Essay on Youth and Sports

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

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 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.

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

Statsky specifies that sports played from six to twelve years of age could have long-term negative and degrading effects in terms of health and the interest and attitude towards the sport for the child as both a player and a fan. Statsky states many reasons for her opinion, which include the risk for physical and psychological harm, and parents who are more worried about their child winning rather than participating in the game. In my opinion, I agree with the argument made by the author that competitive sports encourage children to engage in physical actions. Some of the sports activities are most thrilling and energetic. Players, driven by the desire to win are likely to act in a careless way causing physical injuries. Hence, young children are at great risk of sustaining injuries in the course of competitive sports. Though in football injuries are common, instances of injuries for 12 year olds are severe since the body structure of these children has not developed fully. Competitive sports have two results, either a loser or a

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

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

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 are a popular pastime among all ages and types of people. People not only participate in them for fun, but also for money, physical fitness, rush of competition, and for many other personal reasons. Playing sports is especially common among young people in schools. Athletics are great and enjoyable for many reasons, but there can be a point where sports participation can go too far and become negative for children and adults. Sports specialization for young people is an increasing trend that results in sports having a negative impact on individuals and society.

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

i. In the article “ The Impact of Sports on Adolescent Development” published in Forum on Public Policy in 2013, D.C Jack conducted a study that found

The purpose of this paper is to argue the fact that youth sports are not becoming too intense. After reading the New York Times article I decided to pick this topic and argue against this theory because as a division one athlete I have my own opinions. I picked three sources which can back up and prove that sports being too intense is very much your own opinion.

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.

When considering enjoyment, known factors that affect the participation for youth sport participants are motivational climate and coaching behaviors. . The very first coach that a child encounter plays a very important role in the child’s sports life. In fact, the first coach a child encounters can be the determinant if the child will return to participating in the sport or not. Coaches need to motivate the children to play and continue athletic involvement. However, there are numerous external factors that are involved in the child’s sports life such as: peers, academics, parents, anxiety, and of course the relationship between the coach and the athlete.

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.