It was a bright, sunny, hot day at the end of august. Our football team had an amazing offensive line as we were stacked with linemen each exceeding over 200 pounds. There were many pressures on us to be a very good team and they pushed us all very hard to be the best. Practice five days a week with lifting on the other two days, no days off was our motto! Our scrimmage had gone very well that day and as it was coming to an end, the starters were out and we were taking our pads off when I heard my coach yell from the side that one of the players got a stinger and he needed me back in. I threw my pads back on and went in. The play was called and the ball was run to my side. I threw my blocker off me and went for the tackle. As I threw my arms out to make the tackle I heard a tear in my shoulder and couldn't move it. Everyone was shocked as I just laid there motionless. I wrapped up my arm in ice and was brought to a doctor where I underwent an MRI and was told that my labrum was hanging by a millimeter. There was absolutely no way I could play football unless I wanted to tear that millimeter during the season and get open shoulder surgery. The coaches over the next few weeks would persuade me to play instead of getting the surgery. Losing a 200 pound tackle on the line would be a huge loss for them and their number one mind set was winning. After careful consideration from listening to all my trusted peers, I decided I wanted to undergo surgery as being able to hold my kid when I'm older was far more important than playing one season of football. After my surgery was scheduled, my mom was still getting calls from the coaches asking if there were other options that they could negotiate instead of surgery. Winning was always their m... ... middle of paper ... ...delayed by homework, video games."CBSNews. CBS Interactive. 06 Jan. 2014 . Keener, Stephen D. "Sports Teach Kids Valuable Lessons." 10 Oct. 2013 . Luxbacher, Joseph. "Pros and Cons of Youth Sports Participation." Pros and Cons of Youth Sports Participation. UPMC. 08 Jan. 2014 . Silverman, Steve. "The History of Youth Sports." LIVESTRONG.COM. N.p., 10 Jan. 2011. Web. 20 Jan. 2014. http://www.livestrong.com/article/353963-the-history-of-youth-sports/ "Statistics." Statistics. Youth Sports Safety Alliance, n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2014. http://www.swata.org/statistics/
...rk, Michael A. "Winning. How Important Is It in Youth Sports?" Youth Sports Institute: Michigan State University.
Feigley, David A. "The Role of Winning in Youth Sports." The Role of Winning in Youth Sports. N.p.,
Later we had our first football game and I was excited for my last first game in high school, I never would have known that it potentially could have been my last game played. Within the first quarter I had broken my foot completely and because of my adrenaline I shrugged it off as a minor injury and played the rest of the game. After to what seemed like I was fine I stood up and collapsed as soon as I did so. This was the first injury that I had ever sustained and I was still in denial thinking I had just sprained a muscle. After being told that I wouldn’t be able to play for the rest of the season I was heartbroken, along with this the college that I had hoped to attend the most being West GA dropped me as a recruit. Two games passed and I was feeling helpless for myself, I couldn’t drive, I couldn’t do anything without the help of others, I had crutches but being a 320 lb. man it was very difficult getting around. As Nancy Mairs said: “I’ve been limping along for ten years now” I was off of my feet for 2 weeks and to me it felt like an eternity. This was when I decided to let college aside and all I wanted to do was finish my senior season strong, my mother allowed me to get my cast taken off and have me put into a boot. For the remaining games I roughed it out and played with a broken foot. Even with
(Callender, n.d.). With this participation gradually increasing in the U.S. adolescents, sport specialization including year-round sport specific training, participation on multiple teams of the same sport, and focused participation in a single sport is also claimed to be increasing in frequency in predolescent children across the world (Mostafavifar, n.d.). 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.
(three reasons why they are bad) It is true that youth sports are an important part of America’s society with over five million youths participating in sports. However, that doesn’t change that youth sports can be harmful to anybody playing them.
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.
Participating in a sport at an early age can be essential to the overall growth process during a child’s upbringing. Whether the participation is through some sort of organized league or just getting together amongst friends and playing, the lessons learned from this can help teach these kids and provide a positive message to them as they develop. There is a certain point, however, when organized sports can hinder progress, which is when adults get too involved and forget about the underlying reason to why they are helping. While adult involvement is necessary, adult involvement can sometimes send the wrong message to children when they try to make participation become more than just about fun and learning. According to Coakley (2009), “organized sports are worth the effort put forth by adults, as long as they do what is in the best interest of their children and put that thought ahead of their own agenda” (Coakley, p. 151). This is a valid argument because once adults put themselves in front of the children and their values, it needs to be re-evaluated as to why they first got involved in the beginning. Partaking in organized sport and activity from a young age can be beneficial to the overall development of children, as long as decisions actions are made in the best interest of the children and not stemming from ulterior motives of adults.
Sports are a popular pastime among all ages and types of people. People not only participate in them for fun, but also for money, physical fitness, rush of competition, and for many other personal reasons. Playing sports is especially common among young people in schools. Athletics are great and enjoyable for many reasons, but there can be a point where sports participation can go too far and become negative for children and adults. Sports specialization for young people is an increasing trend that results in sports having a negative impact on individuals and society.
Gatz, Margaret, Michael A. Messner, and Sandra Rokeach. Paradoxes of youth and sport. Albany: State University of New York, 2002.. 12-13.
Chen, Grace. "Pros and Cons of Sports Competition at the High School Level." Publicschoolreview.com. Public School Review, n.d. Web. 5 Mar. 2014.
Everyone agrees that parent involvement is a good thing. But when the parent behaves inappropriately, it creates a poor environment for the children to learn and enjoy themselves. "Sideline rage" with parents behaving badly at youth sports events is such an epidemic, that 76% of respondents from 60 high school athletic associations said increased spectator interference is causing many officials to quit (Associated Press, 6/3/01). Parents are supposed to be role models, and the lessons they teach will determine their values and actions in the future. These days violence in children's sports is not limited to the playing field; overbearing parents are creating dangerous situations on the field.
Young athletes put in danger by the competition, aggressiveness, and intensity of sports. Kids everyday are being pushed past limits by coaches parents and fans. The intensity of sports has become so high they are causing mental and physical exhaustion. Sports like wrestling has kids eat different to either lose gain weight. Football player, Baseball player, and even cheerleader have to work out in extreme temperatures. Some kids involved in competitive sports have been taking weight lifting classes and even just conditioning. The youth are being put in danger due to how competitive, aggressive, and intense youth sports have become.
Rosewater, Ann. "Playing Well - Organized Sports and the Health of Children and Youth." Up2Us - Home. Up2Us, May 2010. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.
28 Oct. 2013. Mooney, Lisa. A. Should You Push Your Child Into Sports? Livestrong.com. Livestrong Foundation, 09 Nov. 2010. Web.
Sports, a very popular past time today, have been around since ancient times. Greek Olympic Games featured events from chariot races, javelin throws, to wrestling. In addition, a game similar to soccer was played in China by the second century BC. In England, a violent rugby type game was even played to settle feuds between villages. With the development of the industrial revolution and the creation of the first public schools, sports decreased in violence and were played more recreationally and constructively. Basketball was invented to help the youth in New England spend their energy in the winter months. Since the early 1900’s sports have been a key experience in the United States (“History of Sports”). I have played sports for many years, and the experience has helped me grow significantly as an individual.