{"id":250003,"date":"2026-04-03T11:58:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T11:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/250003\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T11:58:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T11:58:08","slug":"prep-talk-la84-foundation-continues-to-be-champion-for-youth-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/250003\/","title":{"rendered":"Prep talk: LA84 Foundation continues to be champion for youth sports"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The greatest legacy from the <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/local\/california\/la-me-banks-olympic-swim-20150822-column.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles<\/a> continues to be the LA84 Foundation, which has invested more than $250 million supporting youth sports organizations in Southern California through cash grants. It was created by receiving $93 million in profits from the 1984 Olympic Games under the vision of lead organizer<a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Peter_Ueberroth\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> Peter Ueberroth<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, the LA84 Foundation sponsored its eighth Play Equity Summit, which is designed to find solutions to the challenges of access to youth sports activities. The theme was, \u201cPlay Because it Matters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Renata Simril,  CEO of the LA84 Foundation, said, \u201cThe most powerful stadiums in America are the school yard and the block on your street.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>            <img class=\"image\" alt=\"LA84 Foundation CEO Renata Simile.\"   width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775217488_950_.jpeg\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>         <\/p>\n<p>LA84 Foundation CEO Renata Simile.<\/p>\n<p>(Eric Sondheimer \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<p>She said youth sports at the grassroots level are failing. The pay-to-play model is rising, making youth sports a $20-billion industry while leaving many behind.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe only P.E. that belongs in youth sports is play equity,\u201d  Simril said.<\/p>\n<p>She told those attending, \u201cThe task is to act and think differently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She remembers learning tennis on her neighborhood street and \u201cthe cracked court\u201d at Carson High.<\/p>\n<p> Simril said with the World Cup, Super Bowl and Olympic Games coming to Los Angeles over the next two years, \u201cWe have a generational opportunity to align the biggest moment in sports.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She wants others to create legacy programs that last for youth sports through \u201cmore partnerships, more sponsorships, more access.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPurpose and profit can grow higher,\u201d she said. \u201cIt should grow. It can lead to a legacy of investment in young people forever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She made it clear why participation in sports is so important for boys and girls.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlay is how they become ready for life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The greatest legacy from the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles continues to be the LA84 Foundation, which&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[4329,11332,3760,18663,111360,48,52,51,111358,47,50,49,63,111361,32235,6310,7035,111359,1291,11730,111357],"class_list":{"0":"post-250003","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-access","9":"tag-big-moment","10":"tag-challenge","11":"tag-champion","12":"tag-great-legacy","13":"tag-la","14":"tag-la-headlines","15":"tag-la-news","16":"tag-la84-foundation","17":"tag-los-angeles","18":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","19":"tag-los-angeles-news","20":"tag-los-angeles-times","21":"tag-more-sponsorship","22":"tag-olympic-games","23":"tag-prep-talk","24":"tag-profit","25":"tag-renata-simril","26":"tag-street","27":"tag-super-bowl","28":"tag-youth-sport"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}