Negative Leadership and Youth Sports Essay

Leaders are perhaps uncovered at many different levels and situations (Simmons, 2011). However, leaders in many organizations lead when forced into the spotlight and find out they are not equipped to function effectively. Becoming a leader can be as simple as leading a small team, a group or a community organization (Jennings, 2012). The truth of the matter

Being a leader is being a role model and striving to make a positive impact on those around you. In order to be a successful leader, you have to put yourself second and your peers first. For example, my younger sister and I both play softball. I have played on several travel teams during the summer and this year, she tried out for her first competitive travel team. I was asked to aid her by helping her with the mechanics of the game. During this time, I sacrificed my time to put the needs of another person before my own and it paid off, because she made the team and I got to witness the results of my

In his autobiography Life Lessons from Little League, Vincent Fortanasce says “Winning is never final, and losing is never fatal.” At the end of a game, one team will win and the other will lose. Failure to accept this concept has become detrimental to American youth sports organizations. Our society has become infatuated with winning, and all of the additional perks associated with it. What is considered the “best” for children as young as five years old has grown to an unrealistic extent. Parents want their children to be in a reputable organization, young athletes want to play with highly skilled teammates, and coaches want to recruit talented players all in hopes of being the absolute “best”. The amount of young athletes, ranging from five to fourteen years old, participating in local sports organizations has declined within the last two decades due to the highly competitive and unhealthy environments they are being exposed to.Taking pride in your local community has decreased form an athletic point of view. Representing the place I grew up in was a motivating factor when I put my uniform on for every single softball game I played in high school. I had the privilege to play on the field next to girls I had grown to love the sport with ever since our tee ball days. Today, young athletes are branching out from their homegrown roots to play for club teams who recruit players from a larger region. The popularity of traveling teams has substantially diluted the

While the majority of coaches are good coaches there are some who can do damage. These coaches have a “win-at-all-costs” mentality and can be really hard on the kids if they are not winning. Another psychological effect is inapposite feeling of superiority. The obsession with sport in our society can put an inflated sense of self on a child. If they are constantly winning or always making touchdowns they feel unstoppable. (Ph.D., 2015) “We must also recognize that participation in football, and team sports in general, has major benefits for fitness and character building. Participation in sports counters the major public health issues of obesity and, perhaps more importantly, the “disengagement” that we all observe in kids these days. Every parent of a teen, and even young children, realizes that a “virtual” world has often replaced the real, live interactions kids used to regularly experience. I strongly believe that participation in team sports has a major positive influence on youth, and we cannot discount the positive impact of this aspect of football. Ultimately, if a child is passionate about football and no other sport or activity, they are almost certainly better off playing football than being inactive and alone.” (Ph.D., 2015)

All of the publicity that is attained by success, and the possibility of this success, places a great deal of pressure and stress on these young single-sport athletes. This stress and pressure takes the fun out of some sports. Youth sports are becoming serious and based more on winning than on having a great time and learning good sportsmanship. Adu points out the winning mindset of athletes in this day and age when he says, “Teams will do anything to win the game. My coach told me to expect that going in and that is exactly how it was. . .I felt like everybody was out to get me” (Goodall, 2003). This

We arrived at Smalls Field not even ten minutes later. York High’s stadium is not in the best of shape, but it still works for the game of football. Once we got there, the guys started warming up. I went to help Gianni set up the camera in order to film, and the bleachers we were on overlooked our opponent’s practice field. Gianni and I kept careful watch over their practice. It was an absolute mess. The kids were all running around yelling, cursing, and everything else without any order. There wasn't even a coach in sight. They were not setting a good example for the image of their team, or their school. We got the camera set up and went back down to the field. Max, Wil, and Gianni sat around with me and Dani since they were injured and we just talked about the season. Surprisingly enough, most of their memories were good, even if they did have a losing record. A lot of what they said was positive even if they were talking about losses and I couldn't help but smile knowing

However, when we talk about youth sports, our main concern is with providing players with a positive, character building experience. Winning is not the only acceptable outcome for youth players, and coaches need to understand this principle. “With a winning philosophy young athletes may lose out on opportunities to develop their skills, to enjoy participation, and to grow socially and emotionally. Well informed coaches realize that success is not equivalent to winning games, and failure is not the same as losing.” (Enhancing Coach-Parent Relationships in Youth Sports, 15)

In the articles, “The Secret Life of Tiger Woods” by Wright Thompson and “Are Parents Ruining Youth Sports? Fewer Kids Play Amid Pressure” by Michael S. Rosenwald, the authors explain what the sacrifices that elite athletes have to make in order to reach that professional level. I think that becoming an “elite athlete” is worth the sacrifices it requires because if you think about it, elite athletes inspire others and make younger people want to try to be an athlete too. Thus, elite athletes make large amounts of money in a year just doing a sport and doing something they like to do, not what they’re forced to do. In the article, Rosenwald says “...Still, active kids are less likely to be obese and are more likely to have higher test scores,

As a kid living in the mountains of Tahoe, I was a passionate leader. I attended an Expeditionary Learning school that primarily focused on exploring the outdoors, which required both strong leadership and grit. As the captain of my class, I paved the way on the numerous outdoor adventures. In the present day, I continue along that same vein as a leader of my water polo team. I help

“Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser,” Vince Lombardi once said. This saying could be the unsung anthem of American sports for children and teenagers. Everyone loves to win. In sports there is always competition. Is there too much emphasis on “the win” for kids and teens? This issue is important because it essentially develops the way children and teenagers think and react; it will affect them later on in life. Too much emphasis on winning is a problem because there is extensive pressure from parents and coaches, and the consequences can be severe.

These days, there is too much pressure on children who participate in organized sports because of the unnecessary parental involvement they experience. A growing concern amongst those involved in youth sports is that certain aspects of parental involvement become detrimental to the development and experiences of young athletes. Early emphasis on winning, making money, and the disruption of education can exceedingly affect ones desire to further participate in a sport later on in his/her life.

Children who participate in sports are developing rapidly in sports skills, sportsmanship, and psychologically, but does this come from organized sports are just nature’s process. Children develop emotional and social benefits from participating in sports. Children experience character and leadership development through peer relations leading to an increase in self-esteem and a decrease in anxiety levels. Children will get opportunities to experience positive and negative emotions throughout their practice and games trials. It is important for the coach to understand the “psychology of youth sports and physical activity participation” (Weinberg & Gould, 2011 p.516).

I saw in his eyes sheer delight and the joy of accomplishment. He had successfully faced a pitcher older and bigger and had fought off pitch after pitch before knocking a single into left field. His base hit drove in a run, continued an inning and fueled a rally which brought the team a victory from what looked like a certain defeat. He was willing to be taught and was willing to try. Success was secondary to the life skills he was mastering. Character traits will certainly be developed as one participates in team sports, but to attain positive character traits will require deliberate efforts by parents, adults, teammates and even leaders of the organization itself.

Organized youth sports are extremely popular among youth and their families, with approximately 45 million children and adolescent participating in the US. There are many characteristics children can develop while playing youth sports such as confidence, self-esteem, leadership, respect, independence, assertiveness, and conflict resolution. Competition can help kids learn more, improve faster and reach a higher level of excellence than they would be able to without the ongoing challenge. Competitive sports can help keep kids active and health as they grow, and other distractions increase that may lead to an unhealthy lifestyle. People argue that it can destroy self-esteem and lead to resentment. Programs and coaches overemphasizing

Raising children in today’s society is not for the faint of heart. Raising children has never been easy, but it is especially difficult in youth sports today. Coaches and parents are putting a lot of pressure on our young sons and daughters. The pressure to succeed in sports at