With youth sport competition intensifying, kids are pressured to specialize and compete early on in one sport, but kids get tired of a single sport or a single position. As a result of this boredom early specialization is correlated with increased burnout and dropout in sport. (Sagas) Early specialization can also lead to less enjoyment, social isolation, and decreased participation in sport in adulthood. Physically, early specialization can lead to imbalances and a limited range of motor skills. (Sagas) This could be because athletes only adapt to their position and for the skills that apply to their age. For example, young basketball players shooting on high hoops have to shoot from their chest rather than using proper form.
The advantages
…show more content…
Farrey writes on the snowballing effect that benefits early bloomers in sport. Early bloomers get an advantage over other youth players and then get selected for elite teams early on. These players get better coaching and are then called back to these elite teams to get more elite coaching and the cycle continues with more elite coaching and more playing for the same team. Even if late bloomers might be in a better position genetically later on, they will not have received the same coaching head start as the early bloomers. (Farrey 91) This creates for an environment where better nurturing has been given to athletes with less natural capability. Elite players, like those on US soccer teams, have ended up advantaged by the luck of their birthday and their genetics rather than genetics alone. There may be players with elite genetics that bloomed late and became discouraged. These player who were discriminated against might have made US professional teams more …show more content…
The author also explains how the structure of youth sport affects participation. By the time athletes get to high school, they often need to already be good enough to compete. If players are not good enough to compete by the time they get to high school, they cannot play on the one team at their own school. Unlike in the US, in many other countries athletes join clubs as kids and often play there for the rest of their lives. This means that everyone can have the opportunity to play and stay active. (Farrey 70) In the US, those who need to participate the most are excluded as a result of the limited space on high school
Gatz, Margaret, Michael A. Messner, and Sandra Rokeach. Paradoxes of youth and sport. Albany: State University of New York, 2002.. 12-13.
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.
As a child, Stephen Curry was raised like any other child, except he grew up playing multiple sports. “In an age of hyper-specialization, Curry has reached the pinnacle of his sport by doing the exact opposite. He played basketball, but he also played some baseball, football, soccer and basically everything else in a sports buffet” (Cohen). Now, Curry is known as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Is this because of his vast background of many sports? In today’s world, children should be introduced to a variety of different sports in order to promote discipline and hard work, prevent injury, and fulfill their college desires.
“Sports specialization refers to the exclusive participation in a single sport, most commonly on a year-round basis” (Kauffman). For many athletes, this means that training schedules no longer have an off-season (Kauffman). Early sport specialization is characterized by participation in a specific, intense training program for a single sport at an early age at a competitive level (“Journal of Physical Education,” n.d.). Ages that are considered for early sport specialization include 3-12 years old. “Approximately 45 million children participate in organized sports, and many participate at earlier ages with sport specialization” (Callender, n.d.). With this participation gradually increasing in the U.S. adolescents, sport specialization including
Looking back at Statskys essay she noted that children quits sports mostly “apart from their change in interest” but also because of “…lack of playing time, failure and fear of failure, disapproval by significant others and psychological stress ” (3) one will agree with me that teenagers are influenced by the parents, coaches and their friends. This group of people are considered as outside forces in every sport thereby making them loose interest in sports and not the sport discouraging the children from indulging. I do not agree that competitive sport is derailing Children advantage to partake in sporting competitions; rather it tends to develop their skills, needs and abilities.
Sport specialization, means to practice and train for only one sport. Some people feel it is better to specialize rather than play multiple sports. There are good and bad that come from being a single sport athlete, but there are good and bad for being a multiple sport athlete.
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.
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.
Youth sports are a very important part of a child’s development. Youth sports allows kids to grow as a people and to learn important life lessons. Youth sports also allow kids to interact with people as well as work together with others as a unit to achieve a goal. However, kids are being forced, and pushed in sports at too young of an age by their parents. The number of kids who play youth sports is at an all time low in the country, and parents are a major cause of the problem. In the U.S. by age 15, 80 percent of children who play a sport quit the sport (Atkinson). Kids are being pushed too hard at a young age; children are also being forced by their parents to “specialize” in a single sport in a hope for the child to become a professional
“In an article from The Wall Street Journal, multiple sports participation was encouraged by no less an authority than Stephen Curry, who despite being a basketball prodigy at an early age, ‘also played some baseball, football, soccer, and basically everything else in a sports buffet’”(The dangers of youth sport specialization and the benefits of diversification, n.d.). The greatest shooter in the history of basketball, a highly skilled sport, grew up playing multiple sports and advocates for children to do the same. While it is understood he spent endless amounts of time getting extra shots up, he made time for other sports which he says play a large role in developing him into the athlete he is today. Also “an increased amount of volume of one specific movement while the body is growing can lead to imbalanced development and a higher chance of overuse injury” (Reinold, 2015). Specializing can create muscular imbalance and limit overall development or cause an athlete to create early, lingering overuse
Teaching kids to be leaders in today’s world is a hard task that many people have tried to do and have been unsuccessful, but youth sports, on the other hand, have no problem teaching kids these important life skills. Ever since Youth competitive sports existed people have been arguing over whether they are. Youth competitive sports teach kids many important life skills, for example, they teach kids how to work together with other people. Another life lesson that sports teach is leadership skills. Although some people say kids shouldn’t play youth competitive sports because they can get injured, the pros like teaching life skills outweigh the cons by a lot.
Coalter et al. (1994) illustrated that those who stayed in education after the minimal school leaving age had higher rates of sports participation than the school leavers. This statement inspired the author of this review to research, and essentially ascertain what implications and constraints occur in an adolescent and adult environment when considering participating in sport.
Sports as defined by Britanica are organized physical contests played for their own sake (Thompson, 2019). Historically, sports have been characterized by a motivation from the athlete to assert or demonstrate dominance over an opponent. In recent times, especially due to massive developments in technology after the seventeenth century, human survival has been less reliant upon human athleticism or ability but rather reliant upon the ingenuity of the human race (Thompson, 2019). Sports are still quite prevalent in modern day society, which proves that sports serve a greater purpose than just survival. In his article in The Athletic, lead columnist Marcus Thompson II argues that the human race keeps sports relevant because “they are displays
Sometimes, life can deteriorate to the point where a person loses their dignity and self-respect, and are unable to communicate; life like this is longer worth living, as the most enjoyable of things are no-longer enjoyable. Euthanasia could, in my opinion, be practiced when a person reaches this point, and then only passively. If the person in question is able to communicate rationally, then their opinion must be asked first.