I saw in his eyes sheer delight and the joy of accomplishment. He had successfully faced a pitcher older and bigger and had fought off pitch after pitch before knocking a single into left field. His base hit drove in a run, continued an inning and fueled a rally which brought the team a victory from what looked like a certain defeat. He was willing to be taught and was willing to try. Success was secondary to the life skills he was mastering. Character traits will certainly be developed as one participates in team sports, but to attain positive character traits will require deliberate efforts by parents, adults, teammates and even leaders of the organization itself.
Positive character development has been assumed by parents as they sign their children up for belonging to teams in youth sports. Yet, there are examples described by Peter Cary in an article about Fred Engh, a founder of the National Alliance for Youth Sports. In these examples, Engh relates some of the ugliest episodes of adult interactions such as coaches yelling at and belittling players into tears, parents physically assaulting umpires and officials in the full view of kids, adults intimidating or threatening young players because of perceived on-field failures (par. 1).
Carey continues by relating stories of coaches using ‘loopholes’ to cheat in order to ‘win-at-all-costs’. In this illustration, players are told not to swing as an opposing pitcher is unable to throw strikes, resulting in the bases becoming loaded on walks. As the wild pitching continues and the aggressive base running persist the result is a game which no longer resembles baseball (par. 2).
Parents have long had a belief their child participating in team sports would develop pos...
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...ts behaving badly? The relationship between the sportsmanship behaviors of adults and athletes in youth basketball games. Journal of Sport Behavior, 32(1), 3-18.
Carey, Peter, with Randy Dotinga, and Avery Comarow. "FIXING KIDS' SPORTS." U.S. News & World Report136.20 (2004): 44-53. Business Source Premier. EBSCO. Web. 3 June 2011.
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Zaichkowsky, L. D., R. Hedstom, T. Herzog, and L. Igel. "Parental Misconduct in Youth Sports." NASN School Nurse 16.5 (2001): 4. Print.
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High school coaches been sworn at called names and physically threatened by parents before,during, and after the games. Playing time is often at the root of the problem though sometimes a parent is outraged that their son or daughter isn’t being played at what the parent thinks is their child’s best position (Nolan). In addition, equal playing time is important because it developed every player skills.(Nicole). Take, for instance, the case of a young player who has never played for a club before. He’s 11 and charges around the place without being able to control the ball or kick. Many of his teammates didn’t think he should play for their team but the coach has been working with him and one day he wanted to let him play and believe it or not he did very well for his first game that he even made a goal for the team (David). The best thing to do whenever you’re in a sport is that the coaches
The amount of unnecessary behavior by parents at youth sporting events is increasing rapidly and is ruining the kid's experiences and their passion for the sports. Parents in the United States are becoming more involved in their children's sports than the kids themselves. The reason that so many young American athletes are quitting at such an early age is because their parents are making the sports a joyless experience and are placing too much pressure on the kids to win and to be the best. Parents have become out of control at youth sports and it seems that the kids are showing more civility than the parents these days. Parents need to get back to teaching their kids that sports should be played for fun and not just for showing who's the best.
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Heffernan, L. E. (2013, October 10). Parents Ruin Sports for Their Kids by Obsessing About Winning. Retrieved April 28, 2014
Lauer L., Gould D., Roman N., Pierce M. (2010). Parental Behaviors That Affect Junior Tennis Player Development. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 11, 487-496.
Gatz, Margaret, Michael A. Messner, and Sandra Rokeach. Paradoxes of youth and sport. Albany: State University of New York, 2002.. 12-13.
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.
Remember the days where the kids used to holler and run in the park, and swing in playgrounds on nice summer afternoons while the parents sat on benches. Maybe they had a soccer lesson after and played a basketball match with friends at YMCA. But today, kids run with sports gear to tournaments conducted by "elite" Little Leagues, while the parents who drove all over town to find the stadium settle down into the bleachers ready to observe every move their kid makes in the game. And of course, they share their complaints to other fellow parents about the coach, who is getting paid half of their paycheck. After a gruesome match on a field that is way too big for the kids, the parents provide some Greek Yogurt and ample of suggestions on how to
When the coach turned his head, the seven-year-old stuck a finger down his throat and made himself vomit. When the coach fumed back, the boy pointed to the ground and told him, “Yes, there it is, Coach. See?” (Tosches A33).It emphasizes the fact that if a child gets hurt once, they will fear the possibility of getting hurt again ,so they try to find excuses to prevent themselves from playing the game.Second,Statsky states how competitive adults have drained the fun out of children's sports and made the game unappealing for children.She cites Martin Rablovsky, a former sports editor for the New York Times says that in all his years of watching young children play organized sports, he has noticed very few of them smiling. “I’ve seen children enjoying a spontaneous pre-practice scrimmage become somber and serious when the coach’s whistle blows,” Rablovsky says. “The spirit of play suddenly disappears, and sport becomes job-like” (qtd in Coakley 94). It shows the fact that competitive adults are oblivious to their actions and don't notice that what they are doing can really affect a child mentally.Third, Statsky is concerned that competitive sports will lower a child's self-esteem and make them lack confidence.’’Like adults, children fear failure, and so even those with good physical skills may stay away because they lack
.In addition young athletes have become more aggressive. Kids that participate in competitive sports are becoming more and more aggressive and competitive the sports have become themselves. Mitchell reveals "traits like bullying and the need to dominate their oppo...
Abstract: Society is affected every day by many different kinds of sports. These sports often govern society's way of life. People all over the nation turn their TVs to sporting events, such as golf, during the weekends. Scott Stossel states that "more than six million Americans enjoy watching golf on the weekends." Parents use sports as a teaching tool for their children. Kids learn teamwork and discipline from team sports programs and sports have also helped many students with their grades. Kids who want to compete in school sports are taught to keep their grades up or they won't be able to play, but the greedy coaches and schools often look around grades to keep their "star athletes" in the games. Adults have been affected by sports in their bank accounts. Tax increases for funding a new stadium, golf course and even school programs have hurt the middle class Americans. Sports have taken control of small communities and soon will take control of society
What Makes A Nightmare Sports Parent--And What Makes A Great One. " The Post Game. Sports Media Ventures, Inc., 15 Feb. 2012. Web.
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.
Sports has been thought to be a platform whereby children and youth are able to learn and cooperate with their teammates, develop self-control, display courage and leadership, communicate and form solutions to internal or external group conflicts and the learning of good virtues such as teamwork, fairness and good work ethics. (Shields & Bredemeier, 1995; Weiss & Bredemeier, 1990). Many parents therefore encourage and enroll their children into sports in hope that they will be able to learn and pick up these positive character-related values and behaviour.
How can children be expected to learn good sportsmanship if their role models are telling them to "win at all costs" or "just do what ever it takes (to win)?" Athletes and sports- crazed parents should remem...