Some random thoughts about the article:
1. Private equity is ruining lots of things. It's the reason your dental, airbnb and restaurant experiences have declined. They haven't been able to make much money in the youth athletic space which keeps the situation from being really bad, though it has contributed to the death of small local clubs. The private equity pickleball investment disasters are really funny to read about.
2. The one big point they really gloss over is there is an antitrust issue in many sports with how participation in the top leagues are chosen. It's probably the No.1 cause of the death of local clubs in soccer...parents rush to the clubs that have access to MLSN and ECNL. The others don't have the goods to compete, and that limits consumer choices, which is problematic under the competition laws.
3. The other big point is they gloss over is that the entire system is enabled by college admissions. They don't have athletic scholarships and admission preferences in Europe. Sports aren't taken into account in your college applications. If you want to fix the youth sports system, you have to first fix the college admission system. Even if you aren't a top D1 prospect it trickles down the system, so like that kid complaining on the forums a few months back, you can't even get a high school varsity slot in some programs if you don't letter league. And it's not just sports it impacts: fake charities, debate and math olympic tournaments, mathnasiums and CLC, and even things like dance and chess.
4. We still have AYSO. Many regions can't even form teams after U14. That's not a problem of access. That's a problem of families deciding if I can't be the best and have a shot at my varsity team in high school I don't want to play at all. That's a cultural issue which you don't see in Latino League (though as I write above, they are chasing the koolaid too) The flip side is too many kids want to pull a Sue Heck and just get on a team from trying out without putting in the work: it leads to a weird situation where "I wouldn't want to be on a team that takes someone else like me".
5. Parks and rec is a total red hearing. 20 years ago my niece when she was 4-5 my brother and SIL wanted to put her on a parks & rec pee wee league...they were already struggling with league sign up back then even though AYSO didn't start that young in most regions....she was put on a team only to have it canceled for lack of interest. Parks and rec has been dead for decades now with the 90s being the last hurrah so suggesting parks and rec as a solution is laughable and would only be put forward by someone with their hand out for funding.
6. Congress is worthless. They aren't going to do anything. The fact that Congress is broken is why both D and R Presidents have started ruling by executive decree (even apparently declaring wars now by executive decree). The big pressure point would be action by a state AG against the leagues and colleges but even then too many people would cry if their athletic applecarts are upended: too many hands in the cookie jar including parents pursuing those opportunities for real change (hence one of the factors for reverting back to SY...MLSN only not reverting because FIFA seems to have been clear the academies need to be BY and so they need the cannon fodder on BY too).
