// 2025 CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP IMPACT REPORT 8 Take Back Sports is a youth sports initiative led by ESPN and powered by The Walt Disney Company, designed to get and keep kids playing sports. With only 38% of kids ages 6-12 playing sports on a regular basis, we believe it’s time for parents, coaches and kids to take back sports and make it fun again. ESPN and Disney are working in tandem with our league, business and community partners to make the youth sports system more accessible so that kids across the country have the opportunity to play and keep playing. ONLY 38% of kids ages 6-12 play sports on a regular basis According to Project Play Strategy Through Take Back Sports, ESPN has built a three-pronged strategy designed to drive meaningful change across the youth sports ecosystem by aligning targeted philanthropy with powerful storytelling and strategic marketing. This approach is anchored by four core pillars focused on strengthening local recreational leagues, encouraging multisport participation, expanding coach training and elevating the joy of play. By investing in and amplifying the importance of community-based programs, ESPN is helping ensure families have accessible local options so children are not pushed into travel sports too early. Promoting multisport play supports healthier development and helps reduce burnout and injury, while increased coaching education creates more positive experiences that keep kids engaged. At the center of this work is a commitment to storytelling that reminds families, leagues and communities that the most important reason kids play sports is simple: it is fun. Impact In its first year, Take Back Sports delivered meaningful impact across the youth sports landscape, reaching nearly one million individuals through strategic investments, partnerships and storytelling. TAKE BACK SPORTS 2025 OVERVIEW Girls participation, while still trailing boys, increased for the third straight year according to Aspen Institute. n Nearly 935,000 young people were supported through grants that strengthened over 2,300 local recreational leagues nationwide, while community programs expanded opportunities for tens of thousands more, including 62,000 youth reached through DonorsChoose initiatives and 96,000 youth benefiting from multisport kits distributed through Boys & Girls Clubs. n A strong focus on coach development helped train 67,000 coaches overall, including 45,000 Special Olympics coaches, 9,000 coaches through NRPA-supported grants and 5,800 coaches through Positive Coaching Alliance programming, collectively influencing hundreds of thousands of young athletes. n In addition, 125,000 youth were supported through sport-based mental wellness programs, reinforcing ESPN’s commitment to creating safer, more inclusive and more joyful youth sports experiences at scale. 9
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