The trend for kids to join elite, club, and travel youth sports continues today, but stop and talk to people in the know and you will soon hear how watered down these programs are becoming. What used to be saved exclusively for elite-level talented kids is not that anymore, as most families who have the financial means to pay for their kid to join one of these programs will almost assuredly “make” the team. With the cost of coaches rising, coupled by the expensive equipment and rising rent for sport club facilities, you can easily see the need clubs have for more kids to join to offset costs. Ironically, when the selection process loosens, “elite” clubs begin to more resemble recreational sports all over again.
Changes in rec & elite youth sports
Non-rec youth sport opportunities (i.e. club and travel) used to be reserved for kids with above-average talent, and while you will still find kids like this, look closer and you will quickly see other kids that appear to be out of place with respect to athletic talent. It’s likely most of these kids with average talent are there as a result of following their friends, but rather than being cut from the program because of lacking talent, these kids are quickly added to the program in an effort to defray costs. In increasingly more situations today, sport clubs are renting land and physical facilities that are rising in cost and the only ways to keep up are to either a.) increase the costs of your current kids participating, or b.) add more kids. And with a very eager populous of kids dying to be part of the prestige of a club team, clubs don’t have to look far for kids wanting to join.
There are a number of problems that flow from this change in club sports recruiting, including:
- Slower development for less athletic kids. When below-average kids compete against much better players, development is inconsistent — if any development occurs at all (especially in cases where kids barely play). In fact, some kids quit the sport prematurely due to this very issue.
- Increased chance for injury for lesser kids. As kids get older, there is a real danger for lesser kids when it comes to injuries, especially true in contact sports.
- Missed opportunities had these kids stayed where they were. Instead of receiving recreation-level coaching from an entry league, when kids advance too quickly they lose out on the necessary foundation skills (and confidence development) needed to excel in sports.
- Compromise of overall level of play for the “elite” club. Elite club teams pride themselves on playing at a high level, but the quality of play is negatively impacted when clubs sell out talent in exchange for the need of increased revenue (meaning more kids).
- Holding more talented kids back. When more talented kids have their minutes cut in an effort to pacify lesser kids (whose families have paid a lot of money for them to be there), skill advancement stagnates.
- Very misleading to kids who lack elite-level athletic talent. And finally, when an average-skilled kid suddenly finds himself on an elite team, he may interpret that as evidence that he is above average — when in reality he isn’t.
While this merging of recreation and elite sports was not planned, it is happening, and the shift is also occurring with the help of increasingly more families viewing recreation sports as below their child’s athletic abilities. Yes, there is some ego involved here! Why sign up for that league with cheap uniforms and average fields, when my child could play on a club team with all kinds of cool swag??! Shirts, hoodies, and bags! Who doesn’t want all of that?!
When it comes to your child, one way to process decisions around the type of sport competition to pursue might be to look at it similar to school. If your child is an above-average student, then it makes sense to explore AP, honors, and college-level courses while in high school. On the other hand, if your child’s marks in school are average, it would be wise to keep him or her involved with the normal school curriculum. The same is true with youth sports — while a select few might have the ability to compete at a higher level, most kids fall within the normal range, and normal community offerings are usually plenty fine.
Final thoughts
As more families seek out elite youth sport opportunities, sport clubs have grown to meet the demand. As clubs expand, costs rise, and more money needs to come in to turn a profit. Herein lies the problem, as there simply are not enough “elite” kids to fill out every roster, of every team, in a sports club. The result? More numbers of kids, but the talent level is compromised as a result. What will happen next remains to be seen, but if clubs continue to expand they will increasingly more look like the old recreation leagues of a generation previous.
drstankovich.com
