Youth Sports Research Paper

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.

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.

Sports can be viewed as a learning environment that helps individuals learn life lessons, foster strong work habits and develop core values all the while learning a sport skill. Youth sports that truly benefit young athletes should be structured to emphasize participation more than just competition. Children enjoy a sport more when they are able to have fun (Humpries). Despite many excesses some sport programs still manage to promote important virtues like self- confidence, teamwork, personal responsibility, coping skills, and persistence. Through sports kids can learn to stay organized and learn how to prioritize (Ferguson). Sports enables development of physical skills and increasing proficiency makes kids feel good about themselves. It teaches kids that failure is something to overcome and and not to fear (Meyerhoff 8-9). Youth sports has many aspects that are truly benefiting for children, but these benefits are slowly being clouded by the negatives that are prominent in today's youth sports.

“Sports teaches you character, it teaches you to play by the rules, it teaches you to know what it feels like to win and lose-it teaches you about life.”(Billie Jean King) Most students from first grade to twelfth grade say that sports are a big part of their life and make them who they were meant to be in a positive way. Some people might argue that students in sports or extracurricular activities have lower grades than the other students, but it's the opposite way around. Sports improve your performance in school because they strengthen your concentration ability and leadership traits.

Many youth sports are part of community organized after-school programs. There are many different types of these programs such as T-Ball, Little League Baseball, Pop Warner Football, soccer, martial arts, cheerleading, and so forth. “There are over 40 million youth participating in organized sports, and both girls and boys have a dazzling array of choices and can play a sport year round” (Le Menestrel and Perkins 13). Communities use youth sport as an outlet to encourage social activity, a healthy lifestyle, and skill development for that particular sport. For example, “Participation in organized sports can provide opportunities for youth to learn more about specific skills and exercises associated with a particular sport” (Perkins and Noam 76). These programs offer opportunities to boost skills and connect positively with others. Without these activities, parents will have to find another developmental setting that may not give similar or beneficial outcomes as those of organized youth sport. Studies found that, “Sports

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,

Many parents become passionate and extremely involved in their child’s sports career and because of all this emotion riding on their kid’s performance they become combative. Sadly, these emotions have caused unnecessary tragedies that have changed the outlook of parents and children on these sports. Parents do this with good intentions, but in the end it hurts everyone around them. I believe that their behavior is inappropriate and these parents must also realize themselves that their actions and behavior are unacceptable and have to be addressed

College sports isn't what everyone makes it out to be. Some people relate college sports to High School sports only to the extent of: it's a level harder. Many feel that college sports isn't that big of a deal. What little people know is being a collegiate athlete is a job. The life ou hae is set out for you on the court. Most of the free time off the court is spent doing homework. There's hardly any time for a social life, and or time for your family. Being a collegiate athlete isn't just about playing sports anymore, this is your job.

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

Catastrophic injury is devastating not only to the injured athlete, but also to the athlete’s family, school and community. The Washington Post indicated that an estimated 800 thousand boys and girls take part in high school sports yearly. This demonstrates how high school sports is a major part of the school extra curricular activity. In Daniel Gould article "Are High School Sports Good For kids?" he found that students who took part in high school sports got educational benefits and extracurricular activities have positive effects on adolescents .Experts may argue that high school sports allow kids to be physical active, but they must also recognize the clear dangers. Playing high school sports come with serious consequences and life altering changes such as physical injuries, peer pressure and psychology effects.

I read this astounding statistic in an article about Athletes for Kids (AFK), an organization focused on helping kids with disabilities and special needs. For the first time in my life, I could relate to what it means to live with a disability. Mine was temporary, caused by a soccer-related ACL and meniscus tear and the ensuing surgery.

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

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.

My own interaction in youth sports has been many: As a parent, participant and an observer. My experiences as a child in youth sports were mostly positive. In my early days of sports in school, all children were encouraged to play for their school, skill level did not matter. There were no tryouts and no one