Aspen Institute – Roy Kessel

Roy’s Ramble 12-22-19

rkessel — Mon, 23 Dec 2019 03:15:28 +0000

It was a busy week spending a few days in Washington, D.C. with members of the Sports Philanthropy Network and attending the Aspen Institute’s Future of Sports event.

Aspen Institute—The Aspen Institute held another forum in their series entitled “The Future of Sports.” You can read my full write titled “NCAA Under Attack” which goes into a lot more detail. Bottom line, changes are coming. The only remaining question is how quickly the process will move and what the final result will be. As you will see in my earlier article, the choice is either a level playing field or a completely open market. Stopping some place in the middle will not work well and attempts to do so will only create more problems by virtue of the additional regulations that would be required.

Washington, DC Holiday Party—We had such overwhelming interest for the Sports Philanthropy Network’s DC holiday party, that the Washington, DC, market is likely to be one of the initial Chapters the Sports Philanthropy Network will launch in 2020. Despite many conflicts, even the people who were not able to attend last week reached out and specifically asked how to get involved with the network and were especially interested in our Membership Levels.

Chicago Holiday Party—We hosted this event in the Top Golf Swing Suites in 900 N. Michigan (Bloomingdales). It is a terrific venue and a fun place to eat, drink and network. I love getting the opportunity to meet people who are just learning about the Sports Philanthropy Network and telling us how they would like to get involved and joining as members of our network.

Meeting Great People and Organizations—One of the best parts of launching the Sports Philanthropy Network 11 months ago, has been the opportunity to meet and engage with so many people who are finding innovative ways to use sports to create stronger, healthier and more inclusive communities. The caliber of people and their efforts is truly amazing. I feel fortunate to be a part of this process, learn as much as I can about their work and hopefully be a part of the solution. As there people join the Sports Philanthropy Network through our Membership Program, we learn more about their needs and their abilities. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to speak to me, meet with me, record a podcast, speak at the Sports Philanthropy World Conference and participate in any of our other events. We accomplished so much in 2019. We have set our sights even higher for 2020. Thank you for your support and encouragement.

Chanukah Party—Earlier today Kayla and I hosted a Chanukah Open House and it was fantastic to celebrate with Julia, Brett and many friends. I am appreciative to have these people in my life and enjoy having the time and ability to host people to share these special occasions.

Holiday Time—As we head into the final 10 days of the year, I am thankful for the great people in my life. I am very fortunate to have two living parents who have been incredibly supportive to me during difficult times. My sister, Sharon, is an amazing bundle of energy who has taught me many things despite her disabilities. Julia had a great first semester at college in Madison and Brett is doing well in his Junior year at Stevenson HS. Kayla has been an incredible addition to my world these last 17 months and I cannot imagine life without her. While life gets hectic and we rush around a lot. I feel fortunate to have a great network of friends, a warm home, plenty of food and clothes. Perhaps most importantly, I have my health, something which I do not take for granted as I see so many other struggling. I also recognize that many people are alone during this holiday period. I encourage you to reach out and include them. Having company is much more important than the food, drink or venue. They will appreciate your kindness!

If you didn’t have a chance to see some of the other things I have been involved with or written recently, take a look here:

HUMOR FOR THE WEEK

MOTIVATION FOR THE WEEK

Wishing all of my loyal readers a Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas and positive vibes for 2020.

NCAA faces increasing scrutiny

rkessel — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 16:09:21 +0000

Aspen Institute’s Jon Solomon interviewing NCAA President Mark Emmert (Photo Credit: Roy Kessel)

This past week I had the opportunity to attend the Aspen Institute’s forum entitled: “The Future of College Sports: The Government’s Role in Athlete’s Pay.”

NCAA President Mark Emmert and a wide variety of stakeholders were present. The challenge for Emmert is the rapidly decreasing strength of the NCAA and the speed at which the NCAA’s credibility is evaporating.

You can read the full coverage that I wrote for the Sports Philanthropy Network here:

NCAA Under Full Attack at Aspen Institute Forum

Roy’s Ramble, September 27, 2019

rkessel — Fri, 27 Sep 2019 15:06:04 +0000

The Aspen Institute Project Play Summit in Detroit. Supported by the Ralph Wilson, Jr. Foundation, the Summit brought together community organizations from around the country to look at some of the major issues in youth sports. Some of the most interesting points are listed below. I have noted a few points here but there is so much more substance that goes into these issues and I will be writing more coverage over the next few weeks.

Tim Shriver from Special Olympics had one of the best analogies of the conference. He talked about the fact that sports is virtually the only subject where we discourage participation at a very early age if someone does not show immediate proficiency. Many athletes are “retiring” or quitting at increasingly earlier ages because they are not selected for elite travel sports teams or because they feel they will not be successful at higher levels of that sport. Shriver emphasized that we do not stop teaching kids math or English after 2^nd grade, just because they do not demonstrate proficiency at an early age. We continue to educate them and improve their skills. Yet a lot of kids do not keep playing sports after 10 or 12 years old. The problem arises in that they do not continue to develop a love for the sport which prevents them from getting the needed amount of activity, decreases the likelihood they will become passionate fans about sports and increases the likelihood that they will fail to develop all of the positive things which come out of participation sports such as a healthier lifestyle, decreased obesity and abilities to collaborate, lead and problem solve.

Age of boys retiring, age of girls retiring. These early retirement ages impact all of the issues listed above and have an enormous downstream cost through education, health care, obesity and criminal justice issues. The challenges continue to overlap because as we see from this whole process, the lack of participation in sports has a detrimental impact on so many other parts of their lives. The increased opportunities for leadership, improved self-image, healthier eating habits, life-long increases in activity levels and much more demonstrate how crucial it is that we keep kids engaged and active. Some communities struggle not only to “keep” them involved in sports, but to get them involved in the first place. It is challenging to see an easy path to increase these levels of engagement without substantial investment in the organizations that have their roots in the community and receive support from the community.

The recommended level of activity for kids is no less than 60 minutes per day. You have probably seen the NFL “Play 60” Commercials. Unfortunately, in the USA, despite all of our resources, 75% of kids do not get that recommended level of activity. As schools eliminate recess, gym classes and many intramural sports, many metro areas see that level of inactivity rises to over 85%. What is hidden in these numbers, is the fact that the downstream costs to the community are enormous. Estimates from the Buffalo and Detroit markets are that reducing the inactivity level “only” to the 75% level would save over $1 Billion. Yes, billion with a capital “B”. So if you break that number down it is approximately $100 Million per percentage point. So the investment in activity and youth sports is clearly something that has benefits beyond those that most people observe solely in the competitive sports sphere.

HUMOR FOR THE WEEK

MOTIVATION FOR THE WEEK