LA 2024 bid leaders reaffirm commitment to connect Olympic Movement with youth at LA84 Foundation's 5th Annual Youth Sports Summit

Foundation releases groundbreaking report on youth sports participation and family fitness in Los Angeles

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Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/6tqj33ryxhdcyu8/Interviews.mov?dl=0

LOS ANGELES - LA 2024 bid leaders participated in the LA84 Foundation’s 5th Annual Youth Sports Summit, reaffirming the bid’s commitment to leveraging LA’s ready-made connection with youth culture to inspire the next generation of athletes around the positive values of Olympism. Mayor Eric Garcetti, Chairman Casey Wasserman, Vice Chair and Director of Athlete Relations Janet Evans, and Senior Advisor for Legacy and IOC Executive Board Member Anita DeFrantz joined LA84 Foundation President Renata Simril and 400 civic leaders, sports industry executives and world-class athletes for a series of panel discussions on the future of youth sports in Los Angeles.

The summit featured panels on topics such as girls’ participation in youth sports, sport’s role in improving students’ academic performances and the ways in which LA’s bid to bring the 2024 Games back to the City of Angels could positively impact youth in LA and around the world. Additionally, the night before the summit, nearly 50 Olympians and Paralympians including 18 who competed in Rio joined the LA84 Foundation and the Southern California Olympians and Paralympians (SCOP) alumni group for a welcome home celebration at the LA84 Foundation's headquarters. The event came on the heels of other Team USA post-Rio celebrations at the White House and at the USOC Assembly in Colorado Springs.

Addressing the summit’s attendees, President and CEO of the LA84 Foundation Renata Simril said: "Today demonstrated the power of sport to drive social change. It's meaningful that we're literally saving kids' lives by the work that you all do."

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said during his remarks: "I literally wouldn't be here without youth sports; Encino Little League, playing basketball, I wrestled, I did things for me that really shaped who I am....If I didn't have the experience of sports when some days you win and some days you lose but as long as you keep showing up and playing hard, I wouldn't have the resilience to see this through."

LA 2024 Chairman Casey Wasserman said: "The LA84 Foundation is enduring proof of the power of sport to serve our communities and has inspired our work to bring the Games back to a city that loves and continues to benefit from the Olympic Movement. If elected as the 2024 Host City, LA 2024 looks forward to building on the success of the LA84 Foundation to inspire and serve the next generation of Angelenos around the positive values of sport."

The Summit also shared the results of the first-ever Los Angeles County Youth Sports Participation Survey. The survey found that the LA youth sports participation rate was higher than the national average in 16 of the 20 sports analyzed, and also that more than 80 percent of youth between the ages of 6-17 in the Los Angeles area are active in sports. Download the survey here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1356850/LA84-Foundation-Youth-Sports-Survey_Los-Angeles-County2016.pdf

As a legacy of the 1984 Olympic Games, the LA84 Foundation continues to be a nationally recognized leader in support of youth sport programs and elevating the importance of sports in positive youth development. LA84 seeks to provide an opportunity for every child to participate in sports and experience the wide range of positive outcomes associated with youth sport participation. Since its launch in 1985, LA84 has invested millions in the communities that supported the Games, reaching more than 3 million youth throughout Southern California, from Santa Barbara to San Diego County. The LA84 Foundation continues to promote the spirit of the 1984 Olympic Games by convening and engaging local, national and international audiences about the role of sport in society, and the positive impact of the Olympic Games on host cities.

For more information visit LA24.org and LA84.org

LA 2024 can also be found on the following social media channels:

Twitter.com/LA2024

Facebook.com/LA2024

Instagram.com/LA2024

YouTube.com/LA2024

Snapchat.com/add/la2024

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