Youth Sports Programs: Money & Injuries

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Broken bones, jammed fingers, sprained ankles, stitches and so much more; these are some of the many effects of playing youth sports. “Two million injuries and 500,000 doctor visits and 30,000 hospitalizations occur each year for high school athletes.” (Lisa Weisenberger, Stop Sports Injuries) Those numbers aren’t just hundreds and thousands but millions of children and teens getting hurt just from playing a sport. Youth sports programs may be fun and enjoyable but can have many negative consequences.
It may be the child of the parents that’s playing the sports but the parents of the child are who pays for all of the equipment and who gives the final decision on if they’ll let you participate in that sport. Parents are a big part of a youth sports program. According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases otherwise known as NIH; “More than 38 million children and adolescents participate in organized sports in the United States every year.” If you think about the parents of those 38 million children and put it as two parents each, that’s 76 million parents total. But that’s also 76 million parents that have to pay the fees for the sport or sports their child chooses to play and gets to make the decision on if they are even allowed to play.
Furthermore, there are more injuries caused by playing youth sports and there are also a lot of participants and parents but the cost of the sport is a main part of the sport too. “An article was written highlighting a woman and her son; she estimated she had spent $50,000 since her son was in the first grade so he could play basketball.” (Monumental Network, article was by Tim Richardson) That cost not only included him playing in basketball clinics and c...

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...es in Youth Sports: A Comparison Between Players' and Parents' Perspectives.". N.P., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. http://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jsas/6776111.0002.106/--experiences-in-youth-sports-a-comparison-between-players?rgn=main;view "Sports Injuries." Childhood and Their Prevention: A Guide for Parents with Ideas for Kids. National Institution of Arthritis and Muscoskeletal and Skin Diseases, June 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Sports_Injuries/child_sports_injuries.asp Price-Mitchell, Marilyn. "Playing the Game: The Truth About Youth Sports." Roots of Action. N.P., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. http://www.rootsofaction.com/playing-the-game-the-truth-about-youth-sports/ "Youth Sports Injuries Statistics." Statistics. Ed. Lisa Weisenberger. Stop Sports Injuries, 2009. Web. 01 Dec. 2013.
http://www.stopsportsinjuries.org/media/statistics.aspx

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