To raise awareness of the role adults play in the decreasing participation in youth sports, the Aspen Institute’s Project Play created the Don’t Retire Kid campaign to shine a light on why kids drop out of sports. Our campaign kicked off in a first-of-its-kind integration with ESPN SportsCenter. Adults expecting a news story about a pro athlete instead found 9-year-old Derek announcing his retirement from sports, using the typical pro athlete press conference format to draw attention to the way children are treated like professional athletes. Kobe Bryant immediately tweeted the video with the hashtag #DontRetireKid and kicked off the conversation to keep kids playing. Other sports stars (like Mike Trout, Blake Griffin, Wayne Gretzky and more) followed, creating messages for any kid thinking about dropping out by sharing what they love about sports beyond winning. These videos were joined with a healthy discussion by coaches, leagues, parents who believed in fixing youth sports, and legends like Billie Jean King and Tommy John who fully supported Project Play’s effort. What started as a video stunt had now become an organic movement for change.