Community Comment : Youth Sports: ‘Commitment Is Not Just a Check’

I had a wonderful set of experiences in sports and I guess the most important aspect is having the chance to enjoy sports, having the chance to have a powerful experience in sports. Sports belong to us all. Boys and girls. Able-bodied and disabled. It doesn’t matter what socioeconomic bracket you’re in. It doesn’t matter what cultural and ethnic background you’re from. And if we can do a better job of sharing that, I think we’ll be a better community.

I don’t believe in throwing away kids. Every kid has something to offer and it’s our responsibility as adults to figure out how to help that kid grow up and be someone who can contribute.

Communities have found that sports can really make a difference because it provides people with a chance to be successful--such a simple thing that can make such a huge difference. But there are two things that I have found to be true--one is that kids want to please and the other is that adults want to feel useful. And I believe sports is a very powerful mechanism for doing both.

It’s also a way of developing a sense of community pride. I learned from my parents a sense of community, a sense of giving back, a sense of “we” working together. My parents were very involved in trying to make life better for the community, in making sure that no one was forgotten.

It’s unfortunate that some communities have fallen apart to the extent where normal life is difficult. We’ve gone back to the old Wild West. This, evidently, is what it was like some time ago if you believe movies like “Unforgiven.” And we’ve got to do something about it. It’s going to take everyone’s involvement. So our foundation focuses on giving people the skills they need so that they can do for their own communities.

The adults meet and find the coaches. And we train them and make sure they understand the rules and we help fund them, but it’s their program and it belongs to them. And maybe 15 or 20 years from now some of the kids who played in that program will come back and want to be coaches or part of the board of directors, so it’s a way of providing an institution.

This foundation is fairly unique in approach. When we make a grant, we stay with the grantee through the whole course of the grant. We’re there to help. We’re there sometimes to criticize that the grant’s not going the way it should be going. It’s a partnership.

Corporate America understands competition and we want our children to understand it as well. And sports is the preferred arena to learn about competition.

But corporate America is not doing enough. Last summer we challenged corporations to come forward with a million-dollar matching fund to serve the youth of Los Angeles. And not one company stepped forward. I can assure anyone who gives their time that they will get more back because you’re helping people.

Sometimes money is not the most helpful thing they can provide. Sometimes it would be equally helpful for a company to have volunteers at the organization’s banquet. Or it could help figure out how to transport a group of kids. Transportation for kids is very difficult in this community.

Commitment is more than sending a check. Commitment means that you’re involved to the point that something is successful. And we believe in commitment.

To get involved: Call the Amateur Athletic Foundation at (213) 730-9600.