Wayne Moss: Making Youth Sports Safer

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The National Council of Youth Sports has member organizations that go beyond just sports organizations. Destination marketing organizations are also involved as are groups whose missions it is to foster a great youth sports experience. But the sports organizations that belong to the National Council of Youth Sports represent some of the largest groups by participation in the country. Some 60 million young people are registered to play sports in these member organizations, making the council the perfect place to engage in deeper conversations about youth sports. And that’s some of what we’ll dive into in this deep conversation with Wayne Moss, who has been the organization’s executive director since 2018. Specifically, we’re going to discuss the topic of safety in youth sports, which encompasses not only emotional and physical safety in the form of abuse prevention but also physical safety when it comes to preventing injuries on the field of play. And as the country saw in real time last season when the Buffalo Bills’ Damar Hamlin nearly lost his life during a Monday night football game, this topic is especially top of mind of late.

Youth safety is one of several themes that will also be part of the council’s upcoming National Youth Sports Week, an opportunity to engage in a deeper dialogue nationwide about youth sports. National Youth Sports Week will be the first week of October in 2023 and will coincide with our TEAMS Conference and Expo, which will be held October 2–5 in the Palm Beaches of Florida. Wayne Moss will be one of our featured speakers at the conference as we delve even deeper into the topic of youth sports safety. But in this conversation with SportsTravel Executive Editor and Publisher Jason Gewirtz, you’ll get a preview of that discussion and a greater understanding of the work that the National Council of Youth Sports is putting into that dialogue.

Among the topics discussed in this episode:

• Background on the National Council of Youth Sports (4:14)
• The history of National Youth Sports Week (6:14)
• How the National Council of Youth Sports defines safety in sports (7:40)
• The response to safety from youth sports event organizers (8:36)
• What can or should sports organizations be doing for safety prevention (10:28)
• Are injuries becoming more prevalent or being diagnosed more often? (12:51)
• The benefits of not specializing in specific sports (15:07)
• The types of emotional abuse youth are dealing with when participating in sports (17:24)
• The benefits that kids experience by participating in youth sports (19:59)

This episode is sponsored by: