Most children play sports to make friends and stay active. Youth sports are focused on fun, creating the opportunity to grow competitive and disciplined as kids age. However, somewhere along the way, youth sports are losing their purpose. Now, nearly 70% of kids quit sports before turning 13 years old.
What’s meant to be a space for kids to learn and grow is becoming a breeding ground for burnout and excessive pressure. Ironically, it’s coming from the people who encouraged them to play in the first place: their parents.
High expectations come early and from every direction for young athletes. I played youth soccer growing up, and the “best” eight and ten-year-old players were quickly pulled from rec leagues into club teams. Of parents from households that make under $50k annually, 39% believe their children will go pro, seeing an athletic scholarship as a way out.
Kids shouldn’t worry about the outcome of a game before middle school. It’s exciting to win, but the focus should be on teamwork and personal growth. Parents who are hyper-focused on winning and being the best at this age are projecting their insecurities onto their children.
Parents often see athletics as a ticket to success for kids who may struggle academically. However, the hard truth is, only 6% of high school athletes will play at the collegiate level.
In an era where professional athletes make an obscene amount of money, it’s easy for parents to lose sight of reality. Instead of paving the path for glory, early specialization and year-round sports only lead to exhaustion and burnout.
Kids should be allowed to branch out, explore new sports and play for enjoyment. If the talent is there but the passion isn’t, it might simply be time to move on, a reality hard for many parents to grasp.
Getting children involved earlier and more rigorously statistically has no benefits before the age of ten. They aren’t prepared for physically demanding practices and year-round schedules. Kids who specialize in a single sport year-round are “70% to 93% percent more likely to be injured than those who played multiple sports.”
Those who participate in multiple sports experience the opposite effect, as doctors emphasize, “Cross-training is your absolute best way of avoiding overuse stress or repetitive injury.”
There are also issues with parents on the sidelines. Sadly, it isn’t uncommon to see a parent going absolutely ballistic at a teeball game nowadays. When I line-judged for youth soccer, parents were borderline verbally abusive to everybody involved in the game, including their own kids.
This competitive behavior on the sidelines is more than annoying; it’s harmful for children’s development. Kids are always watching, and they learn how to navigate the world by watching those around them, especially their parents. Aggressive sideline behavior can make kids feel self-conscious and teach them anger is how you solve problems or express emotions.
The weight of a parent’s expectations shouldn’t crush a young athlete. In fact, expectations should be the bare minimum: have fun, be kind and respect others. Kids should not be expected to dominate and be the best before puberty. Close losses and bad calls are necessary character-building experiences to help kids thrive. After all, life isn’t a highlight reel or a series of victories.
Youth sports is a huge business designed to make parents think specializations and extreme commitments to sports at a young age are what lead to athletic success. However, even professional athletes disagree. Former MLB player Jeff Francoeur emphasized this by saying, “You’re hearing it from the people who have done it all at the highest level, saying ‘You don’t have to go all in at the age of 12 to play sports’.”
If we want youth sports to become a welcoming and thriving environment again, parents must step back and let kids play for the joy of the game. In a time where 19% of kids between the ages of two and eight have a mental disorder, sports should be a refuge, not another source of stress.
Abby Shriver is a freshman studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note the opinions expressed in this column do not represent those of The Post. Want to talk to Abby about their column? Email them at as064024@ohio.edu or reach them on Instagram @abbyshriver_
