What is Utah Sport for Life?

In 2009, Utah Olympic Legacy launched an initiative to improve how sport is introduced, taught and developed for people of all ages.

Based on the successful components of other internationally recognized sport development models, Utah Sport for Life seeks to engage Utahns of all ages and abilities in an active lifestyle.

From the toddler learning to run and leap to the adolescent honing their soccer skills to the adult learning to master moguls, Utah Sport for Life will employ a collective community-wide effort to elevate Utahn’s quality of life through participation in sport and recreation.

This new approach was undertaken in response to:

  • desires to increase participation at all levels of sport programming at our venues;
  • interest to introduce more of the population to sport opportunities; and
  • improve winter sport clubs since their success is our success.

For more information on Utah Sport for Life, feel free to download the following documents:

A Focus on Youth Sport

Along the way we became more aware of the lack of fundamental skills being focused on and the increase in inactivity of our youth. Under the direction of the UAF, sport and community workgroups were given the monumental task of transforming the UAF development pipeline and took an innovative approach to this challenge. Utah Sport for Life committees are established to lead the transformation.

The goals of the Utah Sport for Life initiative are to:

  • Identify and share perspectives on how to best run youth sport and physical activity programs. We will do this by reaching out and collaborating with a broad set of sports, recreation, and health organizations in Utah.
  • Introduce the concept of Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) into our own UAF Sports Programs and share this fundamental sport philosophy with others in Utah.
  • Develop a Utah model for how we engage Utah’s youth in sport and physical fitness programs. This model will be branded “Utah Sport for Life,” and will incorporate a blend of best practices happening around the state as well as Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) concepts that work for our collective communities.
  • Identify specific areas where the Utah Athletic Foundation could fill a unique niche and/or program void. Our role will be defined over time by listening to ideas, sharing stories, inviting feedback, and integrating our efforts.
  • Effectively improve the program quality of youth sport efforts in Utah. The end result of these improvements will result in a population more engaged in physical activity and a better pipeline of athletes seeking their highest potential.
  • Increase coordination, alignment, and effectiveness of Utah’s sport, recreation, and health-related organizations.
  • Create physical literacy in all Utah children and improve the health of all Utahns through long-term participation in sports.