BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
A former Omaha basketball standout is working to get more students off the sidelines and into the game.
Josh Jones, a former Central High School and Creighton University basketball player, is launching a new organization aimed at bringing more sports opportunities to students in Omaha Public Schools, Nebraska's largest school district.
New data from the Aspen Institute's Project Play shows about two-thirds of OPS students currently play sports. The data also found that many more students want to participate but are not able to — largely due to family resources. The data comes from Project Play’s survey efforts, asking children grades 3-12 about their experiences.
“The supply isn’t meeting the demand. There is more interest to play if the costs were down, if they had transportation, if there were facilities,” Research Director Jon Solomon said.
The cost of youth sports is a real challenge for many families. At Play It Again Sports, one mother was shopping for spring sports gear on a budget. Katelynn Hansen is trying to outfit not one, but three children. She remembers how not that long ago all of her equipment was provided when she played youth sports.
Jones said the kind of support that can make the difference comes from the people closest to students.
"I just had a unifying system and a pathway to be where I'm at today," Jones said.
Jones' organization the Fair Game Project plans to launch in April.
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