Parents, sports are meant to be fun! In my article from March 3, 2023, I listed many of the benefits of youth sports. In my opinion, one of the greatest benefits is how much fun sports are for kids!
However, I have seen a trend over the last 25-30 years and that is the push to be the best athlete and earn a college scholarship. And while playing college sports is a worthwhile goal, I played college baseball and soccer, my encouragement is to keep an eye on the benefits vs risk ratio. I may sound like I am on a soapbox preaching, but please hear me out and try to squelch that internal dialogue that says, "Yeah, but not my kid!"
The drive to earn a college scholarship leads to excessive time dedicated to the sport. Multiple practices a week, extra training in the gym, playing on multiple teams and not having an off season all contribute to the over use injuries we are seeing in youth sports these days.
Kids used to play multiple sports throughout the year. Football in the fall, hockey or basketball in the winter, baseball/softball in the spring. Nowadays, parents are pushing their kids into one sport so they can "focus and be the best."
Each sport brings with it specific challenges and stresses that it put on the youth athlete's body. If kept to a manageable level, these challenges are what benefits the body and makes it stronger. However, when there is no change in sport and no off season, those challenges become too repetitive and that what wears out joints, tendons and ligaments.
Being a former baseball player, one injury that I am familiar with is Tommy John surgery. It historically has been performed on baseball players, mainly pitchers, to prolong their career when they are in the early to mid-30s. However, there is an alarming trend of high school players having the surgery and the vast majority of the surgeries are being performed on athletes who have just plain and simple, worn their arms out. I think Sports Illustrated does a good job summarizing this issue.
Be it football, baseball, volleyball or whatever your child's chosen sport is, my encouragement to parents is to make sure they are still having fun with it! That's why we play sports... to have fun! My own son got caught up in the college scholarship hype with golf and I didn't do a great job making sure he was still having fun. Toward the end of his senior season, he stated that he was done with competitive golf because it was no longer fun. He is now 5 years removed from high school and has nothing to do with the sport he loved. That breaks my heart!
One final thought. As parents, be sure to keep your passion/anger in check. Abuse on referees/officials is at an all time high and that's shameful! I am sure you've seen a viral video of a parent making a complete fool of themselves at their child's sporting event. Don't be that parent! If you don't care about what the other parents are thinking about your outburst, you should at least think about your kids feelings. I have coached kids who's parent(s) did not do a good job controlling their emotions and the kid was embarrassed to say the least.
Remember, have FUN playing sports! That's why we play!