Why The Athlete Is Not For Their Parents

Every child at some point in their lives dream about becoming a rock star, doctor or an astronaut, but the career that stands out the most is becoming a professional athlete. Why? One reason could be the ever increasing media coverage on each individual sport with certain channels devoted for just that particular sport, keeping viewers updated and thirsting to get out and play. Another could be the ease of getting out in the backyard as a kid to shoot the basketball, throw a football, or hit a baseball because it is harder to perform heart surgery or fly to the moon when you're only a child. With that being said; it is easy to look up to a professional athlete and put your heart and soul into them wearing

As a casual reader of the sports section of this newspaper, you come across many articles depicting the triumphs of local athletes. However, very rarely do these articles describe the actual athlete behind the success. Athletes come in all sorts of sizes and shapes. They range from the incredibly talented to the horribly uncoordinated. Some are great teammates while others would rather be a one man team. Certain athletes seek out attention from the people around them while others are modest and stay in the background. The fact of the matter is that there is a wide spectrum of different types of athletes that exist in this world and no two athletes are exactly the same. However, each can be put

In today’s society, NFL players and hockey player are the inspiration in the lives of today’s youth. Little boys strive to be the best they can be in football and hockey, because their dream is to one day become a professional athlete. Young boys focus on sports like football and hockey, because they are two of the most populist sports in America. Many young children want to play professional sports for the fame. Some want to be a professional athlete because of all the money they can make each year. They also want to make money to make a better life for themselves and their families. Most children

Sports are not for everybody, not only because of talent level, but because a certain mindset is to be had to be successful at any sport. A commitment is made. Forty hours of practice a week, the average amount of time spent practicing for football players, all for a one hour game, the average time of one game of college football, takes dedication. That is not even counting the time spent icing, resting, and studying the playbook or film, not to mention the school work to be kept up with for college and high school students. Most athletes have become used to the grind and juggling three or four time consuming activities all at one time while being successful at each. Waking up at the break of dawn, following a schedule, and suffering consequences when a bad choice is made creates character and discipline that is often needed for many little league, high school, and college athletes. The most important non tangible thing sports teach anyone is how to get back up after falling, how to get knocked down but get right back up and keep going, how to move on from failure and overcome it, focusing on the next important part of life. These skills of determination and courage taught through sports are essential for being successful in any part of life and are hard to come by anywhere

They are shamed for not contributing to the community like fire fighters or police officers do which is completely wrong. Professional athletes are well known for visiting schools, camps and teaming up with their league to make a difference. The National Football league or “NFL” has had a huge part in youth programs such as “Play60” which encourages kids to be active for at least 60 minutes a day to reduce obesity, recognizing the work for our military service, and providing awareness for Breast Cancer. On October 25th, the American Cancer Society and the NFL are teaming up to launch its first nationwide, breast cancer event called “ A Crucial Catch Day” which will allow underserved communities to have free or low cost screenings as well as education on the cancer. They also take time out of their day to participate in programs or visit schools. The impact an athlete can have on a child for just 10 minutes can be huge. Whether it involves providing motivation at a school assembly, donating for an important cause or help run an organized youth camp, athletes do a lot for us to, and it should not go

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,

Edgar was a fifteen year old boy in high school. He was born in Mexico, and shortly after his birth, his family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. Now after fifteen years in Nevada, they were moving again. This time to Jackson, Wyoming.

To be famous and rich through being an elite athlete can be a major dream that one might want to achieve in their own lifetime. Though being an elite athlete could have benefits, it is not worth the cost. 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 both try to explain in their own ways how being an elite athlete is not all that it is cracked up to be. I believe that the sacrifices made to become an elite athlete are not entirely worth it.

Athletes argue that they are role models for children and endorse products. This is true, but it is what goes along with the job. I would be prod if I knew that billions and billions of young impressionable children wanted to be just like me. You should not have to be paid to be a role model, there is no reason that one should be negative, commit crimes, and do “bad” things regardless of you being an athlete or not. It should be an honor to be praised and loved by billions, this is why I feel the reasoning of the professional athletes that demand higher wages are illegitimate.

Everyday today's youth are asked what they want to be when they grow up. Some say teachers, firemen, police officers and a large response to that question is a professional athlete. Something that all these professions have in common is that they are all role models to children. Firemen, teachers, police officers have an easy job at doing this; they are after all the people that save children, teach children and protect children. But professional athletes on the other hand have a difficult task assigned to them when it comes to being role models. Professional athletes are not given an option as to be a role model or not. Just because they have a special gift does not make them have

Often, even without trying an elite athlete becomes a role model for young people, this is because they are fit, focused and famous.

Many times we find that young people look up to athletes. There are countless community centers that offer different athletic programs. Many times there are young people with endless talent and ability, striving to be just like their favorite athletes. There are a number of good athletes that display an incredible amount of perseverance in their everyday lives. This alone serves as inspiration to young people.

Sports parents are the backbone of their kid’s life when it comes to sports. They are supportive, being the team Mom or Dad by bringing snacks for the children after they perform in the game. Sports parents are the biggest fans for the athlete. No matter if they are winning by a large margin or losing by a large margin they should be there after the games to always tell them “keep your head up, and get prepared for the next game, leave this one in the past”. Being a sports parent isn’t easy at all, it takes a lot of hard work and dedication for it to be a positive effect at the end of the day. For it to work the parent is going to make sacrifices that they don’t want to but whatever it takes to make the child happy and perform to his/hers highest level of play the children are going to appreciate you for everything you did when didn’t have to do it. Participation is the biggest part as being a sports parent. Usually, the parents of the children would get together and do fundraisers, making sure the athletes have everything they need for the sport they are playing. Example: for football; cleats, gloves, girdle, mouth piece, chin strap, socks and whatever else needs to be purchased. Also, the parents could hold a banquet for the student-athlete after the season to celebrate their performance they had. Giving out certificates, trophies, medals or any other accolades. The coaches can make some remarks on the season

Parents have a great affect on their children. Parents like their kids to be involved in many different activities to make the child a well rounded person. Sports is a main activity that parents get their children involved in. Sports develops character, as well as discipline, self respect, etc… Sometimes parents don’t realize that even though the sport itself teaches the child, they are the most visible teacher to the child. Parents are often the ones who get out of control at sporting events. When the children see this behavior, they now must question. Is this acceptable? Then a child may think it is and engage in violent or destructive behavior themselves.

Famous athletes are constantly put on a pedestal in all forms of media. Teens are easily impressionable and can constantly see their favorite athletes and other celebrities on the cover of magazines, websites and on television. This amount of publicity places a huge amount of responsibility on athlete’s shoulders to serve as good role models to young