The “Youth Sports Summit” is an annual meeting of the top leaders of youth sports programs in Maricopa County. The meeting takes place at an area hotel in an all day retreat format with a facilitator, and guest speakers when appropriate. The purpose of the Summit is to identify areas of need for which the Phoenix Regional Sports Commission can implement initiatives to help our area’s youth sports programs as a collective group. The Summit is also a place for these youth sports leaders to share best practices of governance, fundraising, event logistics, volunteer management, and other areas of sports administration.
The strategic opportunities identified at each years Summit do not duplicate or compete with entities offering youth sports programming in the Valley. The initiatives developed at the Summit are implemented by the Sports Commission to enhance what the existing programs are already doing. These opportunities often involve collaborative efforts between the sport groups and municipalities that may not have available to them individually.
The entirety of this program is run by the Sports Commission’s Youth Committee (Co-chaired in 2010 by Nona Lee, General Council of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Dan Steimel, General Council for Uhaul). The Summit itself and the projects that come from it are funded through grants and other fundraising programs conducted by the Sports Commission with the support of the Summit participants.
The end goal of the program is to enhance the great work being done in our community. While the Summit itself only involves 75-100 youth sports leaders each year, these leaders’ programs serve an estimated 300,000 youth in Maricopa County.
For more information or to attend the 2010 Youth Sports Summit please contact Amanda Petru on our staff amanda@phoenixsports.org
Did you attend last year? If so, please take a second to fill out the brief survey below to help us better address topics that we touched on at the 2009 Summit.
