New study finds access to youth sports is unequal in Philadelphia. The city looks to change that.
Before the first pitch is thrown, Tyrone Young arrives early to the baseball field at Hunting Park to pick up trash in both dugouts where teenagers gather to play in North Philadelphia’s Heritage Baseball League.
The trash is what he can control. What he can’t fix are the deep holes on the base paths that make it nearly impossible to play when it rains. He believes race has something to do with the condition of his field.
“Certain fields you might go in the Northeast ... their fields are immaculate, but why do ours not look like that?” said Young, who founded the league in 2008.
New Study shows inequality in funding of city recreation programs
A new study has found that sports facilities in Philadelphia neighborhoods with higher percentages of white residents tend to be of higher quality than those in areas with fewer white residents.
The study, conducted by Temple University’s School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management, began in 2023 and observed 1,400 sports facilities across the city that are managed by Philadelphia Parks and Recreation.
Its findings were stark: White neighborhoods had better quality sports facilities, more sports fields, and more permitted sports.
“Moving forward, we know that a larger investment is needed.” said Dontae Privette, the Director of Community Engagement, at Philadelphia Youth Sports Collaborative. He says that in affluent neighborhoods, recreation programs rely on volunteer support and resources but in lower income neighborhoods working parents may not have the time.