The Evolution Of Youth Sports

Youth sports ages are considered to be high school sports and below. “And more than 45 national sports groups, including the USTA, MLB, NFL, PGA, and NHL are backing an effort to encourage multi-sport play” (Rosenwald, 2017, p. 3). Kids love sports, and it’s one of the things that they do for fun. Sports keep the youth in today’s society physically and socially active which can help prepare them for their future greatly. Most kids that do play youth sports are out for more than just one sport, which helps kids even more, and that is very helpful for them. When they play more than one sport it helps them develop skill that they can use in other sports. “They(the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and

Many people think that sports help children develop teamwork, self-confidence, moral character, and other personal strength but others see the negative side of youth sports, believing young athletes develop aggressive traits such as bullying and the need to dominate their opponents not just on but off the field as well. Youth sports have become far too intense, especially in contact sports.

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.

Each year in the United States, more than 36 million school-aged children participate in an “organized sport” (“Youth Sports Statistics”). Especially over the past few years, many studies have proved or disproved the idea that sports are beneficial for young kids. Those studies have found that youth sports have both positive and negative effects on young children, and research shows parents and coaches have the greatest effect on a child’s experience.

Youth sports in general is being reshaped because of how competitive americans are becoming. Every aspect of kids’ sports has become hypercompetitive hyper organized, and all consuming. The craziness in the culture of kids sports has led to the realization the world has changed. An estimated 40 million young adults are participating in a variety of organized sports For those 40 million apart of organized sports they have to give an almost total commitment to playing and being apart of the team (Ferguson). Sports are considered to be a shared cultural experience between many children, and they can

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.

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 past 30 years, the direction of sports within the youth has drastically changed. In the past, young athletes aimed to play in several sports. Now, athletes focus themselves in one single sport and year-round extensive training has been encouraged by most adults in a young athlete’s life whether they are a parent or a coach. Allowing the youth to participate in sports is frequently considered “a great way to develop leadership skills” and “an appreciation for individual and team accomplishments” (Sailor). Along with the rise of Sport Specialization, concerns pertaining to a child’s physical and psychological health have begun to increase as well. Early Sport Specialization may lead to greater risks in a child’s life such as injuries,

The real joy of youth sports comes from playing alongside with your friends, not from bias and critical parents. That’s why the call for the “De-organization” of youth sport are on a raise, athletic activities should resemble entertaining pick-up games. Also, children would be provided a safe playing environment, but would be allowed to manage their own games and, as a result, begin to develop those personal skills organization, conflict resolution, leadership, and

In an article by John R. Gerdy, he states that the biggest problems with youth sports are the parents and coaches. At a typical practice, most of the time is dedicated to fundamental skill instructions and only a small percentage of the practice is actually allowed for the player to have fun playing pick-up games without adult involvement. Allowing kids to be alone for their own practice then they

Youth sports have many issues that affects kids like injuries, lack of interest in the sport and most importantly bad parenting. The problem in youth sports is that parents expect too much from their children at a young age causing them to stop doing sports at the age 13, more or less. Parents are making their children play year round sports that can lead into injuries. What I’ve researched so far, many articles and journals are meant for parents to make them improve their parenting on young athletes. I’ve read that many parenting styles regarding youth sports are repetitive. In other words, many parents are making the same mistakes like being too hard on their kid or enforcing training for many hours. From my research so far there are good and bad physical and mental outcomes of kids doing sports at an early age. Many of which are mainly good but all

In “Children need to play, not compete”, Jessica Statsky exposes the dangers of competitive youth sports. She claims that controlling coaches and parents “impose adult standards on children’s sports.” According to Statsky, numerous parent-funded programs would rather have a victorious team then to help players develop skills and self-esteem. She voices her concerns about all organized sports activities, clearly articulating her own view on this matter. Furthermore, she seeks to draw awareness to the physical, psychological, and other affects these activities have on young kids by providing the reader with strong examples of the unhealthy situations children in sports have experienced.“Their goals should be having fun, learning, and being with

Being involved with athletics at a young age is typically looked at as being a good activity that gets children involved and gets them out for their 60 minutes of play a day. Little do many people know, there are many benefits to youth sport than just a child’s daily exercise. Along with there being many positives and benefits to youth sport, there are also negatives that can come about. Many of the benefits include physical, psychological, intellectual, and social benefits. Some of the negatives that can occur from youth sport are the possibilities of loss of self-confidence, frustration, burnout, and injuries. There are many ways to try and make sure that the youth reap all of the benefits from sport at a young age and there are certain elements that coaches, parents, and teachers should take to maximize the befits of sport.

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