My group and I met with Chris Klein on Monday, January 23rd, 2023. Chris was asked about his time playing youth athletics in New York City. He entered a Manhattan public school through a test and played basketball there the entire time. He participated in sports for both his school and numerous citywide club teams.
Chris shared with us his experience as a coach of many sports, including LREI sports such as varsity basketball for boys, girls varsity volleyball, and a summer basketball camp. He shared his thoughts on how young people should be able to play sports with people from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds and not just those who can afford to play at the same level as them. Chris also discussed how certain youth sports programs in New York City are fee-based, while others are completely free. He said he feels that every kid interested in sports deserves the same chance to become good at said sport. He went into lots of detail about his experiences playing youth sports as a kid himself. The part of the interview I felt was the most important was when he was asked what he thought about the inequities of sports and how some kids don’t get to play because they didn’t have as much privilege as him as a kid. He replied by saying as a kid he never really thought about it as a kid, he just played. Because sports were always on his mind, he didn’t really care about anything else, and not totally recognizing his privilege.
