GG Galore: Finding Joy in Crushing Defeat

Plus, the recent youth sports news that caught my eye.

Good Game is a 1-2x/week publication aimed at educating youth sports parents and coaches so they can best empower athletes.

My older son’s soccer team had their first match of the season last weekend and lost 9-0. Or was it 10-0? 11-0 maybe? Whatever it was was an absolute annihilation. Like a mouth agape, total beatdown. The opponent was a juggernaut. Winners of State Cup, a few players who double dip in an MLS academy (the rare American youth sports situation that isn’t pay-to-play). They were a marvel to watch. Collectively, they were big, strong, precision passers with such gorgeous touches that it looked like the ball was velcroed to their feet until they opted to release it.

I wasn’t sure how if our kids would be despondent or how our coach would react. He’s a very nice, extremely even-keeled dude who doesn’t yell but I couldn’t imagine he’d be happy with this level of loss. Especially given the high flight in which the team plays.

As the whistle blew and the bleeding finally stopped, the team went through its usually line of high fives with the opponent, the coach had a quick postgame powwow with the players, then he called the parents over for a little chat. Uh, oh. This isn’t normal. Our coach rightfully preaches that the players (aged 12 and 13) should be the first line of communication, though he’s always happy to talk to a parent. Postgame parent meetings are not a thing with this team.

“Are we in trouble?” I jokingly asked though some sliver of brain thought we might actually be. Some coaches might say, Your kids need to be more committed. They need to start lifting. Or threaten playing time.

Our coach did the exact opposite. He praised the kids’ efforts. He acknowledged that sometimes the opponent is flat out better but that it presents learning opportunities. He pointed out that the players successfully executed several concepts they had worked on at practice. He told us how proud he was of the kids for fighting until the end despite the score. Most importantly, he sensed that we might be shell-shocked and took the time to remind us of the resiliency of kids. He told us to turn around. There they were, the players in all their goofiness, checking out each others’ video games, kicking balls around. Laughing. The match had ended just 10 minutes prior and they were already over it.

It was a beautiful little speech that was oozing with life lessons for the kids but maybe more so for the parents.

Elsewhere in the youth sports-o-sphere

• Football season has begun and at least seven teenaged players have died in the month of August. One of those players, 13-year old Cohen Craddock, suffered a fatal head injury while playing defense during practice at Madison Middle School in West Virginia. "You wish it was a bad dream you could wake up from,” Cohen’s dad, Ryan Craddock told local TV station WSAZ. “It's agony inside. I can't put words to it. It's terrible."

Every parent’s worst nightmare right here. And I’m also curious how these schools move forward after such tragedy. The NFL has made many strides in the health and safety department with an emphasis on youth football. We don’t know how many of these deaths were accidental or due to negligence from not following guidelines. But we do know that tackle football, as enthralling a sport as it may be, is not inherently designed for the human body. That said, I totally get the appeal and don’t begrudge anyone for signing up. My family will have decisions to make on that front soon enough. 😬

• Bloomberg did a deep deep on how private equity is preying on youth sports. The story centers on Cooperstown All-Star Village, the baseball rite of passage for 12-year-olds with its $1300 entry fee, family travel expenses and all the random add ons. (The story’s author, Ira Boudway, apparently got his trip paid for while his son played - lucky bastard!) In 2021, pro sports owners David Blitzer and Josh Harris took control of the village before they founded Unrivaled Sports which is aiming to be the Disneyland of youth sports. Unrivaled is the parent company with stakes in youth baseball, softball, action sports, flag football and more as the base in its plan to expand and dominate the youth sports tourism space.

Ugh. We are such suckers. My family did Cooperstown and it was an incredible experience but the youth sports travel experience market is saturated and largely unnecessary. How many 9-year-olds in Florida need to be playing in a tourney in California? An expansion of this industry is only going to widen the economic gap for families. Because when Unrivaled says they want to be the Disneyland of youth sports, pretty sure they mean charging Disneyland prices.

• Very hopeful piece by Linda Flanagan on how five states are trying to make a dent in the ills of youth sports. Most recently, Colorado introduced the Safer Youth Sports Act which mandates that all youth sports organizations have a “prohibited conduct policy.”

• USA Lacrosse began requiring age verification in July for all of its player members. All youth sports leagues and organizations who aren’t already asking for birth certificates should follow suit…not that anyone in youth sports would fudge ages.

• Interesting look at the conflict between faith and sport from a professor at the University of Illinois.

• Apparently young female athletes are dealing with a sharp rise in hip injuries.

And on that lovely note, hope everyone has a amhappy Labor Day weekend!