The Dangers Of Competitive Youth Sports

In “Children Need to Play, Not Compete,” Jessica Statsky argues that younger children should not be involved in overly competitive sports. Statsky wrote that organized competitive sports were to the disadvantage of children both physically and psychologically. In youth athletics, some parents and coaches put their own dreams in front of their children 's’ well-being by stressing winning. Statsky concludes “all organized sports activities” to be remade as a more enjoyable game regardless of each athlete’s ability and athleticism. The author states many issues that kids have when they are forced to play a sport just to win or that they don’t enjoy. Some kids just don 't enjoy sports, but their parents force it on them. Certain organized sports programs promote winning over physical skills and self-esteem. Statsky brings up valid points that early childhood shouldn’t involve intense physical competition, which is associated with the risk of injury to the body and mind.

In his new book Until it Hurts: America’s Obsession with Youth Sports and How it Harms Our Kids, author Mark Hyman shows how parents have turned youth sports into a high stakes game of poker at the expense of their children. Hyman’s explores the history of youth sports in our country and how it has evolved from a fun past time to much more intense sport with heavy participation of parents. This book not only takes a look into youth sports today it will expose a lot of the negativity surrounding it. Hyman does not just point the finger at other parents but offers his own account of

Occasionally in some athletes’ lives, the parents pick the sport their child participates in. They may do this because they want to envision themselves and their child participating. Athletes’ parents push them to go to practice and games, and they end up quitting due to the parents “gap between the child’s desire to have fun and the misguided notion among some adults that their kids’ games are a miniature version of grown-up competitions, where the goal is to win (Atkinson). This problem can lead to psychological and anxiety issues in children. If a child believes they have to be the best, but they physically and emotionally can’t, it can make the relationship between the parent and child distant and not as strong. Parents hope to see their children in the professional sports; however, only “one in six thousand high school football players will make it to the NFL” (Atkinson). With these statistics, the odds are very low for athletes to make it that far, and parents pushing their children to be that .0001 chance can stress a kid out and strain their academics. In bigger schools, it is more competitive to be on a school sports team, which can cause heartbreak if an athlete does not make the team, but the parent can take it to a whole new level believing that the child did not work hard enough. This can sometimes lead to the student being punished, with

Being a professional athlete is one of the most commonly heard dreams of a young boy or girl who currently elementary school. Whether it is realistic or not, these kids will be participating in the sport that they wish to thrive in. But, time after time we hear adults complain about their child’s insane soccer schedule, or how they have to spend their whole weekend traveling for games. The parents complaints shouldn’t be the topic of discussion, in fact the only opinions that matter are the children. The question shouldn’t be asking whether or not youth sports are too intense, it should be asking if it is worth it. If a child loves what they’re doing then they have every reason to continue playing their sport, but if they are not all in, he or she has to question whether or not all the craziness is worth it.

Jessica Statsky, in her essay, “Children need to Play, Not Compete” attempts to refute the common belief that organized sports are good for children. She sees organized sports not as healthy pass-times for children, but as onerous tasks that children do not truly enjoy. She also notes that not only are organized sports not enjoyable for children, they may cause irreparable harm to the children, both emotionally and physically. In her thesis statement, Statsky states, “When overzealous parents and coaches impose adult standards on children's sports, the result can be activities that are neither satisfying nor beneficial to children” (627). While this statement is strong, her defense of it is weak.

In “Children Need to Play, Not Compete”, Jessica Statsky talks about the different kinds of students and their approach and mental and physical ability and pressure towards Sports. Statsky differentiates between two sets of children who have physical and mental attributes and towards sports. She gives a few examples and changes that have taken place in the past decades in the sports scenario. When overzealous parents and coaches impose adult standards on children's sports, the result can be activities that are neither satisfying nor beneficial to children. She further states that children should not be pressurized or forced upon their performance and improvement rather they should first be given a chance to understand the sport, their potential and the way in which they develop

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 light of Jessica Statsky’s book ‘Children need to play, not compete’, she argued that, with the vivid increase of sporting competition lately in the United States, children have been exposed to the adults hard and rigorous training by devoted parents and coaches at their tender age making a game that is supposed to be fun and joy look hectic and strenuous to them due to the standard of training they are made to go through and also the belief that they must always win thereby making them lose the spirit of sportsmanship, and neither gaining satisfaction nor benefiting from them. In as much as sports are good for physical, mental and emotional growth, it should be organized in a manner that the youths will enjoy the game at the end of it rather than the fear of being hurt or defeated by the other competitors.

Summary Jessica stasky shared her thoughts and views about children playing adult competitive games in “Children Need to Play, Not Compete.”. According to her it’s a new trend of parents involving their children in games which are not meant for them and which only cause harm to their physical and mental development. She said that such games have only one aim and that is victory other things like sportsmanship, discipline and teamwork is nothing. As a result of this aim, children only get stress and more stress whereas in the process of gaining this aim they often get injured which make the disheartened towards sports. Statsky criticize the process of selection and the trainers who are responsible for making games more like a competition for children which they have to win and this winning pressure make them to choose the one who have some skills and talent whereas the one who have potential of taking a

What makes Jessika Statsky’s “Children Need to Play, Not Compete” an effective piece in the arguments on whether the competitive sports may harm children both physically and psychologically, is her use of clear thesis statement and a full forecast of the reasons she offers to justify her position. Statsky carefully picks her key terms, such as by sports, for example, she means to describe both contact and non-contact sports that emphasize competition. Also she clearly defines to her audience that she is mainly concerned about children of age six to twelve years old.

Currently over 36 million children participate in organized sports ("Youth Sports," 2015). This reason is why parents must ask themselves whether or not youth sports build character. This question is essential for parents in making the decision regarding the enrollment of their children in youth sports. Organized youth sports have been around since the early 20th century. Society has accepted that these sports generally convey values and cultivate character (Fitzpatrick, 2008).

Youth sports is well know if you got a younger kid or teenager that like sports or trying to be in good shape it is god for them to play sports at a younger age. Youth sports is really dangerous but most kids like to play it all over the world. Youth sports is young teenagers or younger kids that play sports for a youth. Yuth sports are very dangerous many kids and teeagers get injured by playing sports. Kid and teenagers get injured because they play sports all year around. But it’s good that younger people play sports at a young age because it will help them be more active in the long run. Proponents believe youth sports have benefits such as help kids be in shape teaches them how to be a leader and let them have fun playing a sport that they love. while opponents say they are dangerous because there are over millions of kids who get hurt by play contact youth sports.

In “Children need to Play, Not compete,” Jessica Statsky focuses on the severity of competitive sports for kids. She is of the opinion that these sports are extremely damaging and there are fewer advantages when it comes to taking part in such sports. The extreme pressure of winning that becomes obligatory for kids by their folks and coaches is additionally caused due to the guidelines of such sports. The writer suggests that this pressure might cause persistent psychological problems and greatly have an effect on a child’s performance. These sports conjointly provoke physical aggression among kids, which can end in injuries that may last for a long period of time. The author categorizes such sports to be job-like and fewer fun for kids. The main target of such sports is barely competition. Maybe, being competitive might facilitate the kids later in their life but losing in

In “Children Need to Play, Not Compete,” Jessica Statsky puts light on the severity of competitive sports for children. She is of the view that these sports can prove to be highly damaging and there are fewer advantages of playing such sports. The great pressure of winning that is imposed on children by their parents and coaches is also caused by the nature of such sports. This pressure may cause persistent psychological issues and can greatly affect a child’s performance in life. These sports also provoke physical aggression among children which may result in injuries that can last for the whole lifetime. The writer categories such sports to be job-like and less fun for children. The focus of these sports is only competition. Though being competitive can help the children later in their life but losing in a competition may affect their health and performance. She uses strong sources to back up her idea that competitive sports, especially the ones that include physical violence, must be avoided. She ends her argument by concluding that the focus of sports for children should be just to let them play and not compete. For this purpose, we need to make amendments to the children sports. (203 words)

In the article “Children Need to Play, Not Compete”, the author, Jessica Statsky emphasizes the need to prevent the involvement of children between that age of six and twelve in organized and highly competitive sport activities. Statsky contends that such sport activities have long-term deleterious physical ramifications for children in this age bracket. In particular, Statsky points out that competing to win has greatly been emphasized over having fun and enjoyment in organized sports. In that regard, Statsky argues that children expose themselves to injury risks as they push themselves excessively hard for fear of failure.