Let’s be honest: when you have kids, sports become more than just fun and games — but rather a journey that shapes our kids for life. That’s where Project Play's Parent Checklists come in! These checklists take Project Play’s frameworks and break them down into simple easy to understand guides. Discover fun and thoughtful questions to ask your child, yourself, coaches, program administrators and more — all with the goal to help your young athlete not just play, but thrive.

What to Aim for in Youth Sports. for Kids (Ages 6-12) Who Play Sports.

Click HERE for the Printable PDF Checklist

If you’re a parent or caregiver, your favorite athlete is probably the one you’re raising. Ten questions to ask of yourself, your child and local programs to make sports a great experience.

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LONDON (AP) — The NFL plans to launch women’s and men’s professional flag football leagues “in the next couple of years,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said Thursday.

The timeline outlined by Goodell at a sports conference in London would see the leagues created ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, which will feature flag football for the first time.

“We’re committed to creating a women’s professional league, and a men’s professional flag league. We’ve had a great deal of interest in that and I expect that we’ll be able to do that, launch that, in the next couple of years,” Goodell said at the Leaders in Sport conference at Twickenham Stadium.

The league has prioritized flag football as a way to attract young fans, both male and female.

“The demand is there. We’re seeing colleges in the states and universities internationally also that want to make it a part of their program,” Goodell said.

“If you set that structure up where there’s youth leagues, going into high school, into college and then professional, I think you can develop a system of scale. That’s an important infrastructure that we need to create.”

In the NFL, there are 7 professionally trained and skilled referees and 12 to 20 cameras being utilized during NFL games. Yet, last year the NFL had 162 calls reversed on 290 challenges for a rate of 59%. That means more than half the calls were wrong and were reversed. 

We do not have a staff of 7 referees for each field. We do not have 12 to 20 professional cameras at our disposal for each game. With that said, we do not have instant replay. We rely on the vision and judgement of our referees. These judgements calls are non-negotiable. We will be more than glad to explain the call in a civilized and respectful manner by both parties. 

If you are a parent considering enrolling your child in football, the Concussion Legacy Foundation strongly recommends you delay enrolling your child in tackle football until the age of 14. Research continues to show us that the long-term effects of repetitive brain trauma from tackle football can be catastrophic. And according to the CDC, tackle football contributes to the highest rate of concussion among all youth sports. Meanwhile, football experts - from coaches to Hall of Fame players - remind us that you don't need to start tackle young in order to become a great football player. Until tackle football is proven safe for the developing brain, we urgently recommend flag and other non-tackle versions of football before age 14.

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Recreational Sports, Junior High school Sports, and High school Sports are witnessing across all types of sports a decline in sports officials. Athletic directors in all three levels have seen a steadily declined in sports officials in the last twenty years. But since the COVID-19 Pandemic, the lack of sports officials has increased so rapidly that it could eventually become a nationwide crisis. The pandemic may have caused the decline of sports officials but it was not the only cause. The age of the sports officials has played a role in the decline of the sport’s officials.

But the true main cause of losing sports officials has been the lack of respect for the sport’s officials through the behavior of players, coaches, family members, and sports fans.

Read what Guthrie High School is doing to tackle the nationwide shortage of officials HERE.