ESPN & Aspen Institute Team Up To Support & Keep Kids In Sport With ‘Don’t Retire’

Sports broadcaster ESPN teamed up with non-profit Aspen Institute to raise awareness of the number of US kids giving up on sport due to pressure, stress, rising costs and lack of support.

The campaign, called ‘Don’t Retire’, addresses the fact that an increasing number of children who see sport as a chore or a burden, no longer see it as a joy or fun and, as a result, are quitting sport early.

Through a general lack of support and because parents and coaches are putting too much pressure on kids to win, often to their detriment, 62% of kids in the US have given up on sports.

Supporting the Project Play initiative (https://ProjectPlay.us), which works to learn how to keep kids in the game, the ESPN/Aspen initiative aims to call attention to the problem.

The objective for this Public Service Announcement (PSA) is to keep more kids in the game.

The ‘Don’t Retire’ campaign, developed in harness with creative agency Arnold Worldwide, features a child announcing his retirement from sport in the same way a retiring professional athlete might.

The launch PSA shows a youngster holding a press conference to announce he is retiring from all sports.

The creative sees nine-year-old Derek Heyswiver step up to the microphone to announce his retirement in front of clicking cameras. Just like a seasoned pro at the end of his or her career.

“The pressure it takes to play at my age, it’s just too much,” says the child who cites “endless advice from parents…coaches who left me on the bench when the game was on the line.” When he takes questions, a reporter asks who he thinks can fix the problems. He says “parents, leagues, coaches, everyone.”

The ad closes with a question: “If 62% of kids have given up on sports, what are we doing wrong?”

The hero spot comes in multiple versions, including a 1 min 30 second ad,

a 60-second spot

plus 30-

and 15-second cut downs.

The hero commercial debuted on ESPN SportsCenter and was supported by an exclusive interview with Kobe Bryant.

Sports stars also backed the initiative on their social channels by creating short social videos directed at any child thinking about quitting sport.

The campaign is built on insight from the Aspen Institute’s ‘Project Play’ initiative which found that 62% of kids in the USA have given up playing sports.

The main reasons for this are pressure, too much focus on winning, elite teams and traveling for competition.

Too many parents, coaches, teams and leagues are treating children like pros.

The initiative is supported not only by ESPN, but also by the Ralph C. Wilson Foundation, USTA, Amazon, Target, Under Armour, Nike, NHL, NBA and the USOC.

The initiative was developed for the Aspen Institute’s Executive Director Tom Farrey and Partner Engagement Head Otto Strong and ESPN Vice President (Corporate Citizenship) Kevin Martinez and Manager (Corporate Citizenship) Jennifer Paulette by an Arnold Worldwide team that included Chief Executive Officer Kiran Smith, Chief Creative Officer (Content) Icaro Doria, Executive Creative Director James Bray, VP Creative Director (Copy) Justin Galvin, VP Creative Director (Art) Sam Mullins, SVP Executive Producer Paul Shannon, SVP Marketing Director Gail Felcher, Marketing Manager Aidan Keefer and Project Manager Eric Rubino.

The production company was Greenpoint Pictures with directors The Hudson Dusters, Producer Luke Stevens, DOP Nathan Swingle and Executive Producers Tatiana Rudzinski and Trevor King.

The edit was handled by Exile Edit Producer Charlotte Delon and Editor Matt Murphy.

Comment:

Are we putting too much pressure on kids in sports?

Definitely!

Youth sports is a multi-billion-pound industry and with the money comes the pressure and sometimes an overly professional perspective on the space.

Indeed, ESPN and Aspen aren’t the only ones who think so and are doing something to combat the problem.

This campaign follows hot on the heels of another sports brand initiative addressing a related issue is Dick’s Sporting Goods’ ‘To Whom It May Concern’ (see case study).

Links:

Project Play

https://projectplay.us/

Aspen Institute

https://www.aspeninstitute.org/

https://www.facebook.com/Aspeninstitute

https://twitter.com/aspeninstitute

https://www.youtube.com/user/AspenInstitute

https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-aspen-institute

https://www.instagram.com/aspeninstitute/

ESPN

https://www.espn.com