Are Parents Ruining Youth Sports Analysis

A tragic hero is one who has achieved great success, whether it be personal, professional, or both. Through their success this person has managed to catch the attention of the public. They have a good image, a clean slate, but fail to maintain that, by an action or event that completely changes what everyone thinks of them as a person. Tiger Woods is a modern day tragic hero, because of his incredible athletic achievements in golf, he was a hero, however he failed to maintain a good reputation in the eye of the public due to him possessing egotistical and lustful characteristics.

“Children Need to Play, Not Compete,” by Jessica Statsky is a thoughtful insight on the competitive sports for children. She is of the view that the competitive sports can ruin the enjoyment that games are supposed to provide. These methods of playing the games like adults can prove to be lethal for physical and psychological health. The author quotes from an authentic source that “Kids under the age of fourteen are not by nature physical.” (Tutko) This means that the games for children need to focus more on their pleasure and enjoyment rather than on the competition. Competition only makes children bound to be winners. It also discourages sportsman spirit. Instead of being a source of healthy growth, these competitive sports have started becoming the source of depression for children when they don’t fulfil the expectations of their parents. These sports should enhance the sportsman spirit in children and must be beneficial for their mental and physical health. Concentrating on winning or losing spoils the fun that games hold. In addition, equal chances should be provided to every child to participate. Competitive nature can assist the children in their life later on, but the focus should be on better mental and physical health. (204 words)

On the flip side of the female athlete triad is the rising obesity one can observe in football players. “Researchers at Iowa State University found nearly half of the offensive and defensive linemen playing on Iowa high school teams qualify as overweight, and one in 10 meet medical standards for severe obesity”(Watkins 46). It is even more likely for high schools in states with more competitive football programs to have more extreme obesity problems. It is absurd to have an athlete be severely obese. Sports are supposed to encourage healthier weights, but this is proof of the opposite. By taking high school athletics too far, society is causing the need for the ever growing size of lineman.

According to Jessica Statsky’s essay titled Children Need to Play, Not Compete, most children under the age of 12 do not need competition in sports. Claiming that organized sports are not “satisfying nor beneficial” for young children, Statsky expresses her concerns over a few issues. Supporting her thesis, Statsky discusses the negative physical and psychological effects of competitive sports. She further asserts that most children do not enjoy competition by citing a study about how most children would prefer to be on a losing team that allowed everyone to play rather than a winning team that may bench them due to performance. Also, she states ‘scorekeeping, league standings, and the drive to win bring(s) out the worst in adults’. Illustrating

“I will never be satisfied!” Many athletes may have heard this statement once or twice in their athletic careers from their coaches, but to hear it come from a parent is very unexpected. In the documentary Trophy Kids, follows the story of five families whose life is centered on their child’s success in sports. It goes behind the scenes of what each of the parent’s strategies are in order to push their child to the next level of becoming the next all-star athlete. Although, what they fail to realize is they lose sight of what is important. That is, it is important for their children to enjoy the sport and for the parents to not get caught up in the hype that the child will one day be a professional athlete. They are kids; they need to be able

In class we’ve been studying about concussions. I have learned that, having concussions can lead to many medical problems in the present as well as in the future. This leads me to thinking if I would actually allow my child play football? After doing research and informing myself about this issue, I’ve came to a conclusion that I would allow my child to play football for three specific reasons. Football can be a stress reliever, can gain life experience, and it builds up character.

In the articles “The Secret Life of Tiger Woods” by Wright Thompson and “Are parents ruining youth sports?” by Michael S. Rosenwald both concept the sacrifices one has to take to be an “elite athlete”.  I firmly believe that the sacrifices taken to become an “elite athlete” are not ultimately worth it in the long run because of the injuries and health management.   To support this, the author from “The Secret Life of Tiger Woods” proclaimed “...he fell down in his backyard without a cellphone and had to just lie there until his daughter happened to find him.”  This quote the type of pain Woods lived through because of all his intense golf training.  Furthermore, in the article “Are parents ruining youth sports?” the author states, “...although

The amount of children participating in competitive sports has been on a steady decline in the past decade. Between the years of 2008 and 2013, the total number of children participating in competitive sports has dropped by approximately 2.6 million. This is mainly due to the many negative impacts that young athletes face when partaking in these sports. Competitive sports involve sports where competition is encouraged, and where winning is more important than anything else. Competing in these sports causes the children to be vulnerable to many risks and many other negative impacts. Children who participate in competitive sports at a young age experience more serious negative impacts than positives, including a risk of severe injury, losing

“In the U.S., about 30 million children and teens participate in some form of organized sports, and more than 3.5 million injuries each year” claims Stanford Children’s Health. It’s definitely true that competitive sports can cause all sorts of injuries from big to small. The media teaches people simply that sports leads to horrific injuries and can cause stress, but what the mainstream media hardly discusses are the great benefits of competitive sports. While there may be some negatives to competitive sports, that’s just life, and to add on to that; there are plenty of benefits which are sure to override to media’s facts. Kids should play competitive sports because competitive sports teach children powerful life lessons, contributes to their social and mental stability, and because of the physical gain competitive sports provides.

Don't get me wrong, sports can lead to success, fame, and many other glorious things that others can't imagine. Like the money, land and the "acquaintances" Unfortunately, this huge world of sports has become a place where selfishness and money lead to success. Creating an area where it is impossible to play, leading kids to struggle and no careers.

In “Children Need to Play, Not Compete,” Jessica Statsky tries to demonstrate the negative effect of organized sports on the physical and psychological health of growing child. She claims that the games are not festive but they end up in the wrong development of a child’s brain. The coaches and parents have high hopes for their children that result in the pressure building. This changes the purpose of sports from teaching tolerance, teamwork and sportsmanship to merely winning by all means. The writer further explains that the idea of winning sometimes causes severe injuries that may prevail for a lifetime. In these games, a child may crash into one another accidently that creates a fear of getting hurt. Just to protect themselves some children back out of many games and are left behind when it comes to the development of their bodies. The rest of the children who are part of these games are in a constant pressure from their parents and coaches that cause the stress and anxiety. Furthermore, the writer states that this “sport becomes job like”. Children are playing just to win and the real spirit of the game fades out. (Word count: 196)

There are two to four million coaches throughout the United States. Less than 20% of these coaches have received any type of training (Anderson, 2012). Most youth sports coaches around America have parents as the coach of the team. This can be a problem due to the favoring of playing time and a lack of training as well. Athletes need to be trained and coached by individuals who are going to make them better both on and off the court. This is where the training of coaches comes into play. From a parents perspective the individual that is coaching their kid is very critical to the process. For example, one in every four coaches is considered less than good as seen by parents of the athlete (Aleshire, 2003). In an observational and interview

Naval Officer Robert Ballard once said, “Follow your own passion- not your parents’ not your teachers’- yours.” In today’s society, what a parent thinks affects what a child thinks. Children often values a parent’s happiness over their own. More than twenty-six million kids play sports around the world starting as young as age six. Forcing a child into doing a sport can damage a child’s well-being, physical-being and can cause them to not have any interest in the sport. Research has shown that children that are forced into sports can be affected negatively in a physically, mentally, and emotionally way due to parent performance expectations.

To most kids and students, competitive sports are a gateway to blow off some steam or to have fun. To parents, the sports that their children play and the lessons that they teach are an important part of their development and life. Despite what many ‘experts’ would like you to believe, both of these statements are completely true. I believe that kids should be allowed to play competitive sports due to the health benefits, the lessons that they can teach, and as a result of the advanced equipment and rules that are focused on making sports safe, as well as the fact that sports can keep kids out of trouble.

Too many professional athletes are acting like ignorant fools. Professional athletes are setting a terrible example for today’s youth. They have cocky attitudes and have no respect for others. They go out and participate in things they shouldn’t do. Now, not all professional athletes are bad role models, Mike Trout, Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, John Wall, Cristiano Ronaldo, Peyton Manning, Russell Wilson, Roger Federer and many more have benefited people by being amazing role models. They have donated extensive amounts of time and money to give back to society and communities. On the other hand though, plenty of bad role models can be named, Michael Vick, Mike Tyson, Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Alex Rodriguez, and Ray Rice, who all have tarnished reputations. Among the bad role models is Johnny Manziel, although