Representative Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) lamented the commercialization of youth sports at a recent House Education and Workforce Committee hearing, discussing ways to reverse the trend.
Opening Remarks
"Every parent wants what is best for their kids, but sadly, every parent cannot afford it," Rep. Grijalva began, adding, "and more and more families with lower socioeconomic status are not able to let their children participate in a lot of these opportunities."
Rep. Grijalva elaborated on how "for many families, youth sports are becoming a luxury that public schools can no longer afford to provide, and families can no longer reach. What used to be a local recreational activity has been transformed into a $40 billion semi-professional industry, twice the size of the NFL."
The Arizona congresswoman suggested that corporations are "wringing out working-class families by buying up rinks and leagues and charging predatory fees for things as simple as recording a child's game. That is unacceptable."
The solution, she said, is to bring sports back into public schools.
Question for Witness
Grijalva turned to one of the hearing witnesses, American Economic Liberties Senior Fellow Katherine Van Dyck, to ask about what trends in college athletics are driving the transformation of youth sports into an industry.
Van Dyck suggested that "certainly the higher cost of education is driving a lot of parents' motivation and willingness to pay the high prices that these commercial monoliths are charging," while the commercialization of college sports, with profits going towards coaches' salaries and "outrageous facility spending," is the second major factor.
"Is there anything Congress can do to require that facility owners, especially those operating on public land or with public subsidies, keep their facilities open and affordable to the whole community, not just to the families that can pay the most?" Grijalva questioned.
Van Dyck affirmed that Congress should indeed implement laws requiring publicly funded facilities to be open to the public, "and there is no reason why it cannot be applied to youth sports."
