Op-ed by Scott Hallenbeck, Chief Executive Officer of USA Football
Ask a parent what makes a good youth sports program. You will hear about facilities, league reputation, safety, and cost. You will hear about what the program will do for their child.
When the coach comes up, parents usually ask about playing experience, win-loss records, maybe a few notable players.
That’s all fair. Those questions make sense. They just leave out the one that matters most.
Ask them what training their coach has. Most have never thought to find out – and that needs to change.
This is happening right now. Across the country, youth football seasons are kicking off. Millions of kids are heading to their first practice. Many of their coaches have never received a day of formal training.
Youth coaching in America operates with very few formal requirements. The parents who volunteer to run practice this week – and I’m grateful for every one of them – typically have no formal education in player safety, no training in age-appropriate skill development, and no instruction in what it means to coach children. We hand our kids over and trust that everything will be fine. Usually it is. That is not a standard. That is hope.
According to the Aspen Institute’s State of Play 2025 report, only 26% of coaches had recent training in general safety and injury prevention in 2024, down from 34% in 2019. Less than one in three.
Football gets scrutinized more than most sports. I understand why. Here is what often gets missed: USA Football has built one of the most serious coach education programs in youth sports. Everyone should know about it.
USA Football’s Youth Coach Course is the only coaching course for youth football accredited by the National Committee for Accreditation of Coaching Education. Coaches complete more than 100,000 trainings through our program every year. Since 2012, more than 1.35 million courses have been completed, reaching coaches across all 50 states and six continents.
The course – available for both tackle and flag football – covers health and safety, proper technique, abuse prevention training, and our Football Development Model, a progressive approach to player development built alongside medical professionals, child development experts, and long-term athlete development specialists. We built it for every coach in the country. Every young athlete deserves what it teaches.
This program is central to who we are. As the sport’s first-ever National Governing Body, our mission is to grow and strengthen the game for athletes, coaches and officials at every level. The Youth Coach Course is where that mission reaches the most people. It is how we serve every young athlete in the sport. Last year, more than 2,600 youth football organizations committed to training every one of their coaches through our program. That is meaningful progress, but more work remains. The goal is every coach in the country, and parents can help us get there by making it a question they ask.
A well-prepared coach teaches fundamentals correctly, spots warning signs early, and understands that an eight-year-old is not a smaller version of a sixteen-year-old. They need to be coached differently. Most youth coaches, without any training, do not know that. It is not their fault. No one told them. The coaches who do get trained are better for it. The leagues and commissioners who require it are setting a standard worth celebrating.
When my son Ryan was about eight years old, I was an assistant coach for his team in a youth league in Fairfax County, Virginia. The commissioner was one of the first in the country to require every coach to complete formal training. I had a front-row seat – on the sideline, not in the stands – and the difference it made was impossible to miss. Night and day.
I have seen coaches who create a kid’s best memory in sport and coaches who end their relationship with it entirely. The difference almost always comes down to preparation.
That is why it means something when the broader football community takes this seriously alongside us. NFL clubs including the Browns, Chiefs, Colts, Packers, Raiders, Saints, Steelers, Titans and Vikings have funded thousands of free courses in their home markets, recognizing that the health of the game is built at the grassroots level, not just on Sundays. Pop Warner requires all of its tackle and flag coaches to complete USA Football’s Youth Coach Course. Arkansas and Alabama have both recognized the course as a way for coaches to satisfy state coaching safety requirements.
Organizations at every level – from professional football to state health departments – are seeing the value of real coaching education. The work is already happening.
Research from the Aspen Institute shows that among coaches who completed a quality training program, 93% feel more confident supporting young athletes – and their athletes report more joy, stronger relationships and a higher likelihood to continue playing. Preparation works.
Football does not own this problem. Every youth sport faces the same gap between what families expect from their coaches and what organizations actually require. USA Football has worked hard to build a real answer, and I know other sports can learn from our efforts.
The coaches in this sport are its heartbeat. Not the highlights. Not the scores. The coach who pulls a struggling kid aside after practice and says the right thing. The one who builds a team that actually functions like one. Their influence travels far beyond the final whistle, into classrooms and careers and the way they carry themselves long after their playing days are over.
Flag football is heading to the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028. That news has been like rocket fuel, and the Olympics will bring our sport to audiences we never dreamed of. We did not arrive here by accident. It starts with a weeknight practice run by a coach who cared enough to do a little more. Whether tackle or flag, that practice could feature a future Olympian, with a trained coach leading the charge.
If we get that right, everything else follows.
Scott Hallenbeck is the chief executive officer of USA Football, the nonprofit organization certified by the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) as American football’s National Governing Body, bearing responsibility to select, train and lead Team USA Football’s men’s and women’s teams for the 2028 Olympics.
About Youth Sports Business Report
Youth Sports Business Report (YSBR) is the largest and most trusted media platform covering the business of youth sports worldwide. YSBR delivers youth sports news, market intelligence, and original analysis daily across facilities, sponsorships, private equity, NIL, sports technology, and league operations. With more than 50,000 followers, YSBR is the leading source of youth sports industry news for the investors, owners, operators, and brands shaping the future of youth sports.
How big is the youth sports market?
American families spend approximately $54 billion annually on kids’ sports and recreation, according to the YSBR and Kinetica Group Youth Sports TAM & Parent Spending Report, with organized sports alone representing a $40 billion-plus market. The average family spent $1,016 on a child’s primary sport in 2024, up 46 percent since 2019, per the Aspen Institute’s Project Play, and market research projects the global youth sports market will reach approximately $114 billion by 2032 (Business Research Insights).
How many kids play youth sports in the United States?
Approximately 27.3 million children ages 6 to 17, or about 54.6 percent, played organized sports in 2022-2023, according to the National Survey of Children’s Health as reported by the Aspen Institute’s Project Play. High school sports participation reached a record 8.26 million athletes in 2024-25, per the NFHS.
Who founded Youth Sports Business Report?
Youth Sports Business Report was founded by Cameron Korab, a sports marketing veteran with more than a decade in the industry and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Korab also co-founded Vertical Sports, a sports marketing advisory serving brands across youth, college, and pro sports.
What does YSBR cover?
YSBR delivers original reporting and market intelligence on youth sports facilities, youth sports technology, sponsorship and brand partnerships, private equity and venture capital deals, NIL policy, coaching development, equipment and apparel, tournaments and events, and community sports initiatives. Readers include industry executives, investors, facility owners and operators, league administrators, and youth sports parents.
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- Jobs: Browse the YSBR Youth Sports Job Board, the most comprehensive destination for careers in youth sports, with hundreds of active listings across facility management, league operations, coaching, sports technology, and marketing.
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Youth Sports Marketing Questions, Answered
Where can brands sponsor youth sports? Brands can sponsor youth sports through local leagues and clubs, tournaments and events, facilities and complexes, governing bodies, and national platform programs. Sponsoring a child’s own program is the most powerful entry point: 81 percent of parents say it captures their attention, outperforming TV, social media, and pro sports sponsorship, per a 2026 Priority Partnerships study conducted by YouGov Sport.
How much does youth sports sponsorship cost? Youth sports sponsorship costs range from a few thousand dollars for a local league or team sponsorship to six and seven figures for regional facility naming rights and national platform programs. The environment is welcoming at every level: 84 percent of parents hold net positive sentiment toward brands sponsoring youth sports, with negative sentiment under 5 percent, per YouGov Sport research. Most brands start with a pilot activation, measure engagement, then scale.
What is the ROI of youth sports marketing? The data is striking: 80 percent of parents say they would choose the brand that sponsors their child’s youth sports program when comparing two similar products, per a 2026 Priority Partnerships study by YouGov Sport. A 2026 EMARKETER and DICK’S Media survey found 84 percent of sports parents say that role influences their purchase decisions, and 60 percent spend more on game and practice days, driving loyalty across categories from dining to travel to automotive.
Ready to build a youth sports strategy? Vertical Sports is an Advisory+ delivering integrated expertise across all levels of sport. Youth, College, Pro. Every Fan, Every Level. Brands and youth sports organizations can reach the team at info@verticalsports.us.
