{"id":2445844,"date":"2019-06-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-30T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=308680"},"modified":"2019-06-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-06-30T06:00:00","slug":"sports-society-program-at-aspen-institute-seeks-to-go-beyond-the-scoreboard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/sports-society-program-at-aspen-institute-seeks-to-go-beyond-the-scoreboard\/","title":{"rendered":"Sports &amp; Society Program at Aspen Institute seeks to go beyond the scoreboard"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.7030995106036\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-308680-184\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/06\/institutesports-atd-063019-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/06\/institutesports-atd-063019-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Riccardo Savi\/Aspen Institute | Tom Farrey moderates a panel on genetic testing on Tuesday, June 25, 2019, as part of Aspen Ideas Festival.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>Tom Farrey moderates a panel on genetic testing on Tuesday, June 25, 2019, as part of Aspen Ideas Festival.<\/strong><br \/>Riccardo Savi\/Aspen Institute<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/06\/institutesports-atd-063019-1.jpg\" alt=\"Tom Farrey moderates a panel on genetic testing on Tuesday, June 25, 2019, as part of Aspen Ideas Festival.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/06\/institutesports-atd-063019-1-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/06\/institutesports-atd-063019-1-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Ian Wagreich\/Aspen Institute | Ian Wagreich\/Aspen Institute | Moderator Jon Frankel, far right, leads a session on aging athletes with, from left, Kevin, Kyle Korver and Hilaree Nelson on Tuesday, June 25, 2019, at the Hotel Jerome Ballroom.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"3\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"17\">\n<p><strong>Moderator Jon Frankel, far right, leads a session on aging athletes with, from left, Kevin, Kyle Korver and Hilaree Nelson on Tuesday, June 25, 2019, at the Hotel Jerome Ballroom.<\/strong><br \/>Ian Wagreich\/Aspen Institute | Ian Wagreich\/Aspen Institute<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/06\/institutesports-atd-063019-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"Moderator Jon Frankel, far right, leads a session on aging athletes with, from left, Kevin, Kyle Korver and Hilaree Nelson on Tuesday, June 25, 2019, at the Hotel Jerome Ballroom.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/06\/institutesports-atd-063019-1-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/06\/institutesports-atd-063019-1-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Ian Wagreich\/Aspen Institute | Ian Wagreich\/Aspen Institute | Skier Hilaree Nelson talks during a panel disucssion as part of Aspen Ideas Festival on Tuesday, June 25, 2019, at the Doerr-Hosier Center in Aspen.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"12\">\n<p><strong>Skier Hilaree Nelson talks during a panel disucssion as part of Aspen Ideas Festival on Tuesday, June 25, 2019, at the Doerr-Hosier Center in Aspen.<\/strong><br \/>Ian Wagreich\/Aspen Institute | Ian Wagreich\/Aspen Institute<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/06\/institutesports-atd-063019-1-2.jpg\" alt=\"Skier Hilaree Nelson talks during a panel disucssion as part of Aspen Ideas Festival on Tuesday, June 25, 2019, at the Doerr-Hosier Center in Aspen.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/sports-society-program-at-aspen-institute-seeks-to-go-beyond-the-scoreboard\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/sports-society-program-at-aspen-institute-seeks-to-go-beyond-the-scoreboard\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">American culture has long had an obsession with sport. It\u2019s a billion-dollar industry built around winning and losing, success and failure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">However, here in the United States there also is something broken about our relationship with sport and Tom Farrey wanted to explore the reasons behind it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe nice thing about sports is people get it. It\u2019s not an esoteric topic,\u201d Farrey said. \u201cPeople want this to be an institution that works \u2014 that fits with their family lives. It\u2019s not hard to engage people in this conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Farrey, an accomplished journalist who worked with ESPN for more than two decades, is the executive director of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitute.org\/programs\/sports-society\/\">Sports &amp; Society Program through the Aspen Institute<\/a>. One of 60 programs the institute has, Farrey helped start it in 2011 with the desire to think about sports beyond the scoreboard and ask questions about why we do things the way we do.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s all about using sport as a tool to build a more vibrant society,\u201d Farrey said. \u201cThis program started in a very organic place. I\u2019m a journalist. I\u2019ve been a journalist since I was 17 years old. All I\u2019ve ever wanted to do was be a journalist and a storyteller. Still at my core that\u2019s who I am, first and foremost. But I realized how important this thing is, that if I wasn\u2019t going to get this conversation started, who was?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The growth of the Sports &amp; Society Program over the past eight years is evident by its presence at the Aspen Ideas Festival, the Aspen Institute\u2019s annual gathering that seeks to delve into society\u2019s most pressing topics. This year\u2019s festival wrapped up Saturday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Interspersed among the many non-sports speakers this week, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/mark-zuckerberg-at-aspen-ideas-says-combatting-election-interference-above-our-pay-grade\/\">such as Facebook\u2019s Mark Zuckerberg<\/a>, there were many prominent names from the sports world. This included a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/climber-alex-honnold-talks-free-soloexperience-as-part-of-aspen-ideas-festival\/\">presentation by climber Alex Honnold<\/a> of \u201cFree Solo\u201d fame, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/at-aspen-ideas-festival-nba-players-talk-about-their-struggles-with-depression\/\">a discussion with NBA players DeMar DeRozan and Kevin Love<\/a> about battling depression, and a more lighthearted chat <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/aspen-ideas-reporters-notebook-nfl-quarterback-matt-ryan-talks-safety-schedule\/\">with NFL quarterback Matt Ryan<\/a>, among others.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Farrey said the Sports &amp; Society Program is hardly the institute\u2019s largest, but between its storytelling and media footprint, it has become one of the most prominent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWhat struck me about the Aspen Institute is it\u2019s the world\u2019s premier convener. So Aspen has the ability to reach into some pretty special places,\u201d Farrey said. \u201cAs I got into it, I realized how important it was. Just thinking hard about sport and the public interest. And there were a lot of people and organizations that responded to it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The origins of the program go back to 2008, the year Farrey published a book called \u201cGame On: The All-American Race to Make Champions of Our Children.\u201d He traveled the word examining youth sports to try and understand why we push kids so hard to succeed in sports from such a young age. His two most pressing questions in the book were about trying to understand the obesity epidemic in the Untied States despite it being a world superpower in sports, and to understand why people, parents especially, \u201close their minds\u201d on the sideline.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">These were questions that more or less had never been answered.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt was this huge topic that really hadn\u2019t been explored. It took a lot of research,\u201d Farrey said. \u201cI had some of the answers, from having studied sports systems around the world, but I didn\u2019t have all of them. What struck me was there is no ministry of sports in this country to coordinate sports development like there is in every other first-world country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In 2010, Farrey came to Aspen Ideas Festival and spoke about his book. A year later, he helped launch the Sports &amp; Society Program and has watched it evolve into something much larger.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Last week, Ryan, who plays for the Atlanta Falcons and is considered one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, was asked about success and how he defines it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s marrying up my process and my result. I always feel like I\u2019m successful when my process and my preparation and what I\u2019m doing is giving me the best chance to be successful,\u201d he said. \u201cSuccess to me is happiness. It\u2019s not always easy to find what makes you happy. Performing at a high level professionally is one of those things, but being a good dad, being a good husband, all of those things are really important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Ryan\u2019s answer is somewhat at odds with America\u2019s approach to youth sports these days, which puts a premium on winning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In April, Farrey wrote an article that ran in The New York Times that focused on Norway and its unique approach to youth sports. Farrey wrote in his piece that Norway jumped out to him because as a relatively small country of 5.3 million people it won 39 medals at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, an all-time record. By comparison, the U.S., with a population of 327.2 million, won 23 medals that year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">So how does Norway do it? Basically, they approach youth sports as a fun activity and not a serious competition. They let kids be kids and don\u2019t put any serious stock into sports until at least the high school level. Still, Farrey said even Norwegian parents can go overboard on the sideline, but their culture is one that has a much clearer line drawn that isn\u2019t to be crossed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cHuman nature is human nature. We all love our kids. We all want the best for them. The incentives around sport success and achievement exist everywhere,\u201d Farrey said. \u201cThe difference is countries like Norway, which I went to recently and wrote in the New York Times, it\u2019s more clear to parents that that behavior is not accepted and not tolerated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Hilaree Nelson, a Telluride-based skier and athlete for The North Face, talked last week at Aspen Ideas Festival as part of a panel on aging as an athlete. In an interview with The Aspen Times, she joked about the popular quote, \u201cYouth is wasted on the young,\u201d and about how with age she\u2019s put less stock on winning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">It\u2019s an approach that has helped sustain her professional career well into her 40s, and it\u2019s one that could benefit younger athletes from burning out too soon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cEven if I fail, I\u2019m excited about the chance to be there and to try. And that\u2019s a different attitude I had when I was 25, even 35, because it was all about coming in first place,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cThat has changed. That takes stress off of me, which ultimately allows me to be more successful than when I was younger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">What to do about youth sports in America, if anything, will continue to be a topic Farrey and his Sports &amp; Society Program look into going forward, either through the Aspen Ideas Festival, their State of Play annual report or their Project Play program.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThere is a real vacuum for leadership to ask basic questions like, \u2018Why are we doing sports in this country? What should we be investing in?\u2019\u201d Farrey said about having the Sports &amp; Society Program lead the charge. \u201cThis is kind of exactly the path, the vision and the theory of change that coalesced the first couple of years in the program.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:acolbert@aspentimes.com\">acolbert@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/sports-society-program-at-aspen-institute-seeks-to-go-beyond-the-scoreboard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tom Farrey moderates a panel on genetic testing on Tuesday, June 25, 2019, as part of Aspen Ideas Festival.Riccardo Savi\/Aspen Institute Moderator Jon Frankel, far right, leads a session on aging athletes with, from left, Kevin, Kyle Korver and Hilaree Nelson on Tuesday, June 25, 2019, at the Hotel Jerome Ballroom.Ian Wagreich\/Aspen Institute | Ian [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2445844","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-20 14:16:18","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2445844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445844\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2445844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2445844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2445844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}