Georgia Southern only university named 2019 Project Play Champion

October 16, 2019

Georgia Southern is the only university and one of 20 organizations nationwide to be selected as a 2019 Project Play Champion by the Aspen Institute’s Sports and Society Program. 

Launched in 2013, Project Play focuses on developing, applying and sharing knowledge that helps build healthy communities through sports. Project Play Champions are part of a cohort of organizations that are striving to make new, meaningful commitments in alignment with Project Play.

Spearheaded by Bridget Melton, Ed.D, professor in the Department of Health Sciences and Kinesiology, Georgia Southern will launch several coaching clinic outreach efforts this academic year that aim to provide a low-barrier introduction to coaching for new coaches and parents, as well as sport-specific techniques and training to build coaching capacity in rural, underserved areas.

Associate Professor Charles “Hal” Wilson, Ph.D., and Professor Drew Zwald, Ph.D., faculty members in the Department of Health Sciences and Kinesiology, attended the Project Play Summit in Detroit, Michigan, this past September as representatives for Georgia Southern. While in attendance, Zwald and Wilson led a roundtable discussion about helping parents navigate the sometimes overwhelming youth sports world.

“Attendees discussed how to make resources more available to parents who wish to be involved and also how to encourage more parents to get involved in youth sports,” Wilson said. “We also discussed the many obstacles that parents may face, including conflicts with their work schedules, lack of childcare for other young children, lack of reliable transportation and other financial restraints. The bottom line is that we want to help create opportunities for any parent who wants to get involved in their child’s sporting life to do so.”