Kids are dropping out of sports. Why? They’re not “having fun” because parents and coaches have prioritized winning at all costs. The pressure is too much.

To reverse this trend, we launched the #DontRetireKid campaign by holding a live press conference so a 9-year-old could announce his retirement on the biggest sports stage – ESPN SportsCenter – in a first-of-its-kind integration that spoke directly to the sports fanatics putting pressure on kids.

From there, Kobe Bryant and other legendary athletes, ignited the conversation online, encouraging kids thinking about dropping out to #DontRetireKid through messages of hope and solutions for change.

Project Play is an initiative run by The Aspen Institute in partnership with ESPN, Nike, Amazon, MLB, NBA and more. It’s designed to encourage kids to be active and stay in youth sports. Research by The Aspen Institute shows that 62% of kids have given up on sports, citing mounting pressure and a general lack of enjoyment. To combat this downward trend, we set out to create work that drew attention to the pressure adults place on children who participate in youth sports, specifically sports-obsessed coaches, parents and league coordinators in control of the organizations and demanding schedules. We had to fight back against the culture that put Tiger Woods’ and Kobe Bryant’s childhood athletic achievements on a pedestal for all children to strive for. The objective of the work was to generate a call to action to infuse healthy and youthful play back into youth sports.

To raise awareness of the role adults play in the decreasing participation in youth sports, we created #DontRetireKid, a first-of-its-kind integration with ESPN SportsCenter. When viewers tuned into breaking news expecting to see a story about a star, they found 9-year-old Derek announcing his retirement from sports. The typical athlete press conference format highlighted how children are expected to play like pros as Derek spoke of the pressures that all kids face.

Then one of the biggest sports stars who happens to be a youth sports coach, Kobe Bryant, appeared on a live ESPN segment to offer solutions to the problem. From there, other huge names in sports joined the #DontRetireKid movement. Some planned, most organic. Even legends like Billie Jean King and Wayne Gretzky rallied behind the #DontRetireKid effort to keep kids in the game.

62% of children are dropping out of sports by age 9. This mass exodus is not only unprecedented, it’s changing the way kids grow up. They’re missing out on all of the physical, mental, and social benefits of playing sports.

The reason they’re dropping out is simply because kids aren’t having “fun” playing. Because parents and coaches have prioritized winning at all costs.

The Aspen Institute wanted to disrupt the multi-billion-dollar youth sports industry by giving these kids a voice. We had to speak directly to adults in sports in a provocative way, treating a young kid like a pro athlete, much like they’re already doing on the field. And we did this by putting a 9-year-old on ESPN SportsCenter to announce his retirement and call out parents, coaches and leagues for taking the youth out of youth sports.

#DontRetireKid launched as a news story on ESPN SportsCenter using ESPN’s press conference format to draw viewers in, only to reveal a 9-year-old retiring because of the pressure. This gave kids a voice and made adults pay attention. A Q&A with reporters revealed Project Play’s solutions.

Kobe Bryant tweeted the video with the hashtag #DontRetireKid igniting a conversation around the state of youth sports. A day later, the film launched on ESPN and ended with a simple question, “If 62% of kids are dropping out of sports, what are we doing wrong?” Kobe appeared in studio to offer solutions.

A groundswell happened, other sports stars (Mike Trout, Blake Griffin, Wayne Gretzky and more) created video messages for any thinking about dropping out by sharing what they love about sports beyond winning. More stars joined in organically, #DontRetireKid trended across social media and was featured across major news stations.

The campaign garnered 322,651,169 total impressions in the first month, which includes TV promotions, social, magazine ads and vignettes. In the first two months, the ESPN exclusive period, there were 167 million social impressions with a 99% positive sentiment, and Project Play saw an 898% increase in site traffic. Additionally, we had many professional athletes who responded to the spot with their own content, furthering the movement and the reach of the message. Some kids saw the content from the athletes and posted their own response, saying that they were thinking about quitting but had reconsidered thanks to the #DontRetireKid message.