Youth Sports Essay

Do you remember playing outside as a kid? After finishing your homework, your parents would give you the magnificent privilege in breathing in the nice air? Playing outside with your friends doing whatever game you guys came up with? Those were the good old days. Nowadays, kids won 't organize or play sports by themselves unless there 's a league with adults organizing it. They 'd rather play video games. Nearly every child today, at one point has played at least one sport in their life. Whether it was Little League Baseball, Pee-wee Football, etc. Organized youth sports have changed dramatically over the years. There’s even kids as young as three starting organized sports. Heywood Hale Broun once said that “Sports do not build the

One day we were playing a game against another private school. I remembered the opposing team walking in a perfectly straight line with their heads up high, like robots. During the game, I don 't know what the coach told them, but we got pummeled. They were pushing and tripping every time we got the ball. Some girl even stomped on my foot. The opposing player would tell the referee that it was an accident but the referee gave the team a lot of fouls. The coach of the team and opposing teams parents were encouraging the opposing team’s behavior. We lost the game. On the next practice, my coach forced us to run laps. There was no set number he just said: "Run until you legs give out." It was excruciating. My legs did give out. Inside my mind I wondered: “is any of this necessary?” I figured the opposing team was out celebrating because they won just that one game. What would happen if they lost the game? I guess they would probably have done laps too or even worse stuff. Why must kids get praised when they win and get tortured when they lose? Winning and losing are inevitable in life and even coaches and parents need to except that equally. Coaches and parents should be role models to kids. They should boost kid’s confidence and self-esteem. They should teach how to have fun playing sports and that it’s okay to lose, after all it is just a

Since organized sports have become a norm, “we forgot the child in all of us.” (O 'Sullivan). He states that sports should be the ability to “see” each child as individuals and let the kids shape and develop the game itself to play and learn whatever sport they are playing. (O 'Sullivan). Like what O’Sullivan states, kids should expect to win or lose and learn it’s just a game. Parents and coaches should be role models and teach kids the fundamentals of sports and support them throughout and just say “I love watching you play.” (O 'Sullivan). Get rid of all the useless trophies and certificates and just have a big social event at the end of the season. We all can’t be young forever. The world isn 't going to come to an end if some kid didn’t score the winning touchdown or goal. It 's a just game. Let kids enjoy being young and carefree while they can