The president of the United States is assembling an all-star lineup to promote youth athletic and exercise participation rates — along with healthy lifestyles.
The White House released a statement announcing Donald Trump’s intention to make new appointees to the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition — and the list is packed with sports and celebrity personalities who are well-known to the American public.
The president’s three co-chairs on the committee will include Mariano Rivera, Major League Baseball’s all-time saves leader (652) and future Hall of Fame closer; the Heisman Trophy-winning running back Herschel Walker; and Misty May-Treanor, the three-time Olympic gold medalist beach volleyball player.
Twenty other individuals will also join the council, adding more star power to the group. Longtime New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, two-time World Series champion Johnny Damon, bodybuilder-turned-actor Lou Ferrigno, television talk-show host Dr. Mehmet Oz, LGPA golfer Natalie Gulbis, and Olympic silver medal bobsledder Shauna Rohbock are among the others helping out.
With this mix of star power, the Trump administration appears determined to encourage the next generation of children to be healthy and build life skills — much of this through sports participation.
During the Winter Olympics, presidential adviser and daughter Ivanka Trump wrote an op-ed for NBC News about the importance of team sports participation for kids. She also pondered the notion of lowering the cost of playing sports so that more children could partake.
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“Youth sports gives children and young adults a unique opportunity to develop their talents, to learn how to work with others and to persevere in the face of adversity,” she noted. “These are invaluable lessons in preparing students to succeed in the future.”
The Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society program reports that 45 percent of children in the 6-12 age range were a member of a sports team back in 2008. However, in 2016, that number had dropped to just 37 percent.
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There are many benefits to playing sports, aside from the obvious boost to fitness and teamwork skills. Students who took part in a sport scored as much as 40 percent higher on tests (in turn, making them more likely to graduate high school); and they were 15 percent more likely to go to college than those who did not play, the Aspen Institute reported.
Teens who participate in athletics are also less likely to use drugs than their non-athlete counterparts, according to Reuters. And former athletes earn between 5 and 15 percent more money over the course of their lifetimes than do non-athletes, The Atlantic reported.
Children are born with nearly limitless potential.
With these benefits in mind, the Trump administration wants to reverse the trend in youth athletic participation and decrease the number of sedentary, inactive children who are glued to their screens.
The name recognition alone on this council should prove beneficial. These people are also extremely knowledgeable in their respective fields: Bill Belichick and Herschel Walker, for example, know more about football than most people, so they likely have ideas on what is appealing about the sport and why others should partake.
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Children are born with nearly limitless potential — so it is important our society makes sure our kids are able to be healthy and thrive throughout their lives.
Tom Joyce is a freelance writer from the South Shore of Massachusetts. He covers sports, pop culture, and politics and has contributed to The Federalist, Newsday, ESPN, and other outlets.
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