Middle School Youth Sports

6.McEwin, C. Kenneth, and Thomas S. Dickinson. "Placing Young Adolescents at Risk in Interscholastic Sports Programs." The Clearing House 69.4 (1996): 217-21. Web.

In this article, we go over the idea that organized youth sports for middle school children may cause more harm than help. Middle school is already a tough time in any child’s life, adding the emotional, physical, and psychological stress and possible injuries outweighs the benefits. One third of sports injuries that happen to children are between the ages of five and fourteen. Four million kids are treated in the emergency room every year. These injuries are not just from sudden accidents but also from over use and repetition. Most sports are set up so that 50% of the players will

Youth sport programs try their hardest to portray and mirror professional sports organizations and teams in skills, looks, and status. Although sports can assist in building character, self- esteem, and health, it can also plant the seed of cruelty, greed, and dishonesty. At some point in many sports winning becomes the single most important factor in maintaining a winner status, no matter the cost. With this being the ultimate goal for coaches and parents it then eliminates the fun aspect most children play for from the start. When coaches and parents all have different agendas and goals of how the sport should be played, the child is then put in the middle of something called “crossfire”, which can evolve into much unneeded stress put on the young athlete. With confusion and large amounts of pressure put on the child to win, we then see there is a conflict of understanding ‘personal victory’ vs ‘team victory’. This can cause low self-esteem, extra stress, or fear towards losing if the expectation of the parents and coaches are not delivered by the

In this article, we consider why most kids drop out of sports at such a young age and how we can prevent this from further happening. Burnout can be a leading cause of why children drop out by middle school, however, this is usually tied to other attributions causing negative outcomes. Too much stress, no longer having fun, and injuries are all reasons why children decide to walk away from youth sports. These can easily be prevented. Coaches and parents need to acknowledge that kids participate in youth sports for fun. If that simple concept can be accepted, then the focus of fun games to enhance motor skills and development can be endorses rather than the competition factor. When the stress of competition by parents and coaches is eased, it takes the load off the child to then enjoy and learn in the world of sports. A good coach should know when and how hard to push their athletes. Communicating to know the difference of hurting and complaining in their athletes is key to pushing them where they need to be. Being aware of pushing the limit of injury in the child. Overuse of the muscles is a large portion of injuries in youth sports. Any sport which involves repetition can create a chronic injury over time in children. This is yet, another reason why specializing in one sport is dangerous until they have reached an