This new generation of young athletes is facing a difficult choice at four years old. Continue playing soccer and basketball, with such popular sports being less competitive close to home, or sign up for the intense multi-weekly practices and long hours in the car for away games. Youth sports are becoming more and more competitive at younger ages and in some cases it is not a positive way for children to spend their time. Before the massive growth of the internet, young people would play for their local town teams and eventually for their high school. It was a time of laughter and joy for many who were not talented enough to play at the next level. This changed with the new market of money in sports. Not only were the friendly town games no longer desired, but companies began to idolize every athlete and demand large sums of money in return to send footage to college coaches or claim that college recruiters would be attending their matches.
Sports are becoming less and less of a game and are instead turning into another business that adults can run. Not only are youth sports becoming corrupt, but they is becoming increasingly inaccessible. Many families cannot take the time to drive many hours each weekend to compete or pay the high registration fees each season. This limits access and creates unfair competition as these high-level opportunities are only available to those with enough resources to participate. If we are letting youth sports become another competitive business market, then something is going wrong.
Sports have always been about learning and growing and taking those lessons with you into life, yet mistakes now cost roster spots or playing time, leading to added stress. The disappointment of paying thousands of dollars to then sit on the sidelines puts pressure on guardians to push their kids beyond their limits to avoid wasting their money. Over time these young athletes who trained so much at very young ages, face injuries and degraded mental health from the intense pressure. Sports medicine has grown so much in the past decade and doctors have found that excessive repeated motions create muscle imbalances. This raises the risks of injuries by over thirty percent, according to a three-year study done by the National Institute of Public Health. Before the emergence of sport specialization, athletes would play multiple sports giving certain muscle breaks between seasons. Now with the growth of intensive year-round training, no prolonged rest is given and sports medicine doctors have seen a huge influx in sports-related injuries. Dr. Jones, an orthopedic sports medicine doctor at the University of California, Los Angeles, said in an interview with UCLA Health, “From a cultural view, we have created an environment in youth sports where the definition of success is focused on the development of elite skills and winning as opposed to focusing on the development of basic physical health.” This new attitude is becoming more and more common and is regularly seen in the competition and in the viewpoint of the parents and guardians who are observing. Young athletes have now found themselves in win-or-go-home situations and the idea of playing just for their love of the sport has almost disappeared.
Debra Brewster, Unsplash