"Across the country, children are rejecting sports because adults are draining all the fun out of it," says Fred Engh, president of the National Alliance for Youth Sports. Kids are dropping out because of burnout, the emphasis on competition, and the lack of fun. This is particularly alarming at a time when there is national concern about obesity in our children.
Several factors are at work here: the decline of backyard pick up games, the decrease in school sports opportunities and spots on those teams, the growth of private leagues, the attraction of video games, and the onslaught of "competitive parents" who feel they must include their children in every available activity. The combination of these factors reduces the number of kids who "just play" in favor of the most talented, who are pressured to specialize at a young age. And these young stars are often subjected to win-at-all-costs environments in their youth sports.
This is detrimental to all kids: physically, emotionally and developmentally. If you're athletic, you may get pushed until you're burnt out or injured. If you're seen as not as talented you are discouraged from playing altogether. There is a rush to "nurture the kids they think are the best, ignoring the rest," says author and former NBA player, Bob Bigelow.
In the race to be competitive, parents are signing their kids up for organized sports at younger ages and supporting and demanding more rigorous training and game schedules. The result: more serious injuries at younger ages. Over-training and constant repetition impacts the child's development. Add to this the demand for speed and power, before they master proper technique, and this adds up to injury to growing tissues in young athletes.
If you ask the kids, their top priority is having fun, not winning. Parents should take their cue from this. Let's step back from the grueling schedules and must-win philosophies which are akin to physical and verbal abuse of our children. A better approach to keeping our kids healthy physically and emotionally are teams which give more kids a chance to play, develop their skills, learn team work and have fun.
The professional sports model will likely always drive the competitive side of our youth sports. It's up to the parents of the vast majority of kids to maintain the environment where the rest of the kids get a chance to play.
*excerpted from "Game Over" by Marc Lerner, Readers Digest