Youth Sports: What Happened?

Full Article: http://www.theindependent.com/opinion/another_opinion/g-i-s-youth-sports-are-missing-the-point/article_00441838-5763-11e1-8b20-0019bb2963f4.html

On Friday May 19th, 2017, we covered Module 3: Sports and Youth. Organized youth sports made their rise in the 20th century, particularly in industrialized areas during WWII. For decades following the war, and leading up to the 21st century, participation in youth sport skyrocketed. Currently in 2017, an approximated 47 million children participate in youth sports. Despite the staggering number of young participants, youth sport is not what it used to be. In fact, it is leaning toward out of control. The author of the article I have provided the link to above agrees with this statement. He provides a slightly more heated argument against the modern "standards" of youth sport, with his focus being on the parents of young athletes.

He poses three questions during his "rant," if you will:

1. When did youth sports become about elite travel teams?
2. What ever happened to the quality recreational programs that taught kids the basics of the sport they wish to play?
3. Is this what we've become as a society?

These are obviously rhetorical questions aimed at striking a chord in the adults who provoke or endorse the negativity seen in youth sports. However, it stands to reason that these questions are grounded solely upon coherent observation of the negativity in youth sports today, for I myself have seen it as well. To couple these questions with an underlying point, he alludes to a topic that has surfaced more than once in the coverage of the first three modules of this class. That is, the over-emphasis on winning. Instead of "we have to win, we have to win," the author suggests teaching youngsters how to win with class, how to lose with dignity, and teach them about time management and dedication. These lessons, he suggests, lead to the realization that wins are not always portrayed on the scoreboard, rather in who these young boys and girls become.

In addition to that, the author strikes down the common claim that the only way to develop your child's skills and earn them scholarships is submitting them to elite-level competition. This directly correlates with one of the major problems in youth sport discussed in module 3: instilling unrealistic goals of stardom or professional status into young minds. This leads to an immense number of dropouts in youth sport, but it does not have to. All we must do is get back to the basics.

The following graph illustrates the decline in youth sport participation over the course of just five years. One thing we can conclude from this graph is that if nothing is done to turn the tables, these numbers are going to continue to go down.

Almost every sport is seeing a decline in its youth participants. While a variety of reasons do contribute to this, a few take center stage--coaching, parental misleading, and the concept of "just win." It is no wonder kids no longer want to play. They have been told that they need to win, and sometimes punished for not doing so. So, they think, "The thing I once chose to do for fun is no longer fun." It becomes work. As the video provided in module 3 outlined, it is about we give the game back to the kids.

After all, there are several benefits to youth sports:

• Fitness
• Preparation for a competitive real world
• Learning values
• Interaction with others
• Chance to experience and exemplify leadership

I am positive we can turn youth sports around, and ultimately give it back to the kids. It will obviously require increasing awareness, as it has already begun to move. Having played baseball from the time I was four years old to 17 years old, I have witnessed, and been victimized by some of the major problems in youth sports today. I recognize what good it can do. However, to do good, parents and coaches need to take a step back and let the kids play the game. If more and more adults come to understand that simple concept, their children may continue to fully enjoy what it is they are doing, and shape themselves accordingly as they develop.

Additional source(s)/reference(s):

Youth Sports Participation Statistics and Trends:. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.engagesports.com/blog/post/1488/youth-sports-participation-statistics-and-trends