National Youth Sports Week

RRHC joins the National Council on Youth Sports in celebrating National Youth Sports Week this year from July 20 to 26 — a time to showcase how communities can promote healthy lifestyles for children and families through sports. 

There are numerous benefits for youths who participate in regular physical activity: improved bone health, higher cognitive functions, reduced risk of depressed, etc. Playing sports can provide additional benefits such as goal setting and improving social/interpersonal skills. Sports can also facilitate the development of physical literacy, which is the ability to move with competence and confidence in a variety of physical activities in multiple environments that benefit a person’s overall healthy development. Sports encompass many of the basic movement skills that contribute to physical literacy, including running, balancing, hopping, skipping, jumping, dodging, gliding, falling, lifting, swimming, kicking, throwing, and catching. 

Given all the benefits, it’s hard to imagine not wanting to get up and move yet, ONLY 20% of adolescents meet the daily recommended amount of physical activity. So how can our children and teens be encouraged to be more active? You guessed it -- by playing sports! However, there are disparities in the participation of sports: girls, racial and ethnic minorities, youth from households of low socioeconomic status, youth living in rural areas, and youth with disabilities are less likely to be physically active and play sports. Therefore, the National Youth Sports Strategy (NYSS), developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), emphasizes underserved populations and highlights strategies that can facilitate participation despite these barriers. 
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To get involved and help support the idea that ALL American youth should have the opportunity to play sports, RRHC is giving away frisbees to encourage local adolescents and their families to be more active as well as creating awareness about the benefits of playing sports. We’re looking forward to being even more prepared next year!