During class on September 22, youth sport became the topic of discussion, along with the many problems that plague youth sport. What used to be considered as a fun activity for kids 18 and under to participate in has slowly developed into a private, commercialized business to create a growing emphasis on athletic performance.
With the growing of youth sports as business, has come the many different risks with that including competitive readiness, overemphasis on winning, pressure from parents, unrealistic goals of superstardom, and the overtraining that causes injuries. Since when did youth sport turn into something where kids are so burnt out, that they grow up to hate sport in general?
Coakley argues that the main reasoning behind burnout is the fact that children start so young, they don't learn the abilities to stop. His exact words being contributing to burnout and dropout is the fact that most children under eight years old don't yet have the cognitive and social abilities they need to fully or meaningfully comprehend competitve relationships (Coakley p. 144). The simple solution for this? Give kids more time to develop these behaviors by NOT having them go to elite training programs because you want to relive your glory days of football or gymnastics through your child. We may all want what's best for our kids, but is it really best for them to overtrain for a sport and get their hopes up for a sport career that may never happen?
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