Congressional Youth Sports Caucus kicks off on the hill.

NRPA, the Positive Coaching Alliance and the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance (CTSA), with Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.) and Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo.), held a press conference April 27 to kick off the Congressional Youth Sports Caucus.

The caucus was developed in response to the findings of the National Youth Sports Report Card, which NRPA and CTSA released last November. The Congressional Youth Sports Caucus will work in a bipartisan fashion to promote the values of sportsmanship, civility, respect, health, safety, fun and physical activity among players and leaders, including coaches, parents and officials.

The purpose of this caucus is to educate members of Congress, the media, and the public on the need to restore a child-centered focus in youth sports that will produce immeasurable positive benefits for the well-being and character development among this nation's youth.

It also symbolizes a new level of government affairs for NRPA. Instead of fighting against bills or trying to keep park and recreation funds in the budget, NRPA hopes this caucus will allow the association to take an offensive role. NRPA Executive Director John Thorner said, "This is an important new initiative for us--creating positive support for future legislation." Co-chairs McIntyre and Hulshof plan to introduce a resolution soon to designate the first week of July as Youth Sports Week to coincide with Recreation and Parks Month.

McIntyre said the efforts of the caucus will not go unnoticed. "We want these results to be known on the Hill," he said. "We want Congress to reach out to local park and recreation departments and local sports organizations."

Other Congressional leaders attended the kickoff of the caucus, including Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-N.C.) Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) and Rep. Chris Van-Hollen (D-Md.). "We need to teach the fundamentals--respect is as important as being a good winner or loser," Hulshof said. Etheridge said that without volunteers, youth sports can't exist.

NRPA Director of National Partnerships Kathy Spangler said that a new grassroots report card will assess youth sports on the community level to motivate the improvement of youth sports' quality.

"Over the past two years, NRPA has been working with more than 1,400 communities to improve the quality of youth sports through parks and recreation," said Spangler. "The grassroots report card provides an essential tool to assess the landscape of youth sports and will serve as a catalyst for communities to ensure youth have quality experiences through sport. The launch of the Congressional Youth Sports Caucus provides a forum for discussion and aids in driving important issues facing youth sports to the forefront on Capitol Hill."

The kickoff was also attended by two-time Olympic gold-medalist and WNBA All-Star Ruthie BoRon and the Central Loudoun Padres, a little league team from Virginia, as well as representatives from other sports organizations.