Youth Sports : A Trend That Has Touched Every Household

With around 45 million kids enrolled in some type of organized sport, it’s clear that youth sport is a massive part of American culture. Most people remember playing a rudimentary form of soccer or basketball during elementary school, when rules weren’t too important, and having fun was the only goal. While nearly everyone can recall playing some kind of organized sport during their childhood, a very small percentage of people stick with sport beyond middle school, and even fewer go on to play after high school. The amount of children who quit organized sport during adolescence has raised questions about the psychological risks of youth sport. Youth sports in and of themselves are not an inherent problem; however, issues do arise when children are asked to take on too much at too young of an age. While there are risks associated with youth sport, organized sports also provide

42 percent polled say it is appropriate for children to begin playing tackle football younger than age 14. Parents are starting to hold their kids out of football and other sports which is keeping them from learning the game and learning social skills early in life. Youth sports have been a part of many kids’ lives for as long as the sports have existed. Youth sports keep kids active and helps them get out of the house. Youth sports help kids develop social skills at a young age and they gain a better understanding of the game. As a result, youth sports are important parts in kids’ lives because they help kids develop social skills and they help them get a better understanding of the game, even though there are some safety issues.

Youth sports are continuing to be shifted into adult standards, by promoting victory while risking injury. Kids do not have the same physical capabilities of professional athletes on television, yet some parents insist that their kids continue playing extremely harmful sports at a violent level of play. Young athletes should not put constant strain on developing bones and muscles. For example, in baseball, a twelve-year-old trying to throw a curveball puts constant strain on the elbow’s ligaments, and may cause

Competitive sports in some cases are becoming very unhealthy for children. Most children would rather play on a losing team than sit on the bench of a winning team. Youth sports are a great idea to get children up and active, as well as improve their social skills. Just like every other thing in life it is important to practice and work hard to achieve success. However it is unhealthy to push for results over the needs or wants of the child. Aside from the mental stress that young athletes may experience from intense training and physical play long lasting injures is now a growing concern. Fact is competitive sports is a double edge sword if done right it is the greatest thing world, but if done wrong it can be very unhealthy for a child.

Children are the future. When they are harmed, the future becomes less and less healthy. Injuries from sports are especially risky for children, because they’re not finished developing and are susceptible to brain damage that could stop their brains from growing. Mental harm, at times, can be more dangerous than physical injuries. For example, low self-esteem can lead to serious psychological impairments and conditions like depression. While it may be true that physical fitness is important, there are still options and activities that cause a lot less harm and fewer risks are necessary. Parents and coaches both should work harder to keep children safe and out of harm’s way while in sports. Parents should get their children check up on at the doctor’s when something seems wrong, and act accordingly. Coaches should have breaks for rest and to prevent strain between practices and put the players’ health and safety as a top priority, above

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.

Young children having major physical injuries while participating in sports should be of more concern. In the article High School Football Comes With a Risk, by Jeffrey Perkel it states that, “...boys aged 10 to 14 we’re most likely to end up in the nation’s emergency departments with a traumatic brain injury…,” This shows how adolescents are unnecessarily hurting themselves because of these sports. Expectedly, during the 2005-2006 US high school football season an , estimate of 517, 726 injuries were submitted to the RIO. Even my own personal experiences with sports all ended in tragic faults. Swimming with

However, the days of simply playing ball with your friends are over. It is a different world for young athletes. Sports at a young age should be fun and a great source of physical activity. Yet, many children are specializing in one sport early- playing year-round, joining competitive clubs, or travel teams and participating in special training programs- believing they’ll put themselves on the fast

Any child who participates in sports only raises the likelihood that they will suffer one of these injuries. The most deadly and life altering injury children can are concussions. Concussions are a part of all sports and are unavoidable. Many children are young and may not be able to recognize if they have suffered a concussion or not. This is extremely dangerous because any physical activity is unhealthy when trying to heal the brain and if they get another concussion, it can have be life changing for the child “A second concussion soon after the first one does not have to be very strong for its effects to be permanently disabling or deadly.”(“concussion”). Because of how easily a concussion could go unnoticed in young children it leads as the most deadly injury from sports. Some children may even lie about how they feel knowing that if they do have a concussion they won't be able to play their sport for a few weeks at least. For how dangerous and deadly of an injury, concussion are they are very prevalent in contact sports “the likelihood of suffering a concussion while playing a contact sport is estimated to be as high as 19 percent per year of play”(“concussion”). That means if your child participates in a contact sport for more than 5 years they will most likely suffer at least one concussion if not more. Concussions are a huge danger to any child participating in sports and no sport will be able to give back what a conclusion could take away from your child's

A Worldwide survey of emergency room visits shows that about every 25 seconds, a young athlete visits a hospital emergency room from a sports-related injury (Loehrke and Healy, USA TODAY). Occasional bumps and bruises are expected when kids play sports, but when almost 1.4 million kids are injured and sent to hospitals its catches someone’s eye. Sprains, strains, fractures, contusions, abrasions, and concussions all top the list of ER diagnoses for kids age 6-19. That’s averaging a cost of up to 935 million a year. Many believe these are preventable (Carr, Safe Kids).

Adults need to pay better attention to children playing contact sports. Often because of competition and the feeling of being “Invincible” they decide to stay in the

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness, the goal of youth sports "should be to promote lifelong physical activity, recreation and skills of healthy competition”(Source A). The American Academy of Pediatrics on Sports

Practicing a sport can be highly beneficial to children, until it’s taken too far. Often called training now, children as young as six years old are participating in sports that require too much time. At that age, sports should be something fun to do and a favorable source of physical activity. However, whenever an athlete shows a hint of a talent, child exploitation occurs (Bean 10234). Between the ages of 7-12, adolescents should be learning identity, motives, beliefs, and values, but nearly all athletes are practicing 5 days a week with games every Saturday. This leaves no time or energy for hanging out with friends, homework, family time, and relaxation. Dr. Shane Murphy reports that if a coach or trainer sees talent in a young child, immediately they are convincing the

hergenroeder says injuries in sports also include psychological injury as well. Young athletes should play sports for self enjoyment and to boost self-esteem and improve athletic skills. If these are not priorities in youth sports then participation in sports are potentially harmful by decreasing self-esteem, diminishing athletic skills, and discouraging additional participation in sports. Pediatricians should be aware of potential psychological issues within a young athlete and provide guidance to address them. Albert also says pediatricians should always be involved in providing medical care for children and adolescents when these patients are injured in sports participation. Albert says the overall goal of his article was to increase competency of pediatricians in sports medicine care, specificaly prevention of sports related injuries. Overall Phsycological issues should be looked at carefuly to prevent any future damage to the