When I compare the issues, trends, and budding problems I witnessed in youth and interscholastic sports early in my career in the 1990’s, and compare to the things I see today in 2025, a lot has certainly changed. By the time the 1990’s rolled in, things were certainly changing compared to previous generations, but few people could have accurately predicted how different things are today. Rough sandlots have been replaced by beautifully manicured fields; volunteer parent-coaches are now paid “experts” and “gurus” of the sport; and bumps and bruises of yesteryear are now torn ACL’s (or two!) before the kid graduates high school. Today we will compare how much things have changed, and use what we have learned to better predict where things are going in the future.
How youth sports have changed
Most parents today are old enough to remember their own sport experience from the 1980’s and 90’s, yet may not be fully aware just how much things have changed. To make things easy, I will offer some of the bigger changes I have witnessed at my office since the year 2000:
2000:
- Kids usually played one sport at a time.
- Sport specialization was just beginning, with only a few kids choosing to focus on a single sport.
- Volunteer coaches were relatively easy to find, and schools still had many teacher-coaches who worked in the building.
- Sport officials were also plentiful, and most took their jobs seriously and were quite good at it!
- Most playing surfaces were still grass, but injuries were not as many in number or severity.
Now, 25 years later, a lot has changed. Kids today experience a much more serious youth sport experience, one that more mimics professional sports. Below are a few of the changes I have seen:
2025:
- Many kids play multiple sports concurrently these day, and most don’t seem to think it’s a big deal to only be partially committed to each team.
- Sport burnout is a big deal, as increasingly more kids really struggle keeping sports fun when it always seems so serious.
- There are a lot more serious injuries today, and new research is showing that the new field turf (now everywhere) may be playing a significant role — especially with lower body injuries.
- Good coaches and officials are tough to find! In fact, in some places around the country forget “good,” they simply can’t find any adults interested in coaching or officiating.
- There are a lot of “experts” in youth sports today. Expert club coaches, expert strength trainers, expert speed coaches, etc. Are all of these people superior in their knowledge? And do kids really need that kind of world expertise anyway??
Are things better for kids today? Things are certainly more serious, but does that mean better? In some ways things have gotten worse, especially when you consider higher sport burnout, more serious injuries, and the ongoing challenge today in finding good coaches and officials. While some kids today enjoy the intensity of youth sports today, other kids are leaving youth sports at earlier ages because it’s no longer fun, or are being forced out because of serious injury.
Final thoughts
While not every change in youth sports has been dramatic, many of the changes witnessed the last 25+ years have been concerning. Kids primarily play youth sports to have fun, but with sport burnout and sport injuries on the rise, some kids are left struggling to experience “fun.” Additional concerns around good coaches and sport officials are very real, and even playing surfaces may need to be revisited in light of the increase in lower body injuries on field turf. Youth sports can be one of the most important experiences kids have while growing up, but the experience is dependent on adults creating sport participation opportunities that are fun, safe, and guided by responsible adults.
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