Controversy Over Competitive Sports

“Are Competitive Sports Bad for Kids?” Mar 31, 2011 | By Rachel Nelson, Web, 20

Most recently in the sports world, whether it’s on the television on a sports channel or on the news you will most likely hear about a protest that is going on in the NFL. The protest has been an ongoing battle since the very beginning of football season. The protest consists of the players taking a knee during the national anthem. Although, the players are not physically hurting anyone they are disrespecting the people that gave them their freedom. The reason that this comes off as disrespectful is because the people that have fought for their rights are sitting at home and seeing them kneel after they almost died for the American flag. This disruption has been accumulating an uproar in the sports world with most players using the power of their voice on social media. Now, in addition, the president has recently got consumed in the action which has caused more controversy than

Participation in youth sports in the United States is on the rise. “Organized youth sports are highly popular for youth and their families, with approximately 45 million children and adolescent participants in the US” (Merkel, 2013). There are many benefits for children that can be attributed to sports such as: physical activity, learning motor skills, sense of belonging, stress relief, and many more. With childhood obesity on the rise recreational sports has never been needed more than it is today. “Over the past three decades, the incidence of obesity in children has tripled, with one of every three children being affected” (Merkel, 2013). Obesity has many long-term health problems related to it such as: diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure cancer, asthma. We can attribute this health problem to changes in our society over like increased technology, increased crime rates, fast food and isolated suburban neighborhoods. Sports and other physical activities are needed to keep children from causing further damaged to their future.

The students spend 40 hours, per week, just practicing. This does not include games, team meetings, or weight lifting. With all the time they spend doing stuff for their sport, students do not have much time for academics. According to the NCAA, athletes are only allowed to practice for 20 hours per week, or 4 per day, however, most sports practice way more (see fig.2) (Jacobs 2015). Mark Nagel, a professor of sports and entertainment management at the University of South Carolina, exclaims that “there’s technically an off-season, but there are these voluntary workouts that most coaches say are voluntary but then expect athletes to be at. The system is set up to where the coaches encourage athletes to train all year round, but there’s also pressure from the athletes themselves. Even when an athlete is given a situation where it’s truly voluntary, they still might be practicing. It’s the competitive nature of sports.” (New 2015) What Nagel is trying to say is that, even though the coaches claim that the off-season workouts are optional, they are not actually optional. Also, the coaches have put so much pressure on the students that even if it actually is optional, the student athletes still believe they must go. Therefore, although they are called student-athletes, they aren’t as much the student part as they are the athlete. It is almost as if the sport was a job and the schooling was the extracurricular

The overwhelmingly busy schedule of a student-athlete, which includes missed classes, away games, and significant hours a week devoted to his sport, gives them an academic disadvantage. A Division I college football player typically devotes 43.3 hours per week to their sport. These hours are not only is more than the typical American work week, but also are prohibiting to the students who wish to take more rigorous courses (Edelman). The NCAA officially restricts student athletes’ in-season practice time to 20 hours a week, or four hours a day. However, there are many loopholes in the system which result in student-athletes devoting up to 40-plus hours a week to their sport (Jacobs, ). Meetings, weight-training, conditioning, film studies,

The effect of antisocial behaviour during the team sports sessions whihc was always debatable, has now become more controversial. The substantial influence of the violence between rival supporters and other forms of antisocial behaviour has sparked controversy over the potential impact of this trend. The University of Sydney has performed a research in this topic and found that sporting events can help to built character and keep fit, however, it is required to regualte the supporters antisocial behaviour to get the correct objectives out from it.

but I say, they should, every sport comes with risks and injuries, it just comes with the game! To change more people’s perspective on this topic, more research should be done in the future and finding more ways to prevent potential harm so kids can have fun playing the game they

There can be drawbacks with children participating in competitive sports. Kids can crumble under pressure to perform, fear of failure or not being the best. Playing competitive sports can be a financial burden for some families. Injuries can happen and be life altering when they do, for both the child and their family.

Some people think it’s ok to have their children in competitive sports, but others think the exact opposite. In my opinion kids should be aloud to play in competitive sports because “they can build on their skills like teamwork and concentration level” (The Benefits of Competitive Athletic Sports Participation in Today’s Sports Climate). They could also learn to take “responsibility for their success or failure with a positive attitude” (20 proven reasons why competition is good), last but not least they could find and “build on their strengths and weaknesses” (20 proven reasons why competition is good).

Competitive sports are the hot topic for debate. Parents never know whether to enroll their kids or not. There are all sorts of concussions, sprained ankles, and lots of pressure. The question is to take the risk or not. Definitely, according to the right dictionary. Competitive sports are extremely beneficial to your health. They decrease the risk of obesity, influence kids to have healthy diets, and even keep kids healthy mentally.

To begin with, The sport players do not deserve to get the opportunity of sports taken away from them. In ¨What´s in the Name of High School Football¨ by Hank Hill states, ¨Each Friday before football games, the school is decorated with banners and streamers and mug shots of football players¨ (4). This demonstrates how the players enjoy

Children should be able to play competitive sports because it creates a healthy lifestyle, builds up confidence/ self esteem and reduces stress.

For many years parents and children have been negotiating if competitive sports should be played by children. Studies show that competitive sports should not be for children. This is because competitive sports are shown to cause stress, overuse of the body, and serious injuries which could affect them later in life.

To start things off , the most important reason children shouldn’t be playing competitive sports is because of the outrageous amount of head injuries and concussions. According to the Center of Disease Control and prevention , ““In 2013,1 about 2.8 million TBI-related emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, and deaths occurred in the United States”( Traumatic Brain Injury & Concussion." Centers for Disease

How? Well because, when one takes act in a sporting any kind of sporting activity it keeps them extremely busy and they would not have time on their hands to get into trouble. I would know because when I ran track and field for my high school and I didn’t have time on my hands to do really anything. Pretty much track and field took over my whole life. I missed out on so many events with family and friends. The only day I had to myself was on Sundays. According to Lindsey Tanner " A survey of more than 14,000 teenagers found that those who participated in sports were less likely to use drugs, smoke, have sex, carry weapons or have unhealthy eat