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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.
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.
Abstract: Youth Soccer has recently evolved into a fiercely competitive arena. More and more children are leaving recreational leagues to play in highly competitive select leagues. While select sports are a valuable resource where children can learn how to socialize and become self-motivated, children who start at young ages, ten and eleven, can suffer psychological and physical damage. A child's youth sporting experience is directly influenced by the attitudes, sportsmanship and behavior of their parents and coaches.
(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.
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
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 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.
Our society, in terms of world sports, has grown increasingly impressive. Most professional athletes have been playing their specialized sport since grade school, and although impressive, the people we are rooting for are wearing out quickly. Although youth sports programs are a health benefit to society, they also pose disadvantages to a young person’s growth and development.
Paddock, Catharine. "Young Athletes: Injuries And Prevention." Medical News Today. MediLexicon International Ltd, 9 Aug. 2012. Web. 15 Nov. 2013.
Rowley, S. (1986). The role of the parent in youth sports. In G.R. Gleeson (Ed.), The Growing Child in Competitive Sport, (pp. 92-99). London: Hoddon and Stoughton.
More than 38 million children and adolescents participate in organized sports in the United States each year. The most sports related injuries in kids are scrapes and bruises, brain and spinal injuries, teeth, ankles, knees, ACL, eyes, pulled muscles, sunburn and broken bones.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Millions of children worldwide participate in a multitude of sports, either in school or outside of school. As they grow older, they get better, but some of them stop playing. We have discussed that the best and sometimes oldest of the kids (in their age groups) are given more chances and more opportunities, as well as better coaching. This results in them gaining more experience and practice. Ultimately, some of them end up being national or world-class athletes competing and representing their country. In order for that to happen, they have to be recognized as talented and be presented with a chance to become great.
"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...