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“On your toes,” Ole yelled, at all his teammates.
Ole is my ten year old son, who has been playing soccer since he was in first grade. He plays two seasons a year and we are on our tenth season. Ole has started showing leadership with his teammates this season. Ole's team shows him respect, he is a very strong player that has always has his teammates backs. No matter how tired he is, he is right there to help his teammates out. When Ole started playing soccer I would have never dreamed of him taking this path. Our family was never into sports, this just fell into our laps while raising our children. Since my eyes have been opened to youth sports, I have seen my son grow with soccer. His growth is incredible every soccer season, I can't wait to see how Ole will grow. I believe that the playing of sports benefits children of all ages, because the lessons and values they learn in sports outweigh the downfalls.
An article in Parks in Recreation, A Matter of Picking Your Game, By Boris Weintraub, covers how popular youth sports has become. After World War II, parents became concerned about the safety of their children. As television became more popular so did youth sports. Little league baseball was first founded in 1939, in 2007 there was 2.6 million youths playing on Little League teams. For these youth players, this can turn into high school squads and for the more elite, Babe Ruth and Pony leagues. A survey in 2007-2008 showed that 54 percent of youths participate in school sports. For both girls and boys, soccer has ranked on the top five for youths that participate in sports.
Playing sports can benefit children of all ages. Many children at a young age are ready to join along with their school friends ...
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... 37.1 (2006): 39-49. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 3 June 2011.
Theokas, Christina. "Youth Sport Participation—A View of the Issues: Introduction to the Special Section." Developmental Psychology 45.2 (2009): 303-306. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 3 June 2011
Weintraub, Boris. "YOUTH SPORTS." Parks & Recreation 44.7 (2009): 36-41. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 3 June 2011
Whitaker, Jonathan, Andy Cunningham, and James Selfe. "YOUTH SPORTS INJURIES AND THEIR IMMEDIATE MANAGEMENT: A REVIEW." Physical Therapy Reviews 11.3 (2006): 171-177. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 3 June 2011
Wiersma, Lenny D., and Angela M. Fifer. "The Schedule Has Been Tough But We Think It's Worth It": The Joys, Challenges, and Recommendations of Youth Sport Parents." Journal of Leisure Research 40.4 (2008): 505-530. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 3 June 2011.
Youth sports are a staple in nearly every American’s childhood as highlighted in “Children Need to Play, Not Compete” by Jessica Statsky. Statsky makes two contentions in favor of this argument: first, that the participants of youth sports are not physically and psychologically ready, and second, that the mentality of win or lose is more harmful than helpful during the formative years of a child’s development. I agree with Statsky that children’s sports are too often over competitive, but some competition is beneficial to their development.
Extremely Competitive Youth Sports Parents. In the United States today, the age for a kid to start playing competitive sports continues to get lower and lower. Parents in America have started getting their children involved in sports at a much earlier age than they used to, hoping that their child will be the next superstar. Parents are placing too much emphasis on winning and being the best, instead of teaching their children how to have fun.
Kids just want to have fun. In a bygone era, parents wanted kids to play sports for fun and camaraderie. However, a new attitude is developing among coaches and parents, which is mopping-up fun from youth sports. Now it's all about the team and the game. The team must win the game at any cost.
Children have been involved in little leagues since the 1800’s, and with the rising problems of obesity in today’s children, I believe it is important to encourage involvement in physical activity. This could be either a positive or negative viewpoint on early sport specialization depending on how it is looked at. It is estimated that between 18 and 28 million American children are to be involved in some type of organized sports participation. However, is the number of these children who have taken to specializing in a single sport at very young ages (Kauffman). This sudden, growing increase has escalated the idea of sport specialization
Every year there are a number of children who withdraw from participating in youth sports. While countless leave sports to pursue other interests, a significant number detest their experience in sport. From the intense practices to pressure-filled competitions, young athletes can feel a considerable amount of stress. If this stress remains for an extended period of time, children experience “burnout” and lose their desire to continue playing. There are two ways parents can avoid youth sports burnout for their children: making sure the children have a healthy balance in their lives and giving the children input into decisions. While sports require dedication in order to achieve a high level
Price-Mitchell, Marilyn. "Playing the Game: The Truth About Youth Sports." Roots of Action. N.P., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.
youth sports [were] the one haven for good sportsmanship," says Darrell Burnett, a clinical child psychologist and youth sports psychologist. "Not anymore. It's not just a game anymore." With technology (etc) distracting our children with violence and so on, we cannot afford to ruin what sports may do for them. With sports being just one of the few things left that can contribute to success in life, education, and health, parents need not to put any sort of unnecessary pressure on their kids at such a young age, or any age for that matter, ever.
Jessica Statsky, in her essay, “Children need to Play, Not Compete” attempts to refute the common belief that organized sports are good for children. She sees organized sports not as healthy pass-times for children, but as onerous tasks that children do not truly enjoy. She also notes that not only are organized sports not enjoyable for children, they may cause irreparable harm to the children, both emotionally and physically. In her thesis statement, Statsky states, “When overzealous parents and coaches impose adult standards on children's sports, the result can be activities that are neither satisfying nor beneficial to children” (627). While this statement is strong, her defense of it is weak.
Engaging in sports plays a significant role in promoting health and wellness among children and adolescents. Although sports participation provides numerous physical and social benefits, it also has a downside: the risk of sports-related injuries. Many children and adolescents are treated in the emergency department each year for sports and recreation-related injuries. However, by playing competitive sports, you can keep obesity rates down, you can have a very strong mental health, and lastly, you can insure a healthy lifestyle for your future self.
Youth sports can be a learning experience or it can be a health risk to the athletes. Youth sports can teach young children the value of hard work and discipline or it can be emotionally and physically damaging. Three main points are how sports keep you healthy, how they build character, and the values that they will learn from sports and how they will use in the future. These three ideas prove that youth sports can be healthy, they build character, and can teach them the value of hard work and discipline for your kid.
According to statistics gathered by youth sports organizations, “Up to 50 million kids play youth sports in America, and 73 percent who begin playing a sport quit before they turn 13” (Binns). The children could have quit because they did not like the disappointment of losing, or because they are exhausted from their parents pushing them too hard. But parents have their reasons for pushing their children into sports. “Studies show that kids who play sports are less likely to become obese, abuse drugs or alcohol or to perform poorly in school” (McCormick). If children are not active, then they will most likely become overweight, and if they have nothing to do in their pastime, they may turn to drugs and alcohol, which usually leads to a decrease of grades in school. A parent putting his/her child in sports gives the child something to do and keeps them fit. Parents also put their child in a sport hoping that he/she will get success out of it “Eager to nurture the next A-Rod or Michelle Kwan, parents enroll their 5- or 6-year-olds in a competitive sports league or program” (Stenson). While not all parents are pushing for future Olympians, the fight for a sports college scholarship is competitive and parents may feel that their child will have a better chance of gaining one if he/she starts competitive sports early. Parents push their children to succeed, and children--not wanting to disappoint their parents--push themselves, sometimes harder than they should. If done right, pushing a child into sports can have a positive effect on the child’s interaction with other children while teaching them commitment and healthy competition. However, focusing on winning and earning a scholarship versus having fun may backfire, because the cons...
Coalter et al. (1994) illustrated that those who stayed in education after the minimal school leaving age had higher rates of sports participation than the school leavers. This statement inspired the author of this review to research, and essentially ascertain what implications and constraints occur in an adolescent and adult environment when considering participating in sport.
Pros and Cons of Children in Sports On Friday, October 18, 2013, Aledo High School and Western Hills High School squared off in a football game. It was a great game for those rooting for Aledo High because they won the game 91 – 0. At the time these two teams played, ESPN of Dallas/Fort Worth had Aledo ranked number one in the state in class 4A high school football. With a massacre like that, one may ask if the Western Hills Football team knew why they had lost so badly. Would this game have made state and national news if it had been played but no score was kept?
"Does Participation in Sports Keep Teens Out of Trouble?" ModernMom.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.
The main goals behind Sport Education are to help students become knowledgeable about different sports and activities to the point where they can participate in these outside of the classroom to stay active. Also it teaches execution and strategies and encourages competitiveness. It is important for kids to be competitive because they will have to be in life and it will teach the importance of winning and losing the right way. “Sports offer kids a great chance to work cooperatively toward a common goal. And working coope...