Budgetball: Working Up A Sweat On Our Fiscal...

Thinking about the federal budget deficit and the national debt – now closing in on $13 trillion dollars – is usually a somewhat cerebral pursuit. The physical element, however, will be hard to miss this Friday, May 21, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Washington, D.C., the site for the Second Annual Budgetball Tournament on the National Mall, a game which combines basketball with the strategy intricacies and tradeoffs involved in producing a balanced budget.

Budgetball in action, at Philander Smith College last year

It's a sport of quick passes, tough defense, and bold comebacks designed to increase awareness about the national debt and encourage discussion about America's fiscal future. There will be 16 teams of real-life fiscal policymakers and college students, representing the House Budget Committee, the U.S. Department of Treasury, the American Savings Education Council /Jump Start (which is looking for a few more team members), the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the Urban Institute, the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, Virginia Tech, Voorhees College, Philander Smith College, Central State University, Concerned Youth of America, Kentucky State University, Hampton University, the Roosevelt Institute, the International City/County Management Association Retirement Corporation, and Presidential Management Fellows.

So come out and root for the teams with the best fiscal strategies. The game will be on the grounds of the Washington Monument, at 15th and Constitution Avenue. For an idea on how the game works, check out Budgetball's web site, YouTube channel or Facebook fan page. Budgetball was developed by partners including the National Academy of Public Administration, which is also a partner in Our Fiscal Future.