Aug 11, 2011 | By Aaron Matthew

The Disadvantages of Youth Sports

A 2008 survey by The National Council of Youth Sports found more than 44 million
children play youth sports. Youth sport is made up of many different types of sports
programs. There are recreational sports, club sports, school sports and agency-
sponsored sports like Little League. Though many kids enjoy youth sports and have
positive youth sport experiences, youth sports have disadvantages as well.

Injury
Injury is one well-documented disadvantage to youth sports participation. According to
data gathered by The National Center for Sports Safety, more than 3.5 million children
younger than 14 are injured playing sports each year. Sports with the highest injury rates
include most of the traditional team sports kids play. Based on the NCSS research,
football leads the way, with 28 percent of football players getting injured over the course
of one season. Baseball is next at a 25 percent injury rate, soccer at 22 percent,
basketball players at 15 percent and softball with 12 percent.

Sport Specialization
Sport specialization means picking one sport and playing that sport exclusively
throughout the year. While at some point children who want to maximize their ability in
one sport would drop other sports, this trend happens at earlier and earlier ages. In
their book "Foundations of Physical Education, Exercise Science and Sport," Deborah
Wuest, physical education professor at Ithaca College and Charles Bucher, who prior to
his death was physical education professor at New York University, say that children are
being moved to specialize at earlier and earlier ages, with negative effects. They say that
children should play many different sports that provide different challenges and develop
different motor skills. Early specialization also prevents the children from building skills
and interests outside of one sport.

Burnout and Dropout

Another youth sport disadvantage is burnout and dropout. When children play sports
from a very young age, there is a greater likelihood they will begin to lose enjoyment in
that particular sport. Wuest and Bucher write that children who experience burnout
from youth sports will be more likely to drop out of the sport before reaching the peak
of their physical abilities. This means they do not benefit from all the time spent playing
and practicing their sport while growing up.

Unequal Access
Not all children have equal access to sporting opportunities. Socioeconomic status can
prevent children with interest in and ability for certain sports from the opportunity to
participate. This is especially true for sports that have a greater focus on competitive
clubs than interscholastic agency sponsored sports. Some youth sports examples are
soccer, volleyball and swimming. Children whose parents are not able to pay will be
prevented from the opportunity to play.

Overemphasis on Winning
Placing too much emphasis on winning comes at the expense of children playing youth
sports. A research report from The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports
clearly states how the focus on competition hurts children wanting to play sports. They
characterize the youth sports in America as designed by adults to mainly be concerned
with winning and exclusionary---preventing millions of children from participating or
continuing to participate in sports of their choosing.

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