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<strong>The</strong> <strong>All</strong>-<strong>Sports</strong> <strong>Ministry</strong> <strong>of</strong> Pennsylvania, New Jersey & Delaware Statement <strong>of</strong> Need - In <strong>The</strong> Nation According to ESPN Magazine, nationwide, more than 60% <strong>of</strong> age-eligible kids do not get to participate in Youth <strong>Sports</strong> programming in the new millennium. 1 Inner-city riskfactors, we believe, significantly exacerbate these discrepancies. Never-the-less, communities across the country continually seek safe, accessible, and affordable venues for young people within their communities to exercise and play. Public schools have a variety <strong>of</strong> recreational facilities—gymnasiums, playgrounds, fields, courts, and tracks—where people can engage in physical activity. In low-income communities, however, these schools are unavailable, even through they <strong>of</strong>ten appear to be the only place to find safe and inexpensive recreation facilities. Unfortunately, these spaces are <strong>of</strong>ten locked and inaccessible to the community during non-school hours due to concerns about resources, maintenance, security, and liability. <strong>The</strong> good news is that [other community stakeholders are beginning to embrace] shared-use as a strategy to create more opportunities for physical activity. “Shared-use” – also called “joint-use” or “community-use” – occurs when local entities, or sometimes private, nonpr<strong>of</strong>it organizations, agree to open or broaden access to their facilities for community use. Shared-use can take place on a formal basis (based on a written, legal document) or on an informal basis (based on historical practice). Many community and faith-based entities are increasingly recognizing that providing access to existing recreational facilities is one <strong>of</strong> the most promising strategies for building more opportunities for physical activity. In an era <strong>of</strong> budget shortfalls, maximizing access to existing facilities – rather than developing new ones – can be an efficient and economical use <strong>of</strong> local resources. Advancing Social Equity Now when it comes to recreational space, not all neighborhoods are created equal. Low-income communities and communities <strong>of</strong> color consistently have the fewest parks and recreational facilities in any given metropolitan venue. In some communities, the recreational facilities that do exist may seem unsafe, may be hard to get to by foot, bike, or bus, and may be poorly maintained due to insufficient funding. This means that residents <strong>of</strong> these neighborhoods <strong>of</strong>ten have very few, or inadequate, opportunities for physical activity. This is reflected in disparities in health outcomes. 1 http://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/9469252/hidden-demographics-youth-sports-espn-magazine Page 7 <strong>of</strong> 45