**Intense Youth Sports Imagery - Randy Schwartz

Youth athletes today have an intensity and perseverance  that often belies their age with skills to match.

In this ongoing collection of images, we set out to illustrate (as well as investigate) what kids feel like when they are in that moment of competitive fire while playing their favorite sport. We asked them when they felt the most passion and joy and what their most fantastic moment would be if it could be captured. Some were quite clearly able to communicate this while others communicated many facets of their game. But all were able to collaborate with Randy to create a some very compelling moments.

Youth Sports and Education

It is becoming more widely recognized that kids who are engaged in physical activity perform better in other aspects of their lives, including more success in school, both academically and socially. Those successes transcend to better attendance and the ability to cope with winning and losing. The facts are overwhelmingly in favor of schools that have physical education programs and when schools drop them we are doing a disservice to the future of those children that don’t have access, especially girls. I remember a very compelling ad for Nike by Wieden & Kennedy many years ago that has always stuck with me. My mother being Physical Education Professor and sister a 4 year collegiate scholarship athlete, I know this to be true. Growing up playing any sport that was accessible to me, I was always aware of the fact that sports made a big difference in how I learned to cope socially and how I perform in my profession.