports legacy for community and youth.”
Chicago 2016 developed a sister agency called World Sports Chicago to develop and provide opportunities for Chicago’s urban youth to participate in sports. Engaging young people in sports is becoming more challenging as populations become concentrated in cities.
“In the US, 50 per cent of the population is now urban. At the same time we are seeing a growing deficit of urban sports opportunities with fewer and fewer programmes. Many young people in cities don’t have the opportunity to be attracted to sports.”
The statistics are striking. While 85 per cent of young males in the US participate in sport, only 30 per cent of young males in cities do so. And only 15 per cent of young women in US cities participate in sport. “This bid was an opportunity that could serve as an impetus to work with national organising committees around the world to work on these issues.”
Olympic athletes are acting as role models. “25,000 Olympians have signed on to support the initiative. We have had Olympians in the schools, in the parks, and they provide an incredible incentive to young people.”
The Olympians attract people to new sports. “In the US, we have great basketball, good athletics and swimming, but what about badminton, table tennis and the other sports young people could be attracted to? It’s only the excitement of the Olympics that attracts young people to different sports because it’s such a grand stage.”
The World Sports Chicago initiative also includes sports competitions, where Olympians and coaches introduce young people to the sports at ‘clinics’. “They can sign up for a programme in their neighbourhood that allows them to continue this sport.”
The response has been very positive. “When we go to a park programme or school programme with an Olympian, the response from children is absolutely overwhelming. The excitement when you walk in with an Olympian is incredible.”
As the World Sports Chicago programmes continue, the long-term health benefits will more than compensate for the city’s failure to win the Games.
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