Cards Partner for Kids Running Program -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Louisville Track and Field Athletes Give Back

Today's column is a little off the beaten path, but it's inspired by a story I heard on Louisville Public Media's daily morning news podcast. If you aren't familiar with Louisville Public Media, it's the organization that operates WFPL, WFPK, the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, and more. It's a great source for local news and they have a neat app. Ok, random pitch over. 

Anyway, the point of this is to talk about the new program being brought to Louisville called Run Your City. Run Your City is a national nonprofit that, according to the website (runyourcity.org) is "dedicated to building an inclusive running community, giving every child - regardless of ability, gender, or background - the chance to grow [into] healthy, confident, and inspired individuals." The purpose of the program is to provide free access to youth athletics by way of a child-centered coached running program. The organization was founded in 2018 in Charlottesville by UVA athletes and has grown significantly since then, including a chapter in Rwanda.

image from Julia Schmitt via LPM

Three Cardinals have come together to bring a chapter to Louisville. Run Your City Louisville will be a free running program for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The current plan is to hold weekly sessions on Sundays for six weeks. The Louisville teammates bringing this program together as co-presidents are Riley Griffith, Julia Schmitt, and Layla Roebke. Griffith and Schmitt are redshirt freshman while Roebke recently graduated. All three are cross country and distance track runners. Their goals for the program are to teach about proper running techniques, how to work as a team, and balancing nutrition and exercise. The co-presidents are also joined by UofL students (and teammates) Emma Heckel, Madeleine Seaby, Brooke Lahee, and Lauren Bettencourt. 

Here is a link to the full LPM article, which is absolutely worth reading. One of the main things that stood out from it was the discussion on the inequity of youth sports. Having nieces and nephews currently in the youth sports scene, I definitely understand all that comes with it. Outside of the outright equipment and team costs, there is also time and travel for numerous events and practices. Even having been bombarded with fundraising for various teams, I was struck by the statistic shared from a 2022 Aspen Institute study which says that the average American family spends nearly $900 per year per child for a single season. The wording of that was a little tricky, so I went to the study source and broke it down some. The reported cost in fall 2022 was an average of $883 spent in a year for a single season of a single child's primary sport. That's a lot of money!

Even just looking at that figure, it seems obvious that it would be inequitable across children of different backgrounds, but the study breaks it down further. As the family income rises, so do the costs for travel. Extrapolating, that would imply that affluent families are taking talent even farther away from families with fewer resources, somewhat diluting the talent and experience of others. Families making $150,000 or more spent 65% more on travel than families making between $50,000 and $149,999, while they spent 83% more on travel than families making less than $50,000. The study (linked in the article and here) breaks the numbers down even more across different demographics, but the point is clear: Run Your City can offer an extremely valuable opportunity.

 

stats from Run Your City

Children with access to youth sports don't just experience improved physical health, but improvements to mental health, sociability, and future successful outcomes. Louisville is not alone as a city with an issue in this area, but it is stark. According to Southwest YMCA regional sports director David Oliver, who oversees all YMCA sports programs in west and south Louisville, cost is a significant driver for those programs being much smaller than in other YMCA regions. Even the registration costs can be a deterrent. 

Riley Griffith said it best when quoted by LPM: "We really just want to give  opportunity to get out there and be a part of something and have a fun, low-pressure experience with sports, so that even if they don't stick with running, even if they don't stick with sports, they get to have that opportunity.” 

I can't think of a better statement that I'd rather see from an ambassador for my alma mater. I wish the very best to Griffith, Schmitt, and Roebke as they get the program off the ground and hope for continued success for the program in future years. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case