June 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 41

Youth sports
A 2021-2022 initiative supported by
The Walt Disney Company focused
on expanding access to youth sports
and play in 17 communities through
infrastructure improvements to
youth sports facilities, which increased
access to youth sports opportunities
for 40,000 community
members. NRPA also launched a
microsite (parkandreckid.org) and
caregiver-facing communications
resources to highlight the benefits
of park and recreation youth sports.
With support from Musco Lighting,
this work will continue and grow
in 2022-2025 by providing in-kind
infrastructure improvements in 15
communities, piloting youth sports
equity strategies, supporting a learning
community, and developing a
youth sports equity framework.
More and more,
park and recreation
professionals and
the spaces, programs
and services
they manage are
recognized as vital.
already has supported 75 agencies
to expand these interventions offered
through parks and recreation
while centering health equity and
integrating broader systems-change
approaches and Community Wellness
Hub strategies.
While we've hit many milestones
and created significant community
impacts these past three years, it is
also important to celebrate the other
achievements that demonstrate
progress toward the transformative,
generational change that we seek.
Supporting healthy
aging through parks and
recreation
NRPA wrapped up a five-year cooperative
agreement with the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) (DP-1606) to advance
evidence-based physical activity
interventions in parks and recreation.
NRPA worked directly with
330 park and recreation agencies
across 49 states and one U.S. territory,
reaching nearly 25,000 individuals
and creating community-wide
impacts. This work continues with
a new five-year cooperative agreement
(DP-2106), in which NRPA
Changing the Narrative
More and more, park and recreation
professionals and the spaces,
programs
and services
alence of obesity, engage in less
screen time and get better sleep;
and, time in green space improves
cognitive
performance,
alleviates
mental health symptoms, and decreases
stress, blood pressure, and
risk of chronic diseases like diabetes,
heart disease and certain types
of cancer (nrpa.org/Essential).
The past three years have brought
about significant progress in growing
this evidence base to make
the case for parks and recreation,
along with an increasing recognition
of its essential role from allies,
stakeholders and leaders across the
nation. A few highlights include:
In 2021, the U.S. Department of
they
manage are recognized as vital to
the conditions where people live,
learn, work, play and age, and as a
catalyst for advancing equity, building
community and environmental
resilience, and advancing health
and well-being. A growing body
of research confirms that people
who live near parks are physically
and mentally healthier than those
who do not - access to parks and
recreational facilities is correlated
with greater physical activity; people
who use parks are more likely
to achieve recommended levels of
physical activity; children with access
to parks have a decreased prevHealth
and Human Services' (HHS)
Community Preventive Services
Task Force (CPSTF), a group
dedicated to identifying population
health interventions scientifically
proven to save lives, increase
lifespans and improve quality of life,
found that park, trail and greenway
infrastructure improvements, when
combined with
other
activities,
public
including
awareness,
essential
programming,
community
engagement and addressing access
barriers,
is effective at increasing
physical activity and the use of parks,
trails and greenways for other health
and social benefits. These findings
mark a pivotal moment for parks and
PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G | JUNE 2 0 2 3
| Parks & Recreation
41
http://www.parkandreckid.org http://www.nrpa.org/Essential
June 2023 - Parks & Recreation

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