Within each family, children may receive a psychological influence while participating in sports. Either if the child feels as if they aren’t good enough, or even either pressured into playing a sport, the child may have a sense of anticipation. Parents may even cause their children to lose the love for the sport they once enjoyed participating in. Believe it or not, this happens within a multiple amount of families all over the world. Whether playing the sports runs within the family, or even if the child is pressured into being a prodigy, family issues may develop. Being on a team teaches teamwork, discipline, and sacrifice. Parents influencing their child to play for the reason that they played it, may cancel three of those out. It’s more than just playing the sport. Whether you’re running up and down of a field playing soccer, or even hitting a tennis ball across the court, it’s important that you love what you’re doing. …show more content…
In an interesting article titled “Fatherhood and Youth Sports”, Lucas Gottzen discusses the challenges and advantages of having a father involved while participating in youth sports. Gottzen believes that, “men are expected to be emotionally present and involved in their children’s everyday lives” (Gottzen 640). It is believed that the competitive aspect of sports participation, with its emphasis on performance pursues fathers to be more challenging and demanding. For example, if a father expects his child to be more athletic than they actually are, a deranged father may develop. This eventually pushes the child to no longer be interested in the sport. Gottzen believes that fathers give their child that source of competitiveness that a mother will not be able to provide. Men have a way of fathering their children through sports in which they may learn everyday lessons that will help them get through
According to Butler, 1989; Connell, 1987; Scott and Morgan 1993, in society the ideas of masculinity will characterize masculine as having a certain physique and mannerisms. For example, a man can be a big influence because it is believed that a man is the head of the household and must be in control. Men influence the youth males in the family because they encourage the males to participate in sports because it is perceived as a masculine activity. These men also use sports as a bonding agent to help create a better relationship between their sons and themselves. Gottzén raised the idea that men “father” through sports and help the youth gain attributes and values that make them a man. These youth males learn the social norms and values from their fathers through primary socialization. As a result, this influences the personality the males gain. Fathers have a bigger impact on youth males because some use their father’s status as a goal. In Messner’s study, he has a 24 year old black man that used his father’s physical stature as a goal to obtain the same status and physique as his father. That young man believed his father’s physique was a sense of empowerment and tried to obtain that. As a result, that young man had a physique greater than his
Parents in the U.S. today are becoming too involved in youth sports and are getting out of control. In the July 24, 2000 issue of Sports Illustrated, there is an article by William Nack and Lester Munson about a father in Massachusetts who killed another father over a little dispute about youth hockey. On July 5, 2000 Thomas Junta, a father of two, got into what seemed to be a minor shoving match with Michael Costin, a father of four, over a play in a hockey practice. After a while the fight was broken up and Junta left the ice arena. A little while later Junta returned with "clenched fists" and pinned Costin to the ground. With Costin's children standing just a few feet away and pleading with Junta to stop, Junta pummeled Costin with punches to the face and slammed Costin's head into the hard rubber mats that covered the floor. By the time someone was able to pull Junta off of him, Costin's face was so badly beaten that even his own children could barely recognized him. Costin was left in a coma and died two days later. This shows that p...
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.
Youth sports parenting can be very impactful for children depending on the parenting style. In the article of “Why Kids Quit Sports” the author discusses the major roles that parents play in their kid’s youth sports life. He discusses a personal experience that he had before with a young player from his little league discussing a conversation with one of his team players. He says that a young athlete had told him that she did not want to do sports anymore because her dad kept on coaching her in the car and sidelines of each game. She stated, “I can’t play when he is around, and he insists on coming to every game, every road trip, you name it. It’s like it’s more important to him than it is to me” (“Why Kids Quit Sports”). Parents are the main
Society defines the essence of masculinity in part through sport. Athletics encourage or reinforce the courageous, strong, superior, and competitive male sex role (Messner, 20). Boys grow up being judged by their ability, inability, interest in, or ambivalence toward sport. They equate their successes and failures with self-worth, sometimes producing a self-image wherein they value themselves more or less depending on these achievements (Messner, 24). Young boys can learn priceless lessons and acquire life skills from early experiences in athletics. Concepts like, teamwork, cooperation, being a good loser, and respecting your competition are integral to sports participation. There are, howev...
One of the many benefits of playing sports is the children will build character. Building character is important because with character they will obtain new friends and develop different skills. Playing sports at a young age can build character in many ways, “Playing sports at a young age enables children to participate in social interactions and build skills such as teamwork, leadership, and responsibility as they learn to work with others to achieve a common goal,” (Aspen Institute). This is a benefit because they will build character from learning how to deal with wins and losses from playing sports. Also, they will develop different skills. Developing different skills will build character because, “numerous positive developmental indicators have been associated with sport participation, including improved self-esteem, emotional regulation, problem-solving, goal attainment, social skills, and academic performance,” (Holt). This shows how when children play sports that some of them acquire different skills than others. Lastly, some of the benefits that the children will receive from playing the sports are obtaining new friends and developing different
Stein G., Raedeke T., Glenn S. (1999). Children’s Perception of Parent Sport Involvement: It’s Not How Much, But to What Degree That’s Important. Journal of Sport and Behavior, 22, 591-601.
In the articles, “The secret life of Tiger Woods” by Wright Thompson, and “Are parents ruining youth sports? Fewer kids play amid pressure” by Michael S. Rosenwald, there is a very similar occuring theme that is portrayed. It is if becoming an “elite athlete” is worth making big sacrifices like friends, family, and a normal childhood. I believe that the quest to become an elite athlete, is ultimately not worth the sacrifices it requires. One of the effects of being an “elite athlete” is that you will probably not learn the basic ways of how to live life. One time Tiger Woods was with the navy SEAL’s that he did fun things with like shoot guns, and jump out of airplanes, but one time they went out to eat, and when the waiter brought the
More specifically, children are also increasingly pressured--again, usually by parents and coaches--to specialize in one sport and to play it year-round, often on several different teams (Perry). Now, if sports specialization is such a great idea, then why are kids being “pressured”? As stated before, sports specialization can result in severe injury or even retirement from sports all together. Evidently, parents would not want to risk their athlete’s entire athletic career just because of an overuse injury. Knowing this, a diversity in sports activities is the solution to the problem. Additionally, a specialization in sports can lead to the young athlete not experiencing a sport that he or she may truly enjoy in their life. If a parent already makes a child decide on a sport to play, how will the child know if that is the sport they truly want to participate in? As the child ages, they could realize that the sport they play now is not one that they love anymore, so they could just quit. Deciding at such a young age is not only a hasty decision, but also a terrible one. Finally, this specialization can also create social problems. If a child is already so competitively involved in a sport, then their social lives and relationships with friends are at risk. The clear choice here is to let the child live a normal life by allowing them to make friends and play, rather than taking over their lives with competitive
The lives of a family involved in sports are undeniably different than those who don’t. Tight schedules, competitiveness, and frequent road trips create an interesting family dynamic. Perhaps the only thing more interesting than the child athlete themselves is the parents. Parents crowding the sidelines and yelling as their children chase and try to kick a ball through a square. In my experience I have noticed these parents can be divided pretty easily into three categories. The first main category of soccer parent is the over bearing ever present parent, followed by ever present cheerleading parents and finally the never present parents.
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.
Each year, parents are spending thousand of dollars on team fees alone not including all the extras like coaching, equipment, and uniforms. Parents are spending all this extra money to one-up each other and to have the better kid. Rosenwald acknowledges, “Parents now start their kids in sports as toddler, jockey to get them on elite teams, and spend small fortunes on private coaching, expensive equipment, sway and travel to tournaments” (Rosenwald). It is like a game for the parents now too. One parent will spend this much money and then the next parent will go spend even more money and it just keeps going. The public refers to these youth sports as the new keeping up with the Joneses. Parents are spending big bucks now to believe the more money they spend now, the more likely their kid will get a college scholarship later on. The article reveals, “The number of children playing a team sport is falling, with experts blaming a parent-driven focus on elite travel clubs, specialization in one sport, and pursuit of scholarships for hurting the country’s youth sports leagues” (Rosenwald). Although this money spending train has made youth sports a large industry, many children are starting to hate sports because of the amount of pressure their parents put on them. The author adds, “Many of the adults trying to fix the problem remember a simpler, less expensive time in youth sports. There was no travel
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
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.
These days, there is too much pressure on children who participate in organized sports because of the unnecessary parental involvement they experience. A growing concern amongst those involved in youth sports is that certain aspects of parental involvement become detrimental to the development and experiences of young athletes. Early emphasis on winning, making money, and the disruption of education can exceedingly affect ones desire to further participate in a sport later on in his/her life.