BUILDING BETTER HUMANS
With THE POWER OF SPORTS
Because every child deserves access, belonging, and the chance to play.
builD WHAT LASTS
The Crisis We Exist to Solve
Youth sports are failing too many kids.
Our Youth Sports System was never meant to look like this.
Participation is declining. Mental health challenges are rising. Screen-first, sedentary lifestyles are replacing movement, connection, and belonging. Costs continue to increase, access continues to shrink, and the systems designed to serve children increasingly prioritize convenience, profit, and early specialization over healthy development.
We are medicating symptoms instead of addressing root causes.
We are sedating dysregulation instead of teaching regulation.
We are asking kids to adapt to systems that no longer support their developmental needs.
This is not a parenting failure.
This is not a coaching failure.
This is a systems failure.
We now have a fragmented, pay-to-play youth sports system that prioritizes short-term outcomes and adult convenience over long-term child development—creating inequities based on income, race, and zip code, while contributing to rising mental health struggles and disengagement.
Our youth sports system is in crisis!
WHAT THE DATA SHOWS:
Few Kansas City Youth Are Active Enough
physically active Kids are 2x less likely to feel depressed…
KC Youth Have Inequitable Sports Experiences
Three Barriers That Keep Kids on the Sidelines
Youth sports should be a pathway to movement, belonging, and growth.
Today, too many kids never get the chance.
The system creates barriers that limit who can play—and who can stay:
Cost - Pay-to-play fees and equipment costs price families out before kids ever step on the field.
Time - Overloaded schedules, travel demands, and year-round commitments make participation unrealistic for many households.
Quality Environments - Not all access is equal. Kids need safe, supportive, development-first spaces—not pressure, burnout, or risk.
Together, these barriers don’t just reduce participation—they reshape who youth sports are built for.
HOW SHAREWAVES IS REBUILDING THE SYSTEM
ShareWaves operates through four integrated pillars that restore what kids need most: movement, belonging, safety, and opportunity.
ShareWaves is a Champion For Youth Sports
National thought leaders recognize us for our commitment to increasing youth sports participation and improving the youth sports experience. ShareWaves is proud to partner with The Aspen Institute and Health and Human Services to improve the youth sports landscape across America.
PROJECT PLAY CHAMPIONS are organizations that take new, meaningful, and specific actions consistent with Project Play's strategies for youth sports.
The National Youth Sports Strategy aims to unite U.S. youth sports culture around a shared vision: one day, all youth will have the opportunity, motivation, and access to play sports.
Nelson Mandela
“Sport has the power to change the world…it speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope, where once there was only despair.”
