Long gone are the days where kids only had one sport to choose each season, as kids today can easily find just about any sport available — and offered year-round. While this may appear great on the surface, one reality of having all sports offered, all the time, is that increasingly more kids today feel confused, overwhelmed, and tired trying to keep up. Sport burnout is one potential danger from playing sports year-round, but additional arguments can be made that there are other concerning issues as well — including concerns around mental health.
The consequences relating to multiple sport commitments
When kids split their time amongst 2 or more sports at the same time, many unintended things tend to also occur. In addition to an increased chance for sport burnout, kids also experience:
- Inefficient sport skill development. It is difficult to fully develop when you only commit to something part of the time. With so many kids splitting their time between sports, fewer kids today are able to maximize their abilities in a specific sport.
- Coach communication errors. Coaches find it incredibly challenging to communicate with kids and their families when they don’t know when they will see them again. Will they be at practice today? Can she make it to the game Saturday? How can I inform the kid that playing time may be in jeopardy when you miss practice — when the kid doesn’t come to practice regularly?!
- Team culture issues. How do coaches look at kids who commit to the team and tell them that other kids not fully committed will get equal (or more) playing time?
For every action there is a reaction, and the same holds true for youth sports. Kids who play on multiple teams at the same time simply cannot keep up with each team’s expectations and requirements. Furthermore, coaches and teammates feel the stress and are directly effected by multiple sport participation, meaning that when parents make these decisions for their kids, others are impacted as a result. Instead, help your child manage a realistic sport schedule that teaches life skills, responsibility, and helps — not hurts — overall mental health.
A second, indirect effect of overloaded sport schedules has to do with what kids miss as a result. Most kids with busy sport schedules find it incredibly difficult to join clubs and activities at school, volunteer, or do other life experiences to help with becoming “well rounded” and a better candidate for top universities. Remember, there are only so many hours in a day, and today’s youth sports are quite demanding, leaving little time left for anything else.
Final thoughts
Yes, we have more opportunities for kids today, but we also allow for — and even create — multiple sport stress and confusion. Racing to do everything comes at a cost, and this cost can include sport burnout for your child, as well as a host of team cohesion problems, too. Keep youth sports fun for kids rather than overwhelming them at every turn with more leagues, tournaments, and showcases. More is not better when it comes to youth sports, especially if growth, development, and mental health are important.
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