KIDS IN SPORTS

Kids in Sports



Kids in Sports

Introduction

During the latter half of the nineteenth century a movement was started to organize children's social worlds. The idea was to build their character and turn them into hard-working, productive adults. It was not long after this organized sport for boys were started. “Organized youth sports are seen by many parents as high priority activities because they occur under the control of adult coaches and teach important cultural lessons related to competition and working with other to achieve goals in rule-governed situations”. Has organized sports lost their child-centred focus and put too much emphasis on winning?

Overuse injuries, super-competitive culture, organized atmosphere on travel teams, over-emphasized early sports specialization and over-zealous parents are just parts of the organized youth sports culture. How does this promote health and well being for youth athletes? For many children unstructured activities have become a thing of the past. That is not to mention the endless, stressful road trips and changing clothes in the backseat that is so common with youth travel team sports. It is no wonder that so many young athletes are experiencing burnout.

The functionalist theory is defined as the “explanatory framework that focuses on the ways that social structures influence action and relationships in social worlds”.

Basically, the functionalist theory would support the development and growth of organized youth sports (to build values) and that sports maintain the values that preserve stability and order in social life. The conflict theory is defined as the explanatory framework that focuses on the structural connection between sports and the dynamics of power and privilege in society” (Coakley2009). The parents and the athletes in the article are applying the conflict theory in that they are “focusing on the need to change the organization of sports and society that workers, including athletes, gain control over the conditions of their labor”.

Is it all necessary? Are their fathers and other family members trying to live their life through their children? “Fathers and other family members are usually identified as significant others who influence when, how and where children play sports”. Is the goal simply to get their children in college? These are the questions the families in the above referenced Wall Street Journal article are trying to change.

Discussion

Generally parents only want what is best for their children. Youth sports programs are diverse and some offer children opportunities for fun, friendships, healthy exercise and teamwork. The more activity, the better it gets. It is good for children to engage in expressive physical activities at a young age. The more fun the game is, the better. The games need to be matched to the overall maturity level of the children who participate in the sport (Watkins, 2008).

Children play games, more importantly, they play informal games to develop their skills and learn their role in creating fair and ethical competition. It seems that organized sports have gotten to the point where adults are trying to teach young children how to play like ...