It’s time to respect the child athlete
I’ve had a few conversations with a young coach who is also the father of three preschoolers. As a coach he sees the problems caused by overbooked kids and unrealistic expectations. As a parent he wonders how his kids can reasonably enjoy sports—if they are interested in playing some day.
He observed there is a need to “respect the child athlete.”
What a great way to put it. Exactly. We have forgotten how to respect the child athlete.
Kids develop skills and interests over time
I wonder why so many parents are eager to rush their kids through childhood when those years go by so quickly? Kids tend to push things along on their own. When my younger daughter wanted to do something her older sister was doing that wasn’t age-appropriate for her, I’d say “When you’re 11, you should do 11-year-old things. If you do 14-year-old things now, when will you get to be 11?”
I didn’t always win the battle. I shook my head when she and her friends rented a limo to go to prom. It’s common practice now, but I rode in a limo when I got married.
But back to sports…
Kids used to learn how to play age-appropriate sports in physical education class. They played games during school recess and with neighborhood friends after school and on weekends.
In my hometown, the park district offered Little League Baseball for boys and softball for girls during the summer. Several teams were formed with kids in our town and they played each other at the city park. Twelve and thirteen-year-olds, who wanted to, could try out for the traveling team that played nearby towns.
Those who enjoyed sports looked forward to the chance to play on the school teams beginning in seventh grade. Those years were for learning the game and developing skills. Coaches understood that kids develop at different rates and the starting lineups changed often.
One of my classmates was the tallest and strongest boy on the eighth-grade basketball team but was passed in height and skills by the time they reached varsity. Another boy who played third string in middle school was a starter on varsity.
Kids were allowed the time and space to develop their skills and decide which sports to continue in high school.
It’s time to get back to basics
Recognizing that too much too soon drives many kids away from sports, several youth sports organizations have formed to reinvent youth sports. Though the pandemic has thrown their efforts off-course, they will no doubt continue their missions.
Many of their strategies sound familiar.
For example, the mission of Aspen Play Project is to build health communities through sports. The Project Play Handbook highlights eight ways to keep kids in sports. The first five mirror the experience of kids decades ago, and the last three address the needs of today’s youth sports:
1. Ask kids what they want.
2. Reintroduce free play.
3. Encourage sport sampling.
4. Revitalize in-town leagues.
5. Think small.
6. Design for development.
7. Train all coaches.
8. Emphasize prevention.
The Aspen Play Project wants kids to reap the benefits of being active and keep them in the game. One of their recent campaigns is called Don’t Retire Kid.
Maybe a future campaign should be called Respect the Child Athlete.
Thanks, Greg!