Youth Sports Research Paper

Out of all the levels of sports, youth sports are arguably the most important. Youth sports lay the foundation for all the proceeding levels afterwards. This level of sport is vital in the sports realm because at this level and age, they begin to learn what sports are, the fundamentals of the specific sport, and kids learn what it is to be an athlete.

According to the International Journal of Sport Science and Coaching:

Youth sport participation is regarded as a positive contributant to the development of desirable psychosocial attributes. However, both positive and negative outcomes have been associated with youth sport participation. (Ross, A. J., Mallett, C. J., Parkes, J. F., & Strachan, L. (2015))

This is why the youth sports level

This has become an issue due to societal norms and reasoning which has created a major gap in the reason why youth really participate in sports. When generally thinking about sports, three things come to mind: teams, competition, and winning. For years, society has had a mindset that questions, what use is it to compete in sports and not be able to win consistently? One aspect that is true in youth sports is that there are different echelons which can be categorized as recreational, elite, and organized sports. Recreational youth sport is more free-lance play where coaches and parent volunteer at games and the competition level isn’t relevant. Elite youth sports floats around the realm of youth that are more talented skill wise and are able to compete at higher levels of competition such as youth Olympics and professional teams. Lastly, organized youth sports are formed through traditional tryout and talent level has to be at a higher level than recreational, but sometimes less extreme as elite youth sports. Youth sports regardless of the level, seem to have a common interest and

Children need autonomy, enjoyment and confidence in order to progress in any activity. (Lovell, J, 2016)

Kids being kids, all they know about winning is at the end of the game have a higher score than the other team, but what they do not know is the byproduct of seeking such a reward. The level that the supporting cast expose the kids to is steep, in which in most cases are detrimental to the kids. The level that coaches and parents demand from the kids all the time is usually what drives the kids away from sports and the affect from the pressure usually results in withdrawal from the sports. Acts such as having kids train beyond their want and need, applying unnecessary pressure to perform, and the lash kids get from not performing not up to their