The covid-19 pandemic has had a catastrophic effect on youth sports.  The United States has over 6.5 million coaches and 45 million athletes participating.  The presence of youth sports in our society is necessary to help mold our youth into responsible young adults by teaching character, determination and good work ethic. These life skills will help pave the way for our youth to become responsible adults.  The current CARES act passed to help protect businesses during this crisis will not significantly allow for our programs to be viable if we do not have more support.  Most youth sports programs around the country have been mandated shut.  We have closed our doors to athletes with little notice and we are still required to pay rent/mortgage, secure payroll and maintain our bills without a means of generating revenues.  The current bill passed by congress will help with finances for eight weeks, however the road to recovery will be long and the resurgence of kids in youth sports is projected to be slow.  Without a mandated request from our government youth sports programs will either fail or succeed based on landlords and banks willing to help with funding to get through the slow rebuild. This is a travesty for our country and we are asking for a seat at the table when negotiating a new bill to support our youth. Please help us keep our coaches employed, doors open and dreams alive. When the pause button is removed, youth sports is what is going to help our kids heal. Gymnastics, Karate, Swim, Volleyball, Tennis, Dance, Cheer, Basketball, Football etc. Sports will be there to help your child cope and we need to make sure that legislation knows what the needs of our industry will be to continue serving our youth. Our kids need us now more than ever!  We are a positive impact on our youth. 

The current CARES Act bill has significant issues that we would like to address. If our industry’s unique operating challenges are addressed, we will have a better chance of reopening our doors and continue molding our athletes into responsible young adults.   We need your help. 

1) Mandated rent/ mortgage forgiveness for 120 days.  It is impossible to pay rent/mortgages when we have no income.  Mortgage and payroll are the two largest expenses in youth sports.  If the government mandates a bill to protect rent or mortgages and works with banks to help protect us, it will save a lot of programs from complete closure. 

2) Fix the Paycheck Protection Program by extending the maximum loan amount to three months after facilities can legally reopen to full capacity.  Reinstate the  billions in gross revenue cap, and increasing the length of time facility owners have to repay their loans to from two years to ten. 

3)  Launch a Save Our Sports Fund that provides up to $100 billion in grants to independent programs that will give them the upfront capital they need to reopen.

4) Ensure business interruption insurance covers COVID-19. Right now, youth sport facilities are not able to use the benefits they deserve from insurance companies. This is a policy we have spent years paying into.  

5) Create new tax rebates that incentivize employment so youth sport facilities can continue to employ full staff and pay rent when business is slow.