This Team-Up for Youth report, released in August 2010 shows that organized sports can play a critical role in the overall health and positive development of youth and that there are grave disparities between which kids can access programs and receive the vital benefits they provide. And the disparities are growing.

As California and the rest of the nation struggle with extreme budget deficits, organized sports and other vital after-school programs are most often the ones on the chopping block. Youth of color and those living in low-income communities of color are the hardest hit by these cuts as they already suffer from higher rates of childhood obesity, diabetes and other related illnesses than more affluent communities.