Kobe Bryant and other stars to talk sports for children with Bill Clinton in La Quinta
Former President Bill Clinton and Lakers star Kobe Bryant will discuss the role of sports in the lives of children in a town hall-style event in La Quinta Monday.
The meeting, to be held at La Quinta Resort and Club, will be moderated by sports commentator Mike Greenberg of ESPN Radio show “Mike & Mike.”
Afterward, there will be a panel discussion including U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun, Olympic gold medal sprinter Allyson Felix, Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp, Heisman Trophy-winning running back and former NFL player Herschel Walker, and former U.S. women’s soccer team captain Julie Foudy.
Greenberg will hold a question-and-answer session with teenagers.
The event, put on by the Clinton Foundation, ESPN and the Aspen Institute, is part the foundation’s Health Matters conference, which is slated forTuesday at the resort. It will “consider which children get access to today’s youth sports system, which of them don’t — and the health consequences for each group,” according to organizers.
ESPN will tape the event as “ESPN Town Hall: Kids and Sports” and air a condensed version on ESPN2 on Feb. 9 at 5 p.m.
The event is meant to contribute to the Aspen Institute’s Project Play, “which recognizes that in some U.S. communities just one in five kids play sports, and convenes leaders to explore potential solutions,” according to the institute, an educational and policy studies group in Washington, D.C.
“Sports give young people the opportunity to be active, stay healthy, and live up to their best potential,” Clinton said. “This conversation, as part of the Health Matters Conference, will bring leaders from sports, health, education, and other sectors to address the need and value of good coaching, and access to physical activity for all children.”
Bryant said young people now “are the least active in history and, dropping out of sports at alarming rates.”
“I’m excited to join the Aspen Institute Project Play dialogue and partner with President Clinton, Nike and ESPN at the upcoming Clinton Health Matters conference to bring attention to the need for universal access and early positive experiences in sports and play,” he said.
