Myth 5: “It Doesn’t Do Them Any Harm.”  

There are numerous anecdotal stories about kids with bad experiences in sports. Burnett discusses many examples. On a personal note, I am the parent of a talented gymnast who “burned-out” at age eight! This event, in combination with other soccer experiences has forced me to take a closer look at the “dark side” of sports participation. Fortunately, I am not alone in being concerned.

Griffin maintains that “a child’s view of himself or herself as a masterful person ... is strongly affected by the outcomes he or she obtains when doing things that he or she accepts as important. If kids take sports seriously and do not achieve good outcomes in their own eyes and in the eyes of others, what impact will this have on their feeling of masterfulness, and how will it affect the way they approach other areas of their lives now and in the future?... Pushing children to acquire physical skills more quickly than developmentally appropriate and emphasizing comparisons with older youths can lessen children’s optimism about their own abilities and thereby stifle their motivation to use and expand on their physical abilities” (20).

Fine and Sachs suggest that “what children really need from their parents is a sense of acceptance, support, and love. In the quest to develop this superchild, what values are we teaching? Are we setting up children or families for disappointment and perceived failure when they inevitably lose” (21)? The authors go on to discuss examples of talented children who left their chosen sport at very early ages, because of the pressures and expectations they felt, mostly from parents and coaches.

The negatives can even extend outside the parent/child relationship. Burnett warns, “I have seen parents of kids on a team stop socializing with other parents because of an ‘our kid is much more athletically gifted than your kid’ attitude” (22). In our club, I have even heard reports of ten-year-olds proudly announcing, “I’m on the better team” with the implication that “you’re not!” Is this situation also happening in your program?

Recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics (www.aap.org) issued a Policy Statement entitled "Intensive Training and Sports Specialization in Young Athletes." Among their many recommendations was to discourage specialization in a single sport before adolescence. They list a number of concerns about potential problems associated with a high level of athletic participation at younger ages. This group has no vested interest in youth sports participation, and therefore, I believe their opinions should be given proper consideration. (see http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;106/1/154)

Griffin concludes that “sports can build up a child and it can diminish a child.” In sports, or school or anywhere else in life, the best circumstance for children to be in is where they:

• confront challenges just beyond their current personal capability,
• have to work to meet those challenges, and
• are successful in meeting them.

The ideal is for children to have to work hard, put in their utmost effort, and then achieve measurable improvement and success (23).

This is what we should be trying to achieve, rather than focusing on developing a few superstars and winning some games!

Myth 1: “It’s good for the kids!"
Myth 2: “It’s what the kids want!”
Myth 3: “Everyone Else is Doing It So We Have To!”  
Myth 4: “It’s necessary to separate out the best performers to help them reach their full potential!”
Myth 5: “It doesn’t do them any harm!”

Return to The Youth Sports Experience