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Confucius once said, "he who does not do well is less guilty than he who pushes too hard." People found that competitive sports are often physically straining and it is detrimental to proper emotional development. This blows away the misconception that competitive sports create a healthy and engaging atmosphere for kids. This and an overly strong obsession with winning create a toxic mix for the child’s wellbeing. People have begun to realize the world of competitive may be doing more harm than good for their children. Parents have also begun to notice that competitive sports often injure their children severely and also make the child feel left out, which in turn is detrimental to the child 's emotional health. Therefore, competitive sports …show more content…
They also believe emotional drawbacks of competitive sports are often overly exaggerated. These statements are not true and are in fact a blatant lie. Jeff Pearlman, a Wall Street Journal contributor and a sports writer, believes that parents and coaches alike are often prejudiced against many weaker and less agile members of the team. Therefore, it is very common to see coaches put out weaker teammates for as little time as possible, if not at all. Since this occurs, this subtracts away from the child 's emotional physical involvement as an athlete. Being involved in such prejudice can often makes children sedentary and feel uninvolved and as nothing but a name on a printed roster (Pearlman 1). With this in mind, being on a sports team can abate from a child 's physical and emotional development, thus proving competitive sports supporters wrong. With this prejudiced system, many children get little to no exercise. In addition, many people firmly also believe that amount of injuries children experience while playing competitive sports is not at all exaggerated and is actually caused by the competition element of competitive sports (Stenson 4). This clearly exhibits the hostile nature of competitive sports. Children are overly motivated by a desire to win, which can in fact cause, to a certain degree, a hostile attitude towards the opposing players. With this mutual malice on the field, injuries and deaths are expected. Competitive sports naturally allow the competitor to become more skewed towards a hunger for recognition and prestige. Many children engage in competitive sports solely for the euphoria that is associated with victory. However, with the many victories and losses of a season, a child 's self esteem can fluctuate drastically. With both pressure
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.
The emotion is intense. Everyone in the gym is on the edge of his or her seat. Time is expiring as the final shot for the win sails through the air. The buzzer sounds… Athletics are a critical element of high school lives--whether it be playing for or supporting one’s team. In order to accomplish success in a season, these supporting individuals are forced to rely on a select few of premier athletes. From day one of tryouts, these athletes are crafted and molded based on their hard work as well as their ability to play in accordance with the coach’s style. At a varsity level, where victory has his or her job on the line, coaches should not be required to play every member of the team equally.
.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...
Competitive parents and coaches must realize that forcing children to participate in intense training directly leads to burnout, lack of confidence, and anxiety disorders. Furthermore, children can also acquire a higher risk of developing pediatric concussions, physiological disturbances, and unhealthy body images. Early sports specialization also causes young athletes to cultivate unethical behaviours, difficulty to facilitate close peer relationships, and fragile family relationships. Rather than promoting sports specialization, youth sports culture should be prioritizing children’s enjoyment and health through sports participation. Wayne Gretzky, a Canadian professional ice-hockey player, quoted, “Athletes can only learn by mixing up games they play when they're young” (McIntosh, 2009).
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.
Once again, after a successful season, Shadle Park was defeated by a Big 9 school in the first game of the regional tournament. This reoccurring event has led many to believe that the four year football program puts GSL students at a disadvantage compared to other districts. A junior high school football program would not only increase the competitiveness of the students but also have more important consequences.
Experts are mostly pointing to the parents as the main problems in encouraging a competition-crazed environment in young youth sports. Many parents are positive, supporting their children and making sports participation possible by taking the time to drive kids to and from practice and games. But parents who try to live out their own dreams through their children can be problematic, experts say. Also, it’s another matter if parents are pushing their kids to do something they don’t want or pressuring them to succeed in a way that’s hurtful. Obviously, parents pushing their kids to do the sport, even if the kids do not want to, is kinda messed up.
“No matter how hard the loss, defeat might serve as well as victory to shape the soul and let the glory out” (Khurana). Al Gore said this to explain one will not always win in life, but losing is the only way one will be pushed to get better and succeed. Is this how kids are taught now or are they learning that they will always be rewarded in life for even doing the bare minimum. Some think that is the message youth sports are sending kids, because they are awarded for just participating not actually competing and earning an award. Others think it is good that kids get an award and that it helps their self esteem.
Can we play on your team? Why would kids want to be a part of any sports team? “One study has shown that at-risk urban teenagers, particularly boys, are just as likely to become involved with criminal activity as they are to graduate from high school” (Piccirrllo). “Organized after-school sports programs also make sure better students” (Piccirrllo). Would you rather your son or daughter play on a sports team or become a criminal?
(David Sortino, 2012). So with kids being pushed too hard, losing or playing badly can be a hard blow to some kids. “Kids who play sports and surround themselves in them can feel like sports are who they are, and when they fail they can feel like they are a nobody,” (Paul Stricker, HealthyChildren.org author, 2006). Kids “failing” make their self esteem go down, and many people, including myself, believe that competitive sports put them in these types of situations much too early, at points where most kids can’t even handle it yet. And when kids aren’t ready, it make take serious tolls on them, “When people lose a lot they can become depressed, stressed, and anxious.”
The pressure put on by parents and coaches to perform well and win all the time can lead kids to carry that pressure through different environments, such as the school and home environments. Pressure put by parents and coaches can lead children to start disliking their sport tremendously. Matt Roth, a sports specific physician, describes sports as a “waste of money and time” because of the enormous amounts of data and statistics that show that due to all the pressure to perform put on children, 75% of children drop out of sports altogether by the time they reach high school (Roth). The amount of pressure and stress carried through by coaches and parents leads most kids to stop enjoying the sport they started off loving. In his talk, John O'Sullivan, the founder of the Changing the Game Project, starts by talking about his 5 year old’s soccer game and the 10 year old’s soccer game in the field next them.
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...
Sports also teach kids how to be a leader, how life isn’t always fair, and it shows them what it’s like to work as a team. This is important because they can use this knowledge to help them succeed in their adult years. According to the article, “15 Reasons Competitive Sports Are Great for Kids”, competitive sports help “Greater the focus on the process and less concern over the result allows competitive sports to be a character developing and happy part of childhood.” Even Cohen, a concerned dad and lawyer, writes about how he wants his child to “...experience competition and learn lessons that sports teach.” Those lessons being that the commitment that sports teach you, how playing by the rules is a must, how competition helps us with goal setting, it helps us to cope when things do not go our way, it also teaches us to take risks, manage our nerves, to bring our best effort throughout life, and to, overall, learn at a faster rate, and perform at a higher level. All of these are things that we use throughout life, things that affect our decision making, and our everyday lifestyle.
According to Avery Faigenbaum, an associate professor of exercise science at the University of Massachusetts, the pressures placed upon kids in competitive sports can cause kids to quit sports completely (Stenson, 2004). An issue that has recently been under intense scrutiny is whether or not the pressures put upon kids by competitive sports are beneficial for the youth of our nation. Some stand strong behind the belief that these pressures and competitive sports have a positive our children and help them grow into better adults. They believe that these pressures give kids motivation and teach them how to deal with pressure. But, when one looks at the evidence it is clear to see that there are too many negative pressures on kids involved
It 's been outrageous , how many kids get injured per year playing youth sports for school and organizations. The youth who play sports receive plenty medical attention throughout the year due to injuries cause from actions made occuring in games. Health plays a big part in sports because if your are are not healthy many things can go wrong with the body including dehydration, heart problems , and muscle spasm. Playing a sport can be very hard to juggle with school and also getting talked down by coaches and parents. Dehydration is a high possibility because of outside sports that happen in the spring/summer and playing and practicing in humid conditions that you are not well prepared for can be bad and there will be consequences. Parents and