Take Action!
Championing The Important Issues Impacting Youth Sports
| How To Take Action
When it comes to influencing public policy, the voices of personal experience can have a great impact, especially when lawmakers are hearing from large numbers of constituents. Representatives of various sports organizations offered these suggestions for speaking out effectively.
• Write letters to the editor and op-eds. Local newspapers and radio stations provide ideal forums for spreading the message about sports issues. Many organizations can provide the aggregate facts and figures about a specific issue, but be sure to personalize the letter by telling how this issue affects you and athletes in your family and/or community. For op-eds, or opinion editorials, try to find a prominent person, such as a local, state or national leader, to help champion your cause.
• Contact legislators. Most state and federal representatives have staff members dedicated to reading and responding to letters, phone calls and e-mails. When a large volume of constituents weighs in on a specific issue, that issue is likely to get some attention.
• Participate in legislative “fly-ins” or other group lobbying efforts. When groups travel in numbers to their state capitals or to Washington, D.C., they bring a unified message reinforced by personal contact with elected and appointed officials and their staff.
• Testify at legislative hearings. Many organizations need individuals who can speak eloquently to an issue while also putting a personal face to the case being presented. Athletes who feel they can contribute in this manner should notify the managers and directors of sports organizations that they are willing to offer testimony.
• Express appreciation. When efforts to make a difference in sports legislation succeed, or when a legislator takes up your cause, be sure to send a thank-you letter and let him/her know how much you appreciate the support.
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With the presidential campaign in full swing, all of Washington seems to be focused on the November elections. This month, however, sports enthusiasts from throughout the country will be urging federal lawmakers to turn their attention to at least one other matter. Proclaiming July as “LWCF (Land and Water Conservation Fund) Media Month,” the National Council of Youth Sports (NCYS) is enlisting its membership in an effort to educate the public and decision-makers about the importance of federal funding for parks and recreation. With a potential lobbying force of 180 member organizations representing more than 60 million boys and girls who participate in youth sports, NCYS hopes to draw attention to this cause just as many summer sports programs get under way.
At issue are funding levels for the LWCF and the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery program (UPARR). According to Sally Johnson, executive director of NCYS, neither Congress nor the administration has lived up to its promise to provide adequate funding to protect potential recreational land from development and to maintain current recreational facilities. Although money for the program was approved when Congress created the Conservation Trust Fund in 2000 and when President Bush voiced his support in his first State of the Union address, adequate funds have not been forthcoming. Johnson said the LWCF, which has funded the purchase of millions of acres of parks, forest and recreational areas for nearly 40 years, is seriously under funded. The UPARR, which provides funding for the rehabilitation of parks, playgrounds and recreation centers in low-income urban communities, received no funds through the 2008 appropriations bill, she said.
“Although we have never gone out and sought the prohibition of a specific drug or substance, we have supported legislative efforts in this area by letter-writing and testifying before Congressional committees,” he said. “The USOC has been active in this field for years and had already developed a set of guidelines when it became an issue of concern in Congress. Our process for dealing with doping issues became the ‘gold standard.’ We created the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which is an independent organization that receives government funding.”
The results of the USOC’s efforts in anti-doping regulations have been positive for American athletes and the nation, Bull said. “Whereas the United States used to have a pretty bad reputation as athletic cheaters, we are now being held up as the country to emulate with regard to regulating drug use.”
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which has been active in the fight to eliminate steroid and other performance-enhancing drug use for more than 35 years, spoke in support of anti-doping legislation during a Feb. 27 Congressional Committee hearing. Myles Brand, NCAA president, explained the NCAA’s comprehensive drug-testing programs and penalties, as well as its wide-ranging drug-education program for student athletes. The NCAA was vocal and supportive of legislation to remove steroid precursors from the dietary market through the Anabolic Steroid Act of 2004, and Brand said the NCAA supports further government efforts to control steroids and human growth hormones (H.R. 4911 and S.B. 877) and to restrict the sale of DHEA, a steroid precursor (S.B. 2470).
“The important next steps involve expanding resources for research in the areas of more cost-effective steroid testing, detecting new performance-enhancing substances as they emerge, and identifying and implementing effective prevention strategies,” Brand said.
As part of the ongoing battle to ensure that Title IX remains strong and effective, WSF is working hard to get Congressional support for the High School Athletics Accountability Act (S.B. 519 and H.B. 1411). This legislation would require high schools to report basic data on the number of female and male students in their athletic programs and the expenditures of their male and female sports teams. Currently, high schools are not required to disclose such data publicly—making it difficult to ensure fairness in school athletic programs, Lakowski said, adding, “Fewer athletic opportunities provided to high school girls translate into lost opportunities to reap the benefits of playing sports and lost access to athletic scholarships.”
The WSF is also taking a lead role in eliminating discrimination against students with disabilities who want to compete in team sports. The organization recently worked with the Maryland Disability Law Center to devise legal strategies that would allow a disabled female athlete to compete on the same track, at the same time, with her teammates. Recognizing that the problem was larger than one isolated individual, WSF addressed it legislatively. On April 7, the Maryland General Assembly passed the Fitness and Athletics Equity for Students with Disabilities Act, requiring that schools include students with disabilities in physical education and athletic programs. WSF plans to take the issue to other states and, ultimately, the federal government, Lakowski said.
NCYS and other youth sports organizations continue to monitor the enforcement of The PROTECT Act of 2003 and the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, which help to protect children involved in sports activities (as well as the general population) from sex offenders and other offenders against children.
“Sports organizations are becoming key players in helping shape public policy for the benefit of youth sports and the public,” Johnson said. “We encourage our members to speak out on important issues.”