Similar to Ed’s comments on club and travel teams, my biggest concern is the plague of specialization. And at such young ages.
If your child doesn’t pick a single sport to play year round, by age 10, he or she will be left out of the top teams. This is a travesty for the bodies and minds of young people.
David Epstein wrote about this in his book RANGE. Top athletes used to play multiple sports up through high school. There’s data that shows it’s healthier for the body. I understand when kids get to college the need to specialize makes sense at that level.
Oops, hit post too early. Unintended cliff hanger 😂
I genuinely don’t know how this stops or reverses course. Reminds me of rising tuitions for colleges and universities. Money and the drive to succeed / get a scholarship, etc are all tail winds for the current trends.
Seems like something a small town may need to start the fire, so to speak. Parents band together and say no to single sports year round. Some of those multi-sport kids go on to play in college and the pros, and it becomes this case study, others see how it can help and follow suit.
I’m not holding my breath but hope this trend of single sport mandates for children slows if not stops all together.
So well said, Matt. Youth sports and college really are two different worlds in terms of how they view this. Youth sports wants specialized kids to fund their year-round programs. College sports wants well-rounded athletes who have experienced a variety of scenarios and cultures. Boggles the mind how more people don't understand this.
IMO, the biggest issue the is the P4P model has resulted in pricing a lot of kids out of sports.
Kids don’t need year round clubs and travel teams before puberty. We don’t need to make sports such a huge financial investment (of time and money) that family lives revolve around a child athlete’s schedule.
It’s all a big cash grab now under the guise of ‘development’.
We need to reinvest in quality recreational sports that kids from 5-10 can play with quality competition and coaching at a modest cost.
Let all kids learn and enjoy sports early. I shake my head watching parents spend thousand of dollars on U8 sports to see puberty hit and suddenly even the playing field or limit their little star athletes actual potential.
Exactly. It's amazing how puberty is the great unknown. Will add that P4P further hinders development since most orgs will take anyone with a big enough bank account.
Cringe is a nice way to describe sideline coaching. Grr. I often find a far away viewing point to tune it all out. Thanks for sharing, and so glad you found the concussion/excessive heat pieces worthwhile.
My parents used to do the same thing as you at my games and now I know why 🤣
It feels so disrespectful to 1). The coach(es), many whom are volunteers and actually volunteered their time to coach, and 2). The players (aka kids) who don’t need the added external pressure and noise.
The only time I yelled at my 4-yo daughter this soccer season was to tell her to go to her coach to help her with her jacket when I could clearly see he struggling to get it off.
Lol. Ah, the clothing malfunctions of the littles!
You've given me a good idea, Colin. I think I need to break down the many types of sideline "coaches." If it helps even one shut their trap and just enjoy their kid playing, it will be worth it.
Similar to Ed’s comments on club and travel teams, my biggest concern is the plague of specialization. And at such young ages.
If your child doesn’t pick a single sport to play year round, by age 10, he or she will be left out of the top teams. This is a travesty for the bodies and minds of young people.
David Epstein wrote about this in his book RANGE. Top athletes used to play multiple sports up through high school. There’s data that shows it’s healthier for the body. I understand when kids get to college the need to specialize makes sense at that level.
The solution?
Oops, hit post too early. Unintended cliff hanger 😂
I genuinely don’t know how this stops or reverses course. Reminds me of rising tuitions for colleges and universities. Money and the drive to succeed / get a scholarship, etc are all tail winds for the current trends.
Seems like something a small town may need to start the fire, so to speak. Parents band together and say no to single sports year round. Some of those multi-sport kids go on to play in college and the pros, and it becomes this case study, others see how it can help and follow suit.
I’m not holding my breath but hope this trend of single sport mandates for children slows if not stops all together.
So well said, Matt. Youth sports and college really are two different worlds in terms of how they view this. Youth sports wants specialized kids to fund their year-round programs. College sports wants well-rounded athletes who have experienced a variety of scenarios and cultures. Boggles the mind how more people don't understand this.
IMO, the biggest issue the is the P4P model has resulted in pricing a lot of kids out of sports.
Kids don’t need year round clubs and travel teams before puberty. We don’t need to make sports such a huge financial investment (of time and money) that family lives revolve around a child athlete’s schedule.
It’s all a big cash grab now under the guise of ‘development’.
We need to reinvest in quality recreational sports that kids from 5-10 can play with quality competition and coaching at a modest cost.
Let all kids learn and enjoy sports early. I shake my head watching parents spend thousand of dollars on U8 sports to see puberty hit and suddenly even the playing field or limit their little star athletes actual potential.
Exactly. It's amazing how puberty is the great unknown. Will add that P4P further hinders development since most orgs will take anyone with a big enough bank account.
Agree with Ed that money is a problem.
I’d also add:
1. Parents coaching from the sidelines. Makes me cringe beyond belief.
2. Lack of education on concussions and heat-related illnesses—both of which I’m grateful you’ve covered here, Melissa!
Thanks Colin!
Cringe is a nice way to describe sideline coaching. Grr. I often find a far away viewing point to tune it all out. Thanks for sharing, and so glad you found the concussion/excessive heat pieces worthwhile.
My parents used to do the same thing as you at my games and now I know why 🤣
It feels so disrespectful to 1). The coach(es), many whom are volunteers and actually volunteered their time to coach, and 2). The players (aka kids) who don’t need the added external pressure and noise.
The only time I yelled at my 4-yo daughter this soccer season was to tell her to go to her coach to help her with her jacket when I could clearly see he struggling to get it off.
Lol. Ah, the clothing malfunctions of the littles!
You've given me a good idea, Colin. I think I need to break down the many types of sideline "coaches." If it helps even one shut their trap and just enjoy their kid playing, it will be worth it.
I’m all for it! Looking forward to reading it!!