For as long as kids have played youth sports, they have consistently stated to researchers that the number one reason why they play sports is to have fun. In fact, I bet when you think back about your experiences with youth sports you can probably remember some of the best times of your life — cheering on your team, laughing with friends, and enjoying big wins on the field. When kids have fun playing sports, so many other amazing human development things also occur, including experiencing positive mood state, increased self-confidence, better social skills, improved motivation and resiliency, and better overall mental health. While youth sports are not without their concerns (i.e. potential for serious injury), when responsible adults oversee sport experiences that are fun, so many great things occur as a result.
But what happens when we take this natural, great experience for kids and turn it into a super-serious, job-like endeavor for kids? Complete with serious instruction, a lot of discipline, and not much room for fun? In other words, what happens to kids when we employ a serious “travel” sport model designed after pro sports, versus a fun/instructional model designed for kids to first and foremost have fun? Sadly, when things get too intense and serious, kids lose interest, burn out, and ultimately quit sports prematurely.
The current trend of serious youth sports
Whether by design or by chance, youth sports in America have become super serious over the last 20+ years. Club and travel teams are seemingly everywhere, and there are sport opportunities for kids year-round. In fact, youth sports have become so serious that it has become very challenging to even find recreational sport leagues these days. As we trade in fun, recreation sports for intense, serious youth sports, we should also look at the consequences for kids and whether this shift in philosophy helps or hurts future human development? Remember, when kids have fun they give more of themselves to the experience, while kids who view sports as a job tend to display less motivation, and get less from the overall experience.
Why we are pushing kids so hard today? With only a tiny fraction of kids going on to earn college athletic scholarships, what are the benefits of turning an otherwise really fun experience for kids into a time intensive, high expectation, high stress, and high burnout endeavor? If the odds are still long to “make it” in sports, does this intense approach do other wonderful things for kids? Psychologically speaking, when examining mental health the answer is a fairly clear “no,” with many experts concerned that intense sports drives kids out of sports.
Even as increasingly more kids burn out from sports, we only see more leagues, more clubs, and more opportunities to train year-round. In fact, for many kids, sport seasons never end — they just roll right into the next one with little or no break in between. Furthermore, the things kids used to do early in their careers that felt exciting (i.e. scoring a goal, or getting a big base hit), eventually just feel routine and expected over time. Does this sound like an optimal sport/life experience to you?
The good news is when adults get excited about youth sports, and model behaviors that allow kids to loosen up and have a good time, not only do kids play better, they are more inclined to commit to the sport. It is this intrinsic motivation that develops from having fun with sports that helps kids improve mood, attitude, focus, motivation, and resiliency! Conversely, rarely do any of these things happen when coaches are way too serious, negative, intimidating, and pressuring.
Final thoughts
If you are just “going with the flow” when it comes to youth sport decisions for your child, you may want to take pause. Signing your kid up for sport after sport with little, if any, break for time off is not only potentially unhealthy, but will also turn an otherwise fun experience into something that more resembles a job. When kids stop having fun with sports, they lose their focus and motivation, and eventually want to quit as a result. Sport participation, ideally, should be a complimentary life experience along with other important life things, and not the only thing your child does all day, every day. Keep it fresh, fun, and varied, and your kids will thrive as a result!
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