Sports was seen as an avenue to develop young people and athletes. It allowed young people to express themselves, develop fundamental skills, and learn values and lessons that will help them throughout their lives.
But youth sports has become a business, and winning has become the number one priority among coaches, parents, and players, which has seen many issues arise in youth sports.
What are these issues and how are they affecting youth sport?
Coaching
With the business of youth sports growing every day, coaches have adopted or pressured into a culture of winning at all costs, instead of focusing on the overall long-term development of each player.
Adopting this winning culture will see coaches focus on developing those who demonstrate ability early, leaving some kids with little playing time and not getting the attention they need to develop.
This culture can lead to many players quitting the sport because too much stress is placed on winning, and the joy of expressing themselves with their team mates is taken away.
It is important for coaches to understand that your influence on a player goes beyond a game or season.
Parents
Parents have a great influence on youth sports and the majority of parents who are involved in sports mean well.
But there are instances where parents are misguided and overly involved in their children's sports. Overly involved parents fret and micromanage coaching relationships, playing time, coaching decisions, and team performances.
These actions can have a negative effect and could see players disrepecting coaches or make them quit sports.
［Click on the link above to listen to college Basketball Coach Frank Martin]
Early Specialization
Youth sports have become very competitive, and many youth athletes specialize in one sport from a young age. Although specialization may help athletes gain success early on, it can harm their overall development.
Coaches and Parents should focus on multi-lateral development, where young athletes develop various fundamental skills and motor abilities that will help them become better overall athletes.
Early Specialization can lead to young athletes quitting sport, burn out, and increase the risk of injury.
[Click on the link above and listen to the effects early specialization has on youth athletes]
Expensive
Most sports are available to youth athletes, but the more popular sports have become expensive. Many families spend thousands of dollars for their child to participate in sports.
As the business of youth sport grows, many sports have become unaffordable and have seen many families being priced out of the game.
Sport should not be distingushed by who can afford it, but should be made available for everybody because it can unite people from different origin and backgrounds.
However its important to note that, with the rising cost of facility hire, coaches salaries and overall running cost, teams have no choice in raising their costs.
Setting the Wrong Goals
Winning is a priortiy in youth sports, and even though winning is important it should not be the only metric we evaluate success.
You can play well as a team or swim your personal best time and still get beat. We must evaluate and monitor a child's progress and praise their effort, hard work, and commitment.
The focus in youth sports should be developing people and athletes; winning will take care of itself.
You may be asking yourself, with all these issues, can Youth Sports be fixed?
My answer to that is yes. As parents, coaches, and players, we can look into:
Changing Behaviour
Set the right Goals
Measure what matters
Finding the right enviroment and fit for our youth athletes
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