Playing youth t-ball or joining your first soccer team when you were 9 years old used to be fun, entry level experiences for children to experience the fun of learning how to play a specific sport. You used to join a rec league for a season and then if you wished, could try another sport the next season. Youth sports have changed dramatically over the past 20-30 years and now children are beginning to play organized team sports at the ages of 3 or 4 years old and choosing a sport to specialize in and play year round by the ages of only 10 with special private coaching and using the best pitching machines and batting cages in the off season, for example. The level of intensity for kids athletics is the same as it was for teen atheltes and even some college athletes 25 years ago and this is leading to a host of new issues.
One of the greatest differences is the age at which kids are encouraged to play sports. Not long ago, the youngest age usually, was around seven or eight years old to play soccer and ten or eleven years old to start basketball. Now it is 3 years old for soccer and kindergarten for basketball. Most of the kids at these little ages don’t have neither the physical coordination nor the attention span to be able to get through an hour long sports event. Because of this, kids give up on a sport earlier because it was too dificult for them.
Children are also being told that they have to specialize and focus on one sport around the age of 10 years old to be able to get a sports scholarship to college. This has increased stress related injuries in a lot younger kids as a result of overdoing it on their still developing bodies. The overuse on the kids physically and mentally has caused a whole generation of youth to completely burn out by the time they are teenagers which is a real shame.
This increased intensity of athletics at a younger age is also seen by the coaches and the parents as well. There have been several incidents when parents become unruly at their children’s games or competitions that they cause issues with their inappropriate behaviors and must be told to leave. Because of this, most schools and youth leagues now require parents to sign a contract saying they will act appropriately. Coaching has also become more demanding for children. In the past a parent would volunteer to help coach a team and that would be it. Now parents are hiring private coaches and personal trainers to get their child to to be the best athlete ever. The Financial investment parents put into their children’s athletic pursuits is sky high.
Maybe, people will realize that children need to be children and don’t need the physical or mental stress that is being put on them in their sports by their coaches and parents.
