Broom Handles and a Bundle of Rags: ECHOES OF LA84

The LA84 Foundation released its 2026 California Play Equity Report this month; a measure of how far we have come in giving every child access to sport, and how far we still have to go. I had the privilege of serving as president of LA84 for nearly thirty years. The work the Foundation does today still moves me.

In My Olympic Life, I wrote about the early years: "When we started, there were areas where children were using broom handles for baseball bats and a bundle of rags for a soccer ball."

That was nearly forty years ago, and yet in 2026 we are still finding California neighborhoods where the equipment is improvised, the coaches are stretched thin, and the girls are getting fewer minutes on the field than the boys. Sport belongs to everyone... and the most reliable way to make that true is to be honest about who is being left out, then to fund what works.

LA84's research, the new MOVE Fund, and the run-up to the LA28 Games create a once-in-a-generation chance to close those gaps. If you care about youth sport, look up the report; share it with a coach, a parent, a school board member you know.
What sport changed your life? 🏀⚽
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Excerpted from My Olympic Life by Anita L. DeFrantz with Alayne Merenstein (Cedric D. Fisher & Company Publishers). Find it at AnitaDeFrantz.com or on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/My-Olympic-Life-Memoir-1/dp/1736001337/