Why do we play?

How sports can foster pride in place, connect (or disconnect) kids across difference, and facilitate post-conflict reconciliation

Welcome to February y’all. With the Swiftie Super Bowl 10 days away, Team CT thought it would be an appropriate time to reflect on how sports impact our lives, relationships, and communities. Some of us play, some of us watch, and some of us tell our loved ones to stop yelling at the TV.  But for millennia, gameplay has been a consistent part of society’s social fabric.

Why, though? Memorable football coach Herm Edwards once famously ranted that “you play to win the game.” Winning is part of it, sure. But we also play sports because of how they build lasting ties with those around us. Ties that span class boundaries. Ties that carry on through winning and losing. Ties that can last a lifetime. 

So this week’s newsletter is focused on the spirit of play that connects us to one another and to the places we call home. Some of the key issues we’ll battle with:

• How do professional sports franchises foster cohesion and pride in place—and what happens when they leave?

• Can online gaming communities help people build relationships in similar ways to in-person communities?

• How do today’s youth sports box children out from opportunities for community participation and connection?

• What role can sports play to foster connection and reconciliation in post-conflict regions?  

We hope you dive in—to quote the iconic 1999 baseball movie—For Love of the Game. 

Play ball,

Eric, Sam, and David

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Photo courtesy of The Ringer

The Reads

The Ringer - “What do cities lose when they lose pro sports” by Dan Moore (April 2022)

“Look, everybody loved San Francisco. And everybody stuck their noses up at Oakland. But we had the Raiders. We had the A’s. We had championships.”

How do sports teams galvanize solidarity and pride within the places they call home? And what happens to these communities when those same teams pick up and leave? These are the questions that author Dan Moore explores in his article on the exodus of Oakland’s three major sports franchises - the Raiders, Warriors, and A’s - all since 2018. To the author, pro sports teams can create a form of social cohesion within communities, drawing us together around a shared pride in team and place. The story of Oakland is a case study of what happens when these beloved community institutions are lost.

→ read the full article here and a recent public radio segment by the author here.

Fast Company - “How gaming communities can provide a lifeline for isolated young men” by Tyler Prochnow (August 2023)

This piece highlights the important role that online gaming communities can play in fostering social support. The author describes his recent, year-long research on an all-male gaming group, concluding that for individuals struggling with isolation and depression, a comforting “third place” might best be found online. For these players, seemingly entertainment-motivated gaming can act as a gateway to confiding conversations and meaningful friendships. The author believes we should meet young men where they are—online playing video games—and make these spaces healthier outlets for connection. While these virtual relationships may not be as good as in-person ones, the author concludes that they beat the alternative: isolation. 

→ read the full article here.

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Photo courtesy of Reuters

The Research

“How the privatization of youth sports box lower income kids out of relationships” - Sam summarizes the literature

Segregationists fought against the racial integration of youth sports because they understood that when American children of different racial backgrounds worked together toward a shared goal, they would form bonds across difference. Unfortunately, youth sports now confronts a new crisis of segregation—the socioeconomic kind—as they’ve become pay-to-play activities largely reserved for the children of more well-off parents. The rise of privatized travel teams—coupled with fees for high school sports—has contributed to a widening class gap in participation and social connectedness. The promise of sports as the great connector, both overall and across difference, is buckling under the weight of these financial pressures. Here’s how this dynamic is playing out:

1. Youth sports have become increasingly pay-to-play since the mid-2000s. School-based pay-to-play policies—which force students to pay hundreds of dollars of fees per season to participate in sports—are now imposed in approximately half of U.S. high schools. Outside of school, approximately 30 percent of youth play on travel sports teams, many of which cost thousands of dollars per season to participate.  

2. Privatized travel teams are replacing the local leagues that have historically been accessible to children of all class backgrounds. Derek Thompson describes this dynamic in The Atlantic: “Expensive travel leagues siphon off talented young athletes from well-off families, leaving behind desiccated local leagues with fewer players, fewer involved parents, and fewer resources.” As a result, child enrollment and overall availability of local recreational programs has declined by upwards of 50% over the past 15 years. 

3. Lacking affordable options, lower socioeconomic status (SES) kids drop out. With travel and high school teams financially out of reach, and fewer low-cost options in the community, lower SES kids are dropping out of sports altogether. Research from the Aspen Institute’s Project Play initiative found that youth ages 6-18 from low-income homes quit sports due to financial costs at six times the rate of kids from high-income homes.

4. This has contributed to widening class divides in participation and connectedness. Robert Putnam detailed this trend in Our Kids: “From 1997 to 2012, the extracurricular [participation] gap between poor kids and nonpoor kids aged 6-11 nearly doubled, from 15 to 27 percentage points, while the comparable gap among kids aged 12-17 rose from 19 to 29 percentage points.” These increasing inequalities in participation have contributed to broadening class gaps in social connectedness between high and low SES kids. 

As youth sports become increasingly exclusive, our kids aren’t just getting boxed out from sports. They’re getting boxed out from the peer, mentor, and community relationships that help them flourish. 

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Photo courtesy of PeacePlayers

The Work

PeacePlayers: Building peaceful and thriving communities through sport

I (Eric) came across PeacePlayers through the basketball community I participated in when I lived in Ireland. It’s an incredible organization that uses basketball as a game of healing in some of the most divided communities on Earth: Northern Ireland, South Africa, the Middle East, and yes, the U.S. too. The organization recruits hoopers (as young as age 8) from each side of communities with a history of conflict. Together, they form teams that compete on the court and that foster friendship off the court. They even host a “Friendship Games” tournament that unites teams from around the world, Olympics-style. They’ve pursued several evaluations (examples here and here) that highlight the pro-social impact and potential of their programming.

→ Learn more about PeacePlayers’ work here.

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