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New York youth football league bans 5 players over parents’ alleged misconduct over coaching, bullying: report

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New York youth football league bans 5 players over parents’ alleged misconduct over coaching, bullying: report

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New York youth football league bans 5 players over parents’ alleged misconduct over coaching, bullying: report

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The league’s 11 remaining board members voted out the parents in November after a series of arguments that resulted in code of conduct violations.

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NEWS 12: Rockville Centre PD ‘implementing stricter measures’ amid increase in disruptive behavior from youth

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NEWS 12: Rockville Centre PD ‘implementing stricter measures’ amid increase in disruptive behavior from youth

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Rockville Centre PD ‘implementing stricter measures’ amid increase in disruptive behavior from youth

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The commissioner of the Rockville Centre Police Department told parents that kids engaging in disruptive or destructive behavior will be taken to the police station and parents will be notified to come and pick them up.

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Decline in Number of Long Island Referees and Umpires blamed on Verbal Abuse

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Decline in Number of Long Island Referees and Umpires blamed on Verbal Abuse

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Decline in number of referees and umpires blamed on verbal abuse - Newsday

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MPH head: It’s time to fix our youth sports culture

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MPH head: It’s time to fix our youth sports culture

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MPH head: It’s time to fix our youth sports culture (Guest Opinion by Jim Foley)

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Coach fired for pulling a player’s hair is a symptom of toxic environment created by focus on winning at all costs, writes head of Manlius Pebble Hill School.

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High costs, time demands, changing parental expectations: Readers respond to How to win at youth sports

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High costs, time demands, changing parental expectations: Readers respond to How to win at youth sports

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High costs, time demands, changing parental expectations: Readers respond to How to win at youth sports

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cleveland.com readers respond to How to win at youth sports, weighing in on their own experiences with children playing in different sports.

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We Need to Stop Pressuring Kids to Be the Best at Their Sport

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We Need to Stop Pressuring Kids to Be the Best at Their Sport

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Sitting on the sidelines, I watch my 7-year-old son play travel soccer. Some games get intense. Not by the little feet kicking the ball on the field, or even their coach on the bench, but because of the parents. I have seen my son's coach, who is usually always poised, huddle the parents together after a game. "You have to stay calm, guys," he says. "Remember, when you yell, the kids get rattled, and then lose what little composure they had."

As a parent, we want what's best for our children and to be the best they can be. But as Justin Ocwieja, youth developmental director of the Nationals Genesee Soccer Program in Michigan, a travel soccer league, says, "We need to remember that they're kids-and they're still developing." And the stress parents can put on their kids can quickly become too much for them to handle.

Ocwieja, who has been coaching in the program for 10 years, says he's seen an increase in the intensity of the level of play for children, but also an increase in parental involvement. "It's good for parents to be involved in their child's development, but sometimes parents can push their children too hard," he says.

Doing that can have serious repercussions. Intense pressure in youth athletics doesn't only negatively impact a child's sports experience-it can also taint other aspects of their life. When parents make the sport seem like work, says Ocwieja, the child is going to look at it the same way and likely push away from the developmental process.

Haley Sztykiel, LMSW, SSW, agrees. "They miss out on all the other important moments and opportunities that come from playing a sport-forming friendships, working as a team, building personal self-esteem," says Sztykiel, whose first seven years as a social worker were spent within Detroit Public Schools where she saw several young children dealing with the stress that came with playing club sports. Learn more about why we need to stop putting so much pressure on kids to be the best at their sport.

Pressure in Sports Can Be Dangerous

About 45 million kids are involved in organized youth sports in the United States. And there can be tons of benefits for these children, including a healthier lifestyle, increased academic achievement, and reduction in suicidal thoughts for both girls and boys, according to a report published in Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine.

But as more studies show the benefits of sports for kids-as well as the lure of earning a college scholarship in their sport-so does parental pressure. This can lead to opposite effects like taking the fun and love out of a game. About 70 percent of young athletes leave organized sports by the time they hit middle school simply because they are no longer having fun, according to research from George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.

Stress levels can also skyrocket. About 20 percent of soccer players experience high stress levels before and after a game-especially if they suffered from a loss, according to a report from Ohio University. And as Sztykiel saw many times, the stress and pressure to be great can trickle into other facets of a child's life, including the classroom where they may develop a need to earn good grades on every test. Even worse, if they don't excel, they won't learn how to recover from that. "Hard work ethic should be applauded," says Sztykiel, "but not perfection."

Further, she saw children's self-worth became wrapped up in their specialized sport-not their overall life. This can also cause injury and burnout down the line, says Ocwieja. "I've seen burnout more in the older age groups, like 12 to 13 years old, because they started specializing in one sport at a young age," he says. Letting kids engage in another sport to serve as a "break" can help prevent that.

The harm can also be physical with sports injuries taken to another level. There are about 2.6 million visits to emergency rooms for sports-related injuries each year for those aged 5 to 24. And the Ohio University report explains many young athletes feel pressured to continue to play even when they are hurt.

How Parents Can Ease the Pressure

Experts say the most important thing parents can do is let the coaches, coach. Parents should focus on offering support and encouragement and avoid pressuring them to perform, says the American Academy of Pediatrics. Let your child know that you don't expect them to be the star player, to win, or to be perfect. That should be the case no matter what the outcome of the game is. If a kid is losing every game, but still having a blast, leave it at that.

Asking questions and being there for your kid if they seem upset after a loss is also important. But experts advise curbing your own expectations. "Parents should have constant conversations about how their kids are feeling. Give them the support that they need-different from what a coach could offer," says Sztykiel. "Above all, try not to idolize sports and make it their life." As parents, it's vital that we remember the root of playing a sport: having fun.

My husband and I have taken note and learned to simply serve as a sounding board and cheerleaders. If my son's team loses or he suffers from a bad game, when he hops in the car, I simply ask, "What did you think of the game?" He usually just shrugs his shoulders and says, "It was okay. Can we go out to eat now?" And I leave it at that.

When he plays well, whether he scores or not, we try to celebrate that, too. "It's important to applaud the effort. That way, they can carry that effort into everything they do," says Sztykiel. No, we don't buy him an actual reward, but give encouragement to help promote his intrinsic motivation. And Sztykiel strongly advises parents to avoid rewards or punishment after a win or loss.

As a parent with children in sports, I try to think back to the way things were when I was a kid and played soccer and basketball. I remember the joy from the sports I played flowed through me and my effort was intrinsic. I loved the feeling of adrenaline when I had a good game.

That's all I hope for my own two small who both play sports. So, in the meantime, I'll let their coaches, coach-and let my kids be kids. I'll applaud and be a listening ear when they're ready to talk. I'll show them how to work through the disappointment that sports can bring. Because I know that if I do my part, and let everyone else do theirs, my children will not only flourish but flourish with joy.

Angela Anagnost-Repke is a writer and writing instructor dedicated to raising two empathetic children. Angela is currently at work on the cross-generational memoir, Mothers Lie.

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We Need to Stop Pressuring Kids to Be the Best at Their Sport

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As a parent, we want our kids to be the best they can be. But when it comes to youth sports, putting too much pressure on them can have serious repercussions.

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How can coaches and parents improve behavior at kids’ games? 

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How can coaches and parents improve behavior at kids’ games? 

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How can coaches and parents improve behavior at kids’ games? Listen to UConn’s Dan Hurley

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Imagine you’re on camera at all times. It’s an approach that likely will improve your behavior at sporting events.

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New bill proposed would increase protections for referees from aggressive parents in youth sports

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New bill proposed would increase protections for referees from aggressive parents in youth sports

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HARTFORD, CT (WFSB) - A state lawmaker is proposing a bill that addresses unsportsmanlike behavior toward referees and coaches in youth sports.

Many referees in Connecticut leave due to aggressive and over involved parents.

The goal of the bill, drawn up by Melissa Osbourne, would enhance criminal penalties and launch public awareness campaigns about the consequences and impacts of attacks on sports officials.

While the specific penalties and enforcement are still in the works, she believes public awareness will play a huge role in preventing this behavior.

"We need to do things like social media postings, we need to have flyers, there needs to be an awareness in the parents that there will be a heightened consequence for behavior like that," she said.

CIAC Executive Director Glenn Lungarini says that because of aggressive parents, referees are needed now more than ever.

"Officials are lacking, they're down in numbers we need to increase that and the experience they have at events plays a large role in retaining officials," he said.

He says that his organization has worked closely with schools to set standards for spectator behavior and increased the penalty for coaches who are ejected from games.

He added that in major incidents, they've even banned certain fans.

"In the past 2 years, the CIAC has banned three parents from championship games. We have member schools that have also taken this action and banned spectators," he continued.

It's behavior that Vice President of New England Officiating Services Inc. Randolph Ricketts is very familiar with.

He hears plenty of stories from the officials that he trains.

"Dealing with harrassments, threats. You hear different stories all the time and over the last few years I don't think I know it's getting worse," he said.

Osborne says that the bill has been referred to the judiciary committee for now, but she's hoping there will be some sort of hearing in a matter of weeks.

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New bill proposed would increase protections for referees from aggressive parents in youth sports

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A state lawmaker is proposing a bill that addresses unsportsmanlike behavior toward referees and coaches in youth sports.

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Physical and Mental Health Trends - State of Play 2022 - Project Play

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Physical and Mental Health Trends - State of Play 2022 - Project Play

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The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated physical activity levels and mental health challenges for youth. The impact on children may continue for many years. The trends below come from the Aspen Institute's State of Play 2022 report, courtesy of data collected or analyzed by the Project Play team or articles and research produced by other entities.

U.S. receives low grades for physical activity among youth, especially in the school setting. The Physical Activity Alliance's latest U.S. Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth showed another year of C and D grades. The body mass index for children during the first nine months of the pandemic approximately doubled compared to pre-pandemic data. There was a decrease in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and light physical activity during the pandemic, and an increase in sedentary time compared to previous years. While dramatic changes in the physical activity landscape created the opportunity to explore other existing infrastructure for play, the report noted that results from systematic observations at community parks in a metropolitan area (Austin, Texas) revealed a 46% and 62% decrease in the number of girls and boys at parks, respectively, during 2020 compared to 2019.

The United States' grade of a C for organized sport participation, while an improvement from past studies, was lower than 16 countries. Only Denmark measured an A. For physical activity in the school environment, the U.S. received a D- and ranked 51st out of 52 countries, despite all of the playgrounds, gyms and fields in our country.

"The low grades on the U.S. Report Card indicate that there is plenty of room for improvement when it comes to providing opportunities for children and youth to be active," said Peter Katzmarzyk, chair of the Report Card Research Advisory Committee. "Parents should ensure that their children spend time daily in safe outdoor settings, and they should frequently spend time outdoors playing with their children."

A new societal sector, military settings, was added to the U.S. National Physical Activity Plan in 2022 and described in the Report Card as an opportunity for physical activity promotion. Lawmakers, senior military leaders and scientists are questioning whether the U.S. can maintain an all-volunteer military as a competitive advantage due to growing rates of physical inactivity and obesity. At a 2022 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Lt. Gen. David Ottnigon testified that the past year has been "arguably the most challenging in recruiting history," mainly due to candidates not meeting physical standards or having a criminal record.

Percentage of children 6-17 who engaged in no sport activity in 2021, up from 19.8% in 2014, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA).

SFIA CEO Tom Cove said the positive development is likely due to greater parent awareness that children need to do something active, plus more sport-sampling programs by national sport organizations reached a larger number of children who play at least once.

However, youth who play a healthy level of sports activities continued to decline in households making less than $25,000 a year (34.1% in 2013 to 26.6% in 2021) and between $25,000-$50,000 (38.1% in 2013 to 35.7% in 2021). Meanwhile, among families earning more than $100,000, their child's participation increased from 43.9% to 46% in the same period.

Fewer youth with disabilities are physically active. Just 18% of youth with disabilities participated in 60 minutes of daily physical activity, less than the general population (22%), according to the 2019-20 National Survey of Children's Health. Only 14% of youth with an intellectual disability, 16% with cerebral palsy and 18% on the autism spectrum met physical activity guidelines. And that was before COVID-19 created immense challenges. The Physical Activity Alliance recommended including children with disabilities in national surveillance efforts and ensure that disability is clearly and consistently defined across surveys.

The 2022 National Federation of State High School Athletic Associations (NFHS) participation survey reflects some successes and challenges for students with disabilities to participate in sports. On the one hand, Unified Sports exploded in 2021-22 with 48,000 high school participants in 15 different sports within 20 states, compared to 5,500 participants in three sports within 10 states in 2018-19. Unified Sports join people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team. Softball, cheer, track and field, basketball, tennis and bowling were the most popular Unified Sports in 2021-22.

However, adapted sports participation declined 51% over three years, dropping to 7,700 high school students in 2021-22. Adapted sports often run parallel to other sport activities while allowing modifications necessary for people with disabilities to participate. Fourteen states had adapted sports participants, about the same as previous years. Basketball, bowling, soccer and track and field had the most adapted high school participants during 2021-22.

"Special Olympics Unified Sports in high schools has broader infrastructure and also is a hybrid community model so it was likely able to sustain itself and grow even during the pandemic," said Power of Sport Lab director Eli Wolff, whose work focuses on the intersection of research, policy and practice to advance sport and human rights, development and social change. "Adaptive sports in high schools are an emerging area with less infrastructure, and primarily school based, so it likely faced greater challenges during the pandemic."

States with laws banning transgender students from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity, according to Movement Advancement Project.

Youth sports became politicized by lawmakers in 2022 even though many state high school associations had policies for years to address transgender students. An analysis by The 74 found no basis for claims that allowing transgender students to compete would drive large numbers of cisgender girls out of sports.

Research links children's mental health and individual sports. A new study published in 2022 found that youth who played only individual sports tended to face more mental health difficulties than peers who played no sports at all. The findings were based on a large database that tracked the mental health and sports participation of more than 11,000 children ages 9 to 13 from across the U.S., with all responses provided before the pandemic.

The study's lead author, California State-Fullerton University sports psychologist Matt Hoffmann, cautioned against jumping to conclusions based on the results. He told Smithsonian Magazine that the study shows a strong correlation but that it can't explain what caused it. Hoffmann does not recommend discouraging youth play individual sports. Rather, he encouraged parents and coaches to be aware that young athletes playing individual sports might experience added stress or anxiety and could need additional support.

The study arrived at a time when children in the U.S. continue to face a mental health crisis. A dozen states have laws allowing kids to take excused absences from school for a mental health day if they feel anxious, depressed or need a day to recharge. In the Aspen Institute's Fall 2022 youth sports parent survey, 37% of parents said their child's mental health had improved greatly or somewhat over the previous year compared to 11% who thought it had deteriorated.

"Boys are taught hyper masculinity and don't express emotions. It's been suppressed. I don't think we've done an adequate job of equipping coaches to handle these conversations. There has to be a safe environment for young athletes to vocalize they're struggling with nerves."

- Dr. Kevin Chapman, Founder, Kentucky Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders

Unstructured free play declines again. Remember the first year of the pandemic? While physical activity plummeted, some kids rode bicycles again, took walks and found unique ways to play outside informally. In Spring 2021, just as the COVID-19 vaccine started to become widely available, 55% of children in sports played their primary sport through free play (in addition to other more structured settings). By Fall 2022, free play had decreased to 41%, according to new Aspen Institute youth sports parent survey results, in partnership with Utah State University, Louisiana Tech University and TeamSnap.

The number of hours U.S. children participate in free play has fluctuated wildly during the pandemic. Before COVID-19, parents reported their child spent on average 3.6 hours per week in free play; that decreased to two hours by September 2020 before rising in 2021. In Fall 2022, children spent 3.4 hours weekly on free play, down 6% from before COVID-19.

Youth ages 13-17 regularly rode their bicycles 4% less in 2021 than 2020, and kids 6-12 had a 1% decline, according to Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) data. Still, the rates remained higher than pre-pandemic.

U.S. children show signs of more overuse injuries than Canadian youth. The sports-related injury rates for the two countries are nearly the same (44% of American children who play sports suffered an injury in the past year vs. 41% of Canadians). But torn knee ligaments, hand/wrist fractures and leg/foot fractures were almost twice as likely in the U.S. than Canada, according to our parent survey results from Fall 2022. One likely reason: American children spend much more time playing sports, increasing the risk of overuse injuries. "Sadly, it seems like the race to the top for many families actually turns into a trip to the pediatric sport rehab clinic," said Dr. Travis Dorsch, co-author of the study and founder of the Families in Sport Lab at Utah State University.

In the U.S., 23% of children played their primary sport in organized settings at least five days a week. Just 10% of Canadian youth did that. American parents reported higher injury rates than Canadians in every category - ankle strain/sprain, concussion, knee strain/sprain, torn knee ligament, hand/wrist fracture, leg/foot fracture, and hip/thigh/upper leg strain/sprain. A recent YouGovAmerica survey found Americans are divided on whether children's sports activities result in unnecessary injuries (46% agree vs. 39% disagree).

2022 United States Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth
Produced by the Physical Activity Alliance, the 2022 report is the fourth comprehensive assessment of physical activity in U.S. children and youth, updating report cards released in 2014, 2016 and 2018. The report card summarizes various health statistics related to physical activity, active transportation, organized sport participation, active play, sedentary behaviors, sleep, physical fitness, family and peers, school, and community and built environment. Read the full report card.

National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Participation Survey

After collection of sports participation data was interrupted the previous two years by the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFHS compiled its participation survey for the 2021-22 school year - its first official report since 2018-19. Student participants were counted multiple times in the survey if they played more than one sport. The Aspen Institute analyzed the results. Read the full survey results.
National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH)
NSCH provides rich data on multiple, intersecting aspects of children's lives - including physical and mental health, access to quality health care, and the child's family, neighborhood, school, and social context. The survey is funded and directed by the Health Resources and Services Administration and Child Health Bureau. Learn more.
PLOS One
PLOS One is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal published by the Public Library of Science. The journal published "Associations between organized sport participation and mental health difficulties," a research paper produced by Matt D. Hoffman, Joel D. Barnes, Mark S. Tremblay, and Michelle D. Guerrero. Read the full paper.
National Youth Sports Parent Survey - Aspen Institute, Utah State University, Louisiana Tech University, TeamSnap
Parents with children who participated in sports were surveyed online to understand attitudes and behaviors related to youth sports, continuing a series of surveys that began at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The most recent nationally representative survey was conducted from Sept. 22-Oct. 9, 2022, of 2,027 parents with children between the ages of 5 and 18 who regularly play sports. Survey responses noted in this State of Play 2022 report came only from the U.S.; the full survey also included Canadian youth sports parents. Read the full results.
Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA)
SFIA commissioned an online, nationally representative survey from Sports Marketing Surveys (SMS) that the Aspen Institute annually uses to track sport participation rates and coach training data. In 2021, the most recent year with available data, SMS conducted 18,000 online interviews with peoples ages 6 and older.
YouGovAmerica
The survey platform conducted a poll of 2,000 U.S. adult citizens about their experiences playing youth sports. Two separate surveys were conducted Aug. 1-2, 2022, and Aug. 8-11, 2022. Read the full results.

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Physical and Mental Health Trends - State of Play 2022 - Project Play

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Data from parent surveys and other national research.

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Financial costs to play sports divide American families. Where children play, with whom and what experiences they take from sports can be impacted by affordability. The trends below come from the Aspen Institute's State of Play 2022 report, courtesy of data collected or analyzed by the Project Play team or articles and research produced by other entities.

The average family pays $883 annually in one child's primary sport. That's down 6% from pre-pandemic costs previously reported by parents. Travel costs to play sports increased 19% in Fall 2022 compared to before COVID-19 while the amount spent on individual lessons declined 23%, according to the Aspen Institute's latest youth sports parent survey, in partnership with Utah State University, Louisiana Tech University and TeamSnap. Registration fees and equipment/uniform costs stayed relatively flat over the three years.

Parents in the wealthiest households spent about four times more on their child's sport than the lowest-income families. The middle-income families were far closer in their spending to the lowest-income households than the wealthiest. Parents making $150,000 or more spent 83% more on travel for their child's sports experience than families earning under $50,000, and 65% more than households making between $50,000 and $149,999. The wealthiest families were almost twice as likely to report they spent a little or substantially more on sports during the past year than the lowest-income households. Bottom line: Children in the U.S. are still having different sports experiences based on money.

Inflation is on the minds of youth sports parents. In our latest survey, 1 in 3 U.S. parents whose sports expenses increased since 2021 cited inflation as the No. 1 reason. Other factors included buying more or better equipment, electing for more frequent training, paying for more or better coaching, and costs associated with more frequent travel. Some families are reducing the number of seasons, leagues or sports their child play in a given year, while sports providers search for creative ways to keep prices down and participation up. The annual inflation rate for the 12 months ending in September 2022 was 8.2%.

"The inflation issue is very real and concerning. People are still buying sports products. But at some point, when people see prices change, they may make discretionary choices and sports come into play. The last thing you want to do is cut your kids, but at some point you have to."

- Tom Cove, CEO, Sports & Fitness Industry Association

More than half of Americans are considering taking on extra jobs to be able to pay for everyday expenses and meet the rising cost of living as inflation remains high, according to a study by Qualtrics. The United States could be headed to a recession. The last time that happened, team sports participation declined from 45% in 2008 to 37% in 2016. Municipalities and philanthropy invested less money into parks and recreation departments and community leagues during that period, sending more children into the more competitive and expensive travel sports model.

Estimated annual money spent by families in the U.S. on their children's sports activities, based on the Aspen Institute's analysis of parent survey data.

The youth sports industry is much larger and harder to calculate, and includes spending by government, philanthropy and the private sector. In 2022, Sportico predicted that the industry's fragmented nature makes it ripe for consolidation by private equity investors.

Black families spent less on sports than White and Hispanic/Latino parents. Our latest parent survey results from Fall 2022 showed Black parents spent $574 annually on one child's primary sport, less than parents who are Hispanic/Latino ($883) and White ($881). This finding was similar to our 2019 pre-pandemic parent survey showing Black parents spent $537 on sports, also less than other races and ethnicities. In the Fall 2022 survey, White parents reported spending about twice as much on registration fees and individualized lessons as Black parents. Hispanic/Latino parents spent the most on private lessons.

The results showed almost no difference on family spending based on a child's gender. Parents with girls spent slightly more annually ($921) than parents of boys ($844) - a similar finding from our pre-pandemic survey in 2019. This doesn't mean girls, broadly, are receiving equitable opportunities and access to sports. Nationally, 41% of boys ages 6-17 and 32% of girls played sports on a regular basis in 2021, according to Sports & Fitness Industry Association data. But the spending habits may suggest that when many girls do play sports, albeit at lower rates than boys, their parents invest slightly more money into the experience.

Parents spend more money on soccer and basketball. Our Fall 2022 parent survey had sample sizes large enough to evaluate the average annual cost for four sports - soccer ($1,188), basketball ($1,002), baseball ($714) and tackle football ($581). Tackle football was an outlier given that it's generally not a travel-based sport outside of the school setting.

Soccer, basketball and baseball all have pay-to-play models that impact access to sports. In our latest survey, parents most identified basketball as their child's primary sport. More than one-third of parents said their child regularly played basketball in the past year.

Basketball's pathway through AAU - and associated costs plus small roster sizes - may be impacting girls. In 2021-22, basketball dropped to the fourth-most-popular girls sport by high school participation, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. Girls' basketball lost 19% of its players since 2002, while other top female sports grew, such as track and field (+10%), volleyball (+15%) and soccer (+27%). In some communities, girls have fewer opportunities to play recreational sports than boys. If AAU is not an option due to costs, travel or ability, many girls don't get exposed to basketball to consider trying in high school.

Communities are tapping into new federal funds to support youth sports. Quietly in cities and counties across the country, federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) is benefiting children's sports teams and organizations. The Montville (Connecticut) Town Council spent $16,000 of its $5.5 million in APRA funds to help the local youth football program buy 200 new football helmets. The West Michigan Sports Commission submitted a request for $2 million of Kent County's share of ARPA funding to expand a youth sports facility with more fields and amenities. A new $27 million youth sports complex in Lincoln, Nebraska, will receive $8.5 million in ARPA funds from the city of Lincoln and Lancaster County.

Perhaps the simplest and most impactful use of these funds: free sports for kids. The city of St. Paul, Minnesota dropped all sports fees for youth ages 9-18 over the next three years, thanks to ARPA funds. Registration for soccer and basketball was up nearly 40% without the fees, which previously ranged between $25 to $40. The three-year timeframe will give the St. Paul parks and recreation department runway to evaluate and create a better long-term solution, so fees potentially don't have to return.

National Youth Sports Parent Survey - Aspen Institute, Utah State University, Louisiana Tech University, TeamSnap
Parents with children who participated in sports were surveyed online to understand attitudes and behaviors related to youth sports, continuing a series of surveys that began at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The most recent nationally representative survey was conducted from Sept. 22-Oct. 9, 2022, of 2,027 parents with children between the ages of 5 and 18 who regularly play sports. Survey responses noted in this State of Play 2022 report came only from the U.S.; the full survey also included Canadian youth sports parents. Read the full results.

Qualtrics

Qualtrics fielded a survey of more than 1,000 respondents in August-September 2022 looking at the impact of inflation on American adults. Read the full results.
National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Participation Survey
After collection of sports participation data was interrupted the previous two years by the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFHS compiled its participation survey for the 2021-22 school years - its first official report since 2018-19. Student participants were counted multiple times in the survey if they played more than one sport. The Aspen Institute analyzed the results. Read the full survey results.
National Parks and Recreation Association (NRPA)
The NRPA surveyed park and recreation leaders in July 2020 to better understand the state of youth sports programming at their agencies. The survey's 254 responses were the basis of the report Youth Sports at Park and Recreation Agencies. Read the full report.

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Data from a parent survey on financial costs.

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NYT Are Youth Sports too Competitive? PDF

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NYT Are Youth Sports too Competitive? PDF

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A Dangerous Game: The Truth About Youth Sports | Nikhil Verma | TEDxChicago

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PDF Version of Common Lit Article

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VIDEO: Jim McMahon opens up about battle with brain injury

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VIDEO: Jim McMahon opens up about battle with brain injury

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YOUTH SPORTS FACTS
BENEFITS

Regular physical activity benefits health in many ways, including helping build and maintain healthy bones, muscles, and joints; helping control weight and reduce fat; and preventing or delaying the development of high blood pressure (GAO, 2012). Exercise is one of the least expensive ways to stay healthy, with one study finding that exercise can prevent chronic diseases as effectively as medication (British Journal of Medicine, 2013). A comprehensive study and analysis of existing research found that leisure-time physical activity is associated with reduced risk of 13 different types of cancer, including breast, colon, liver and myeloid leukemia (National Institutes of Health, 2016).

Sports participation is a significant predictor of young adults' participation in sports and physical fitness activities. Adolescents who play sports are eight times as likely to be active at age 24 as adolescents who do not play sports (Sports Participation as Predictors of Participation in Sports and Physical Fitness Activities in Young Adulthood, Perkins, 2004). Three in four (77%) of adults aged 30+ who play sports today played sports as school-aged children. Only 3% of adults who play sports currently did not play when they were young (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Harvard University/NPR, 2015).

Active communities are healthier. The Aspen Institute examined the top 10 cities (overall ranked) in the 2019 ACSM American Fitness Index to understand the values, capital and financial investments, and environments of a community that invests in sport and recreation. The cities with the highest scores are considered to have a strong community fitness, a concept comparable to individuals having strong personal fitness. See related chart on the results.

Active children are less obese. In a 2014 study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers analyzed obesity prevention strategies and their ability to reduce obesity by the year 2032. They found afterschool physical activity programs would reduce obesity the most, 1.8% among children ages 6 to 12. That's twice the projected impact as any ban on child-directed fast-food advertising. An earlier study of college students found that "motives for sport participation are more desirable than those for exercise and may facilitate improved adherence to physical activity recommendations" (Kilpatrick, Journal of American College Health, 2005).

But the obesity epidemic continues. Twenty-two percent of children and teens have been classified as obese during the coronavirus pandemic, an "alarming" increase from 19% before COVID-19, according to a 2021 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For severely obese kids, their expected annual weight gain increased from 8.8 pounds before the pandemic to 14.6 pounds in August 2020. Moderately obese kids went from 6.5 pounds to 12 pounds. Even children who had a healthy weight prior to the pandemic saw their annual weight gain increase from 3.4 pounds to 5.4 pounds.

Children of color show higher rates of obesity. In 2018, a study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics showed overweight and obesity rates increased in all age groups among children ages 2 to 19 ( Prevalence of Obesity and Severe Obesity in U.S. Children, 1999-2016). The rates generally increased with age, with 41.5% of teens being obese by 16 to 19 years old. Of particular concern were continued racial and ethnic disparities. White and Asian children showed significantly lower rates of obesity than Hispanic and Black children. Researchers also found a sharp increase in obesity from 2015 to 2016 compared to the previous cycle among children ages 2 to 5, especially boys. Girls 16 to 19 years old had a notable jump in overweight rates, from 36% in 2013-14 to 48% in 2015-16. Youth who have disabilities are 4.5 times less active and have obesity rates that are 38% higher than other youth (Physical Literacy in the United States: A Model, Strategic Plan, and Call to Action, 2015).

The Aspen Institute's Healthy Sport Index is a tool that can help parents find the best sport for their child based on health benefits and risks. The resource includes original research that found boys generate more vigorous physical activity at high school practices than girls (North Carolina State University, 2018).

Educational Benefits

Sports activity helps children develop and improve cognitive skills, according to a study that tracked kids from kindergarten through fourth grade (Piche, 2014). Physical activity in general is associated with improved academic achievement, including grades and standardized test scores. Further, such activity can affect attitudes and academic behavior, including enhanced concentration, attention, and improved classroom behavior (GAO, 2012).

High school athletes are more likely than non-athletes to attend college and get degrees, and team captains and most valuable players achieve in school at even higher rates (U.S. Dept. of Education, 2005). Also, high school athletes are more likely to expect to graduate from a four-year college (73% girls, 59% boys) compared to non-athletes (67% girls, 53% boys), according to data collected for the Healthy Sport Index (Women's Sports Foundation, 2018). A higher percentage of high school athletes also receive A/A- grades than non-athletes (Women's Sports Foundation, 2018).

The benefits extend to the workplace. A survey of 400 female corporate executives found 94% played a sport and that 61% say sports contributed to their career success (EY Women Athletes Business Network/espnW, 2014).

mental, social, emotional Benefits

A correlation has been found between regular exercise and mental health among students in general as they move into the teenage years. Among students who exercised six to seven days a week, 25.1% felt sad for two weeks or more in the past 12 months, compared to 35.7% of students who reported exercising on zero to one day (Women's Sports Foundation, 2004). Of students who exercised six to seven days, 15% reported suicidal ideation, and 6.4% reported a suicide attempt in the past year, compared to 24.6% and 10.3% of students who exercised zero to one day, respectively (Journal of American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2015). A 2019 study found that children who reported no exercise were twice as likely to have mental health problems, particularly related to anxiety and depression, compared with those who met the recommendation of an hour a day, and a 2020 study suggested that the more physical activity teenagers participated in, the less likely they were to report depression as 18-year-olds (The New York Times, 2020).

In a recent study of 72 million social media users in the United States,"economic connectedness" - or the friendships our children have with members of a different social class - was the largest single predictor of later life success for kids from less privileged homes.

According to the United Nations, in its contribution towards peace, sport often provides safe environments at the grassroots and community levels, at which participants are brought together in the pursuit of common goals and interests; learn values of respect, tolerance and fair play; and develop social competencies. As a common denominator and shared passion, sport can build bridges between communities regardless of their cultural differences or political divisions. In times of conflict or instability, sporting activities can provide participants with a sense of normalcy.

The loss of sports during COVID-19 hurt the mental health of many children. One in four youth sports parents said their child's mental health suffered, according to a 2021 survey by Project Play and Utah State University. Since restrictions have been lifted on sports, many parents said their child's mental health improved. A majority of parents also believe their child's physical fitness, emotional control and social well-being have increased by returning to sports.

Physical activity, and sports in particular, can positively affect aspects of personal development among young people, such as self-esteem, goal-setting, and leadership. However, evidence indicates that the quality of coaching is a key factor in maximizing positive effects (GAO, 2012).

New research from Old Dominion University found that children who are physically inactive are twice as likely to experience mental health problems as those who meet weekly recommendations. And follow-up research from University College London suggests that these effects carry into adulthood.

According to the American Journal of Health Promotion, meaningful daily interactions contribute to lower levels of loneliness, stronger and more durable relationships, and thriving and self-esteem. In fact, science has shown that when adults engage with children, the hormone oxytocin is released. Oxytocin is associated with trust and relationship building and it counteracts the effects of stress and anxiety, while reducing the likelihood of chronic disease.

Both male and female high school athletes are less likely to smoke cigarettes and suffer from loneliness and low self-esteem, when compared to non-athlete peers, according to research used for the Healthy Sport Index (Women's Sports Foundation, 2018). High school athletes, though, are more likely to binge drink alcohol, with youth in contact sports (football, lacrosse, wrestling) showing the riskiest off-field behavior.

Different sports have different social and psychological benefits. A 2018 psychosocial survey by the Aspen Institute and University of Texas showed that team sports fared better than individual sports, such as tennis, track and field, and cross country. The study, part of the Healthy Sport Index, evaluated personal and social skills, cognitive skills, goal setting skills, initiative skills, health skills and negative experiences for high school athletes based on their primary sport. There seems to be evidence that more traditional team sports may be structured - or, at least, interpreted by the participants - in a manner that produces more concrete experiences associated with well-being.

Parents appreciate these benefits. Improving physical health was the No. 1 benefit parents gave for engaging their children in organized sports (Hospital for Special Surgery/Aspen Institute, 2018). Improved mental health, fun and enjoyment, promote teamwork and improved self-confidence were the next highest benefits identified by parents. In Southeast Michigan, 82% of parents said it's very important or somewhat important for their child to be regularly involved in sports, according to a 2017 survey by the Siena College Research Institute commissioned by the Aspen Institute. (Read the Southeast Michigan report.) Another survey of parents, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Harvard/NPR survey in 2015, showed the positive traits parents believe playing sports has had for their children: physical health (88%), giving the child something to do (83%), teaching discipline or dedication (81%), teaching how to get along with others (78%), mental health (73%), social life (65%), skills to help in future schooling (56%), and skills to help in a future career (55%).

And youth appreciate these health benefits, too. High school students say their biggest motivations to play sports are having fun (81%) and exercise (79%), according to a national survey by Project Play and Resonant Education in 2020-21. Winning games/championships (53%) ranked sixth. Positive emotional well-being (49%) was cited more by students than trying to earn a college scholarship (39%). Learn more from Project Play's Reimagining School Sports initiative.

Financial Benefits

Achieving the federal government's goal for youth sports participation would have significant social and economic benefits - $57 billion in direct medical costs saved and increased productivity of workers alone, plus more than 1.4 million years lived in good health. This is according to results from a 2023 computer simulation model from researchers at the City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy shows that

Getting people active could save the the global economy nearly $68 billion annually in medical costs and productivity. The U.S. alone could save up to $28 billion. And individuals could find $2,500 or more in their pocket if they move for 30 minutes five times per week ( The Lancet Physical Activity Series).

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Youth Sports Facts: Benefits - Project Play

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Project Play collects and distributes research about the benefits of physical activity and youth sports participation for kids.

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Why Are Youth Sports Programs Important?

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Youth sports are fun and promote physical and mental health for kids.

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VIDEO: Ex-NFL Players Share If Kids Should Play Contact Sports?

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CommonLit | The Pros and Cons of Youth Sports Aren't Only Physical

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The Pros and Cons of Youth Sports Participation: A Review (2024)

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The Pros and Cons of Youth Sports Participation: A Review (2024)

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Sport is a big part of life for people worldwide-it helps us connect with others, promotes physical health, and provides opportunities for personal growth. Recent reports show that only 50.7 percent of kids ages 6 to 17 played sports or took a sports lesson of some sort in 2021.

Youth sports have been proven to increase positive physical and mental health and prepare young people with the social and life skills needed to develop into well-rounded individuals. On top of that, youth sports also provide an avenue for opportunities for young people to pursue professional athleticism (as such, keeping "sport as entertainment" sustainable).

However, youth sports are not all sunshine and rainbows. Some negative aspects are worth considering if you're: a) a parent of a child interested in sports, b) a coach looking to improve the experience of youth athletes, or c) a young person interested in playing sports.

Overall, you'll find the benefits of youth sports outweigh the negative aspects, on objective balance at least-but there is room for improvement.

Pros of youth sports

So, let's start with the benefits of youth sports. Organized sports participation for children, adolescents, and young athletes has been shown to have positive effects in three main areas:

You might already feel this statement is true-but it's worth looking at the evidence. So, we'll break the "pros" of youth sports into those three categories, starting with physical health.

Positive physical health effects

Physical activity, in general, is suitable for human health so long as it's not too much in a short period. It becomes even more important for youth, particularly since the US (and many other countries) has faced a youth obesity epidemic over the last three decades.

With around 17% of US children presenting with obesity in 2019, according to Global Pediatric Health, playing sports is a valuable intervention for decreasing youth obesity. But how do we know this?

A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies in sports medicine journals looking at the physical benefits of youth sports participation of overweight/obese youth shows the following results:
"This systematic review and meta-analysis found that group sports interventions were effective in improving body composition, cardiorespiratory endurance, and muscle strength health-related physical fitness components of overweight/obese youth."
It's important to note in this study, they also found that neither flexibility nor neuro-motor skills didn't change in group sports interventions. Though the reason for this might be the group that the researchers studied was initially unfit to begin with.

So what about studying children who are generally fit and well already? A study on organized sports and self-organized activity in Norwegian schoolchildren saw interesting results.

Engagement in organized sports was more related to positive health and skill development compared to self-organized physical activity-but doing both for at least one hour a week was even more beneficial.

Of course, youth sports can, more often than not, develop young people's muscular fitness. So, to add to these benefits, another systematic study looking at the advantages of muscular fitness for children and adolescents from Auckland in 2014 concludes there is strong evidence of a positive association between muscular fitness, good bone health, and self-esteem.

These are just some of the hundreds of academic studies showing health benefits from youth sports. It's fair to say playing sports from an early age is physically healthy.

Psychological/mental health benefits

Despite the costs of youth sports, being around other people is generally good for a kid's mental well-being because we're all social creatures. So it follows that participating in youth sports, a fairly social activity, would provide psychological benefits.

For the most part, evidence suggests that this point is true, though we'll look at some of the contradicting evidence in the cons section later.

An excellent study to refer to for a summary of the psychological benefits of youth sports is Eime et al. (2013). This systematic review analyzes multiple studies and concludes that youth sports have a positive impact on several areas of mental health, including:

Self-esteem and self-confidence

Reduced social anxiety, depressive symptoms, and less suicidality

In their conclusion, the researchers highlight how improved psychological and social health has been recorded to be more prominent in organized sport as opposed to leisure time physical activity.

Social/emotional benefits

It seems like a no-brainer that participating in sports from a young age would help develop life and social skills-since team sports require teamwork. But again, let's look at the evidence.

The same systematic review from Eime et al. (2013) also looked at the social benefits of sports programs and listed that studies in their review found positive effects on:

Of the studies analyzed, some distinguished between "school sports" and "club sports," but most focused on "team sports."

However, it's worth mentioning that while boys and girls receive psychological and emotional benefits from participating in youth sports, boys seem to have more benefits than girls, according to a 2019 study from Costa and Fernandes.

Another aspect to highlight from the above benefits is that the vast majority of studies 'proving' these positive effects don't often distinguish between different sports. In most cases, it's "play sports" or "doesn't play sports." As such, the general consensus is that participating in "sports" without a specific sport is better for young people's overall health and wellness.

Cons of youth sports

Let's move on to the disadvantages of youth sports-as there are a few.

Sports specialization and risk of injury

Let's talk about a single sport specialization to make a smooth transition. Early sports specialization is often thought necessary for gaining an advantage for college scholarships.

Many of the benefits we discussed above come from overall sports participation, but removing a child or young person from all but one sport has been shown to have some adverse effects.

Several sports medicine organizations in the US have a consensus that specialization before adolescence may increase the risks of burnout and overuse injuries. Findings of sports injuries in specialized sport participation are pretty consistent among high school athletes-reported injuries included strains, Osgood-Schlatter disease, patellofemoral pain, and Sinding-Larsen-Johansson syndrome.

However, there have been no concrete recommendations as to what age these risks decrease, though the IOC suggested in 2015 that with a solid support system and careful precautions, youth athletes can have positive experiences from early specialization. On top of this, elite athletes often report they reached elite status through early specialization.

Negative psychological effects

Similarly to higher risks of injury, sports specialization can also have adverse psychological effects, though this position is less documented. We've probably met at least one young athlete who seemed "obsessed" with sporting achievement and was a little "high-strung" over any sports loss.

The Journal of Athletic Training suggests that intense training can lead to social isolation and that intrinsic characteristics such as perfectionism and unrealistic expectations from parents and coaches (to win all the time, for example) can result in excessive psychological stress.

These stressors can lead to bad coping strategies, loss of motivation, mood swings, and burnout.

Regarding negative social consequences, you're probably wondering, "How can youth sports have any negative impact when the benefits are so great?"

For many youth sports programs, positive development is not defined by the need to build community-based social institutions, re-establish communities where young people live, or empower them to be effective agents of social change in their communities. Instead, they focus on individual achievement and upward social mobility (e.g., as a way of gaining access to higher education through scholarships).

Another area to look at is the prevalence of bullying in youth sports environments (whether perpetrating or becoming victims of bullying).

Plenty of academic studies have examined the prevalence of bullying in youth sports. For example, studies have found how "having status as an athlete may put youth in the position of power to perpetrate bullying during school time" and that perpetrating bullying behavior is often a result of weak relationships with coaches.

Of course, without programs focused on preventing, detecting, and intervening in bullying, bullying also occurs within teams from other peers. Such was the focus of a study in Frontiers of Psychology in 2022, where participants reflected on their experiences as victims of bullying from other team members.

Also, in 2020, Canada's public opinion was that "Safety/Bullying/Violence/Abuse" was the top biggest issue for community-level sport (which included school-based sports leagues):

From another angle, it's also important to highlight the often exclusionary nature of youth sports-where young people with diverse identities experience exclusion and discrimination, and the exclusion disabled children (both physically and intellectually) often face in youth sports.

Summary: Do the pros outweigh the cons?

It's well documented that youth sports are generally beneficial for children and adolescents, with proven improvements to physical and mental health and social skills development.

But let's quickly restate the pros and cons of youth sports in bullet point fashion:

Improves body composition, cardiorespiratory endurance, bone and muscle strength

Promotes psychological resilience, good self-esteem, and confidence

Reduces chances of experiencing social anxiety, depressive symptoms, and suicidality

Promotes the following social aspects:

Relationships with coaches, friends

Showing respect for teachers and neighbors

Social interaction/integration

Increases likelihood of social isolation

Increased likelihood of stress related to perfectionism and unrealistic external expectations

Youth sports environments often perpetuate bullying towards both team and non-team members.

Discrimination against those with diverse identities and those who are physically or intellectually disabled.

So, from our lists, we can objectively see that the benefits of youth sports will generally outweigh the cons.

There are several ways parents, coaches, and society at large can make changes to help maximize the benefits while running a youth sports organization:

Coaches: emphasize fun; de-emphasize winning; positive praise for both team and individuals; greater emphasis on physical activity than skill mastery; gain better education on youth athlete coaching and injury recognition/first aid.

Parents: positive parenting through appropriate praise emphasizing fun rather than winning; focus on skill acquisition goals; positive reinforcement; promote desired behaviors such as sportsmanship, punctuality, and preparedness.

Society: offer better training for coaches; enforce sports safety; increase funding for safety education; improve policies and procedures; increase participation for under-served groups; better availability of facilities and proper safety equipment; rules and regulations guided by science; and pre-participation physicals.

1. Daniels SR, Jacobson MS, McCrindle BW, Eckel RH, Sanner BM. American Heart Association Childhood Obesity Research Summit: executive summary. Circulation (2009: 119: 2114-2123).

2. Sanyaolu A, Okorie C, Qi X, Locke J, Rehman S. Childhood and Adolescent Obesity in the United States: A Public Health Concern. Global Pediatric Health. (2019) Dec 1;6:2333794X19891305. doi: 10.1177/2333794X19891305. PMID: 31832491; PMCID: PMC6887808.

3. Oliveira, A et al. "Effects of Group Sports on Health‐related Physical Fitness of Overweight Youth: A Systematic Review and Meta‐analysis." Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports 27.6 (2017): 604-611.

4. Wiium, Nora, and Reidar Säfvenbom. "Participation in Organized Sports and Self-Organized Physical Activity: Associations with Developmental Factors." International journal of environmental research and public health 16.4 (2019): 585

5. Smith, Jordan J. et al. "The Health Benefits of Muscular Fitness for Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis." Sports medicine (Auckland) 44.9 (2014): 1209-1223.

6. Eime, Rochelle M. et al. "A Systematic Review of the Psychological and Social Benefits of Participation in Sport for Children and Adolescents: Informing Development of a Conceptual Model of Health through Sport." The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity 10.1 (2013): 98-98

7. Costa, Henrique, and Helder Miguel Fernandes. "Gender Differences in Psychosocial Benefits of Physical Activity and Sports Participation in Youth." Journal of human sport and exercise 14.4 (2019): 1-4

8. Jayanthi, Neeru A. et al. "Health Consequences of Youth Sport Specialization." Journal of athletic training 54.10 (2019): 1040-1049

9. Bergeron, Michael F et al. "International Olympic Committee Consensus Statement on Youth Athletic Development." British journal of sports medicine 49.13 (2015): 843-851.

10. DiSanti, Justin S., and Karl Erickson. "Youth Sport Specialization: a Multidisciplinary Scoping Systematic Review." Journal of sports sciences 37.18 (2019): 2094-2105.

11. Coakley, Jay. "Youth Sports: What Counts as 'Positive Development?'" Journal of sport and social issues 35.3 (2011): 306-324.

12. Evans, Blair et al. "Bullying Victimization and Perpetration Among Adolescent Sport Teammates." Pediatric exercise science 28.2 (2016): 296-303

13. Ríos, Xènia, Carles Ventura, and Pau Mateu. "'I Gave Up Football and I Had No Intention of Ever Going Back': Retrospective Experiences of Victims of Bullying in Youth Sport." Frontiers in psychology 13 (2022): 819981-819981.

14. Storr, R. et al. "'Game to Play?': Barriers and Facilitators to Sexuality and Gender Diverse Young People's Participation in Sport and Physical Activity." Sport, education and society 27.5 (2022): 604-617

15. Saxton, Marsha. "Hard Bodies: Exploring Historical and Cultural Factors in Disabled People's Participation in Exercise; Applying Critical Disability Theory." Sport in society 21.1 (2018): 22-39.

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The Pros and Cons of Youth Sports Participation: A Review (2024) | Jersey Watch

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We look at 15 studies from the past decade to determine the pros and cons of youth sports participation. Read the results in this guide.

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VIDEO: How concussion concerns impact youth football

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VIDEO: How concussion concerns impact youth football

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VIDEO: Children Getting Adult Sports Injuries

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VIDEO: Children Getting Adult Sports Injuries

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VIDEO: Referee calls out ill-behaved parents at kids sports games

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VIDEO: Referee calls out ill-behaved parents at kids sports games

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VIDEO: A Dangerous Game_ The Truth About Youth Sports 

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VIDEO: A Dangerous Game_ The Truth About Youth Sports 

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Mike Webster: The Brain That Sparked the NFL's Concussion Crisis

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Mike Webster: The Brain That Sparked the NFL's Concussion Crisis

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How a puzzling autopsy report opened a new chapter in football history

Gene J Puskar / AP

Mike Webster's death was significant. Iron Mike. The best center in the NFL. Nine-time Pro Bowler. Hall of Famer. Four Super Bowl rings. He had played in more games-220 of them-than any other player in Steelers history.

Plenty of guys had a hard time after retiring from football-you had to adjust to a new identity and a new schedule, like coming home from war. But Webster's reaction seemed extreme. He got lethargic. He forgot to eat. One day he peed in the oven, frightening his wife and kids. Then he wandered off, meandering through Pittsburgh. He slept under bridges, in the Amtrak station, then in his truck. Somehow, he got guns. He would walk up to strangers and rant. "Kill 'em! I'm gonna kill 'em!"

His teeth started falling out. He got Super Glue, squirted each fallen tooth, and tried to stick them back in. He wrapped his hands with duct tape and stuck a pen in the tape so he could write thousands of letters. He bought himself a taser and used it on his stomach or his thigh. He zapped himself into unconsciousness, just to get some sleep.

And now here he was in the morgue, dead at 50.

With the electric saw, the pathologist Bennet Omalu carefully cut a cap out of the skull, pulled off the cap, and gently reached inside for the brain. He was thinking about football and brain trauma. Specifically, he was thinking of dementia pugilistica -"punch-drunk syndrome," they called it in boxers. The condition's clinical picture was somewhat like Webster's: "Punch-drunk syndrome" was characterized by severe dementia-delusion, paranoia, explosive behavior, loss of memory-caused by repeated blows to the head. If chronic bashing of the head could destroy a boxer's brain, couldn't it also destroy a football player's brain?

Surely someone in the history of football had thought to look for dementia pugilistica. Unlike boxers, football players wear helmets, but a helmet can't fully protect the head from damaging impact. The brain is suspended in a kind of thick jelly inside the skull, and a helmet can't keep it from sloshing around. If you hit your head hard enough, the brain goes bashing against the walls of the skull.

Omalu had seen plenty of cases of brains destroyed within helmets. Omalu picked up Webster's brain, carried it slowly to the cutting board, and turned it upside down and on its side and then over again. It was not at all what he expected. Regular folds of gray matter. No mush. No obvious contusions, like you find in dementia pugilistica. No shrinkage like you would see in Alzheimer's disease. He reviewed the CT and MRI scans. All normal.

* * *

In his medical writings, Hippocrates mentioned what he called commotio cerebri -the loss of speech, hearing, and sight that could result from "commotion of the brain," a vigorous shake or blow to the head.

The 10th-century Persian physician Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya Razi is thought to be the first to make the distinction between the dramatic kind of brain injury- bruising and swelling and bleeding-that outright killed a person, and another, more subtle kind: an injury to the head that could make you dizzy, could even knock you unconscious, but from which you recovered. Razi was the first to use the term "cerebral concussion."

In the early 16th century the Italian physician Jacopo Berengario da Carpi, a pioneer in the science of anatomy, came up with the idea that perhaps "brain commotion" was caused by the thrust of the soft structure of the brain against the solid case of the skull. The brain, he posited, was essentially bruised inside the skull by banging against its walls.

That would turn out to be a prescient theory. But there was little hope of advancing it, even when the microscope was invented at the end of the 16th century. Few people died from concussions, and so doctors didn't routinely have concussed brains to autopsy. Without the underlying pathology to describe it, the word "concussion" remained a description, not a diagnosis. Most of the medical literature of the day pointed to good news: Unlike more severe forms of head injury, like crushing your skull or getting a bullet through your brain, this condition seemed temporary.

* * *

Mike Webster's brain sat for two weeks in a white plastic bucket of formaldehyde at the morgue. When it was firm enough, Omalu pulled it out and put took a scalpel to the frontal lobe, cutting a section from it about the width of a stick of gum. He did the same to the parietal, occipital, and temporal lobes. He took the four slices to the lab at the University of Pittsburgh, where he had just finished his neuropathology training and knew the technicians and their particular expertise. He said nothing about whose brain he was giving them.

Omalu told the technician to shave each block of Mike Webster's brain into microscopic slivers, then mount the slivers onto glass slides and stain them to bring any unusual patterns of cells into view.

He told the technician to submit the bill for the tissue processing to him personally, not to the coroner's office. It would cost a few thousand dollars for just the first batch of slides, but he didn't want any of the techs at the morgue involved in the paperwork, didn't want anyone looking over his shoulder or making fun of him for indulging a personal curiosity.

The first time Omalu looked at the slides, nearly a month later, he didn't see anything but clean tissue. The first slide didn't show anything abnormal. Neither did the second or the third.

Puzzled, Omalu reviewed Webster's death certificate and the photos he had taken of Webster's body. The hospital report said Webster had died at Allegheny General Hospital from an acute myocardial infarction. He suffered from "depression secondary to post-concussion syndrome," suggesting the syndrome was a contributory factor to his death, thus making it accidental.

Omalu thought about the term "post-concussion syndrome." It was something he hated about being a doctor: People always wanting a name for something, doctors inventing them. As if naming had anything to do with healing, let alone science. You couldn't come up with a more vague term than "post-concussion syndrome."

* * *

For centuries, no one really considered the question of whether the brain really always recovers from concussions, or of whether there could be cumulative effects. But in the early 1900s, researchers like Michael Osnato and Vincent Giliberti, a pair of New York neuropsychiatrists, began finding patterns of mental degeneration in patients who had sustained mild head injuries. "It is no longer possible to say that concussion is an essentially transient state which does not comprise any evidence of structural cerebral injury," the authors concluded in a 1927 Journal of the American Medical Association article. "Not only is there actual cerebral injury in cases of concussion, but in a few instances complete resolution does not occur, and there is a strong likelihood that secondary degenerative changes develop."

That was a significant claim, and Harrison Martland, a forensic pathologist in Newark, New Jersey, took notice. Martland was interested in studying popular boxers athletes of the day, many of whom were exhibiting strange behaviors. Fans called them "cuckoo," "goofy," or "slug nutty" and people enjoyed screaming at them as they staggered around the ring like intoxicated fools. What was going on in their brains?

"Punch Drunk" was the title of Martland's article in the October 13, 1928, issue of JAMA. "Punch drunk most often affects fighters of the slugging type," he wrote, "who are usually poor boxers and who take considerable head punishment, seeking only to land a knockout blow. It is also common in second-rate fighters used for training purposes, who may be knocked down several times a day."

"As far as I know this condition has practically not been described in medical literature," he continued. "I am of the opinion that in punch drunk there is a very definite brain injury due to single or repeated blows on the head or jaw which cause multiple concussion hemorrhages in the deeper portions of the cerebrum."

Martland didn't have any proof-he hadn't autopsied any boxers' brains- but he posited that a boxer's brain was bruised, and that the bruises formed scars and caused the brain to atrophy. He said he believed that nearly one half of fighters who stayed in the ring long enough would develop the condition.

"The condition can no longer be ignored by the medical profession or the public," he wrote.

And yet it was. People loved boxing.

Scientific proof of Martland's 1928 theory about punch-drunk boxers didn't come until 1973, when the British neuropathologist J.A.N. Corsellis cracked open the skulls of 15 former boxes who had died of natural causes and studied their brains. He called his brain bank the Corsellis Collection and supplemented his findings with whatever clinical information he was able to gather from the family members of the deceased.

"The Aftermath of Boxing," Corsellis titled his paper. He told the case histories and followed each with a description of what he found when he looked inside the skulls of the dead boxers: unusual and specific damage to the tissue, with irregular folds in irregular patterns. There was no question, even before examining the tissue under a microscope, that the boxers had sustained cerebral damage. Corsellis called the disease "dementia pugilistica."

One night, Omalu was looking in the microscope at Webster's brain and saw strange, dark splotches. He flipped to another slide, saw the same dark splotches. He consulted a medical textbook, then another one, then dug into a binder of journal articles he had collected-a binder that included photos of the Corsellis Collection.

Omalu looked at the images of Corsellis's brains, then back at the photos he had taken of Webster's brain before he sliced into it. The Corsellis brains were bruised and bashed, swollen and atrophied. Webster's was not.

But then he read what Corsellis saw in the boxers' brains under a microscope.

The hippocampal neuronal population was considerably depleted. . . . Many neurofibrillary tangles in the nerve cells of the frontal and temporal cortex . . . particularly marked in the anteromedial temporal gray matter including the amygdaloid nucleus, the hippocampus and the parahippocampal gyrus.

He looked again at Webster's brain under the microscope. Corsellis could have been dictating Omalu's findings.

The "neurofibrillary tangles" that Corsellis had described-and that Omalu was seeing in Webster's brain-were buildups of a protein called tau, which in a healthy human brain acts as a kind of lubricant. But in unhealthy brains, the protein can form clumps.

These concentrated masses acted like kind of like sludge, clogging up the brain and killing healthy cells-in this case, cells in regions responsible for mood, emotions, and executive functioning. This was what happened to boxers. It appeared to be what happened to Webster, too.

It was a warm day in May 2003 when Omalu drove up to the University of Pittsburgh to see his former professor, the neuropathologist Ronald Hamilton, who had been his teacher through his two-year fellowship training. "I have something for you to look at," Omalu said, and he handed him the tray of slides. Hamilton flipped through the first two slides, then dropped his shoulders in boredom.

"You're bringing me an Alzheimer's case?" he said. "You do realize I spend my day with these-"

"No, keep looking," Omalu said. He needed Hamilton's read on this. Hamilton was the expert-he'd made a significant discovery about abnormal masses of proteins in the brains of Alzheimer's patients during his decades-long career looking in microscopes.

"Huh," Hamilton said, having finally figured the puzzle out. "So how did you end up with a boxer down at that morgue?"

"It's not a boxer," Omalu said.

Omalu explained the major difference between dementia pugilistica and his finding. The brain didn't look battered at all on gross examination, he said. It looked perfectly normal. It wouldn't be something a pathologist would have cause to go looking for. There would be no signs of it in a normal autopsy. You would have to know the clinical history. You would have to then go cut the brain, stain it with these particular stains, and then look at it under the microscope. You would have to go through all the steps Omalu went through, following no protocol, following the call of only his own blind curiosity.

"Dementia footballistica," Hamilton joked. He kept going back to the slides. "This is crazy. This has never been identified before."

Omalu and his former professor then paid a visit to the chair of the University of Pittsburgh Department of Neurology, Steve DeKosky, the director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, who was preeminent in the field of neurodegenerative diseases.

He knew brains. And he'd had his own questions about the NFL and brain trauma. Alzheimer's researchers in his circle of colleagues had been talking about retired NFL players reportedly having memory problems. He had reached out to the NFL Hall of Fame and suggested a design for a large longitudinal study that would track Hall of Famers over time. The suggestion was never acknowledged-no one from the association had even written back to him-and the slight had made DeKosky ever more curious.

And now Hamilton was appearing in his office with a former fellow-that odd man who chose to work at the morgue instead of pursuing an academic career-with something to say about the brain of an NFL player. The three sat and repeated the guessing game, only this time DeKosky was the one looking in the microscope.

"You have my attention," DeKosky said, and he got up to close the door. Soon, Omalu would have America's.
This article has been adapted from Jeanne Marie Laskas's book, Concussion.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.

Jeanne Marie Laskas is the author of eight books, including the forthcoming To Obama, and Concussion, the basis for the 2015 film. She is a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine, a correspondent at GQ, and a two-time National Magazine Award finalist. Her stories have also appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Esquire. She serves as Distinguished Professor of English and Founding Director of the Center for Creativity at the University of Pittsburgh.

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The Brain That Sparked the NFL's Concussion Crisis

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How a puzzling autopsy report opened a new chapter in football history Mike Webster's death was significant. Iron Mike. The best center in the NFL. Nine-time Pro Bowler. Hall of Famer. Four Super Bowl rings. He had played in more games-220 of them-than any other player in Steelers history.

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INFOGRAPHIC: How to Help Junior Athletes Manage Stress

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INFOGRAPHIC: How to Help Junior Athletes Manage Stress

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INFOGRAPHIC: The Positive Effects of Youth Sports

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INFOGRAPHIC: The Positive Effects of Youth Sports

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INFOGRAPHIC: Is Football Too Violent for Our Youth?

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INFOGRAPHIC: Is Football Too Violent for Our Youth?

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INFOGRAPHIC: The High Cost of Youth Sports

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INFOGRAPHIC: The High Cost of Youth Sports

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VIDEO: Youth Sports: The Good, Bad, and Ugly | Harlan Banks & Anay Nagarajan

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VIDEO: Youth Sports: The Good, Bad, and Ugly | Harlan Banks & Anay Nagarajan

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Youth Sports: The Good, Bad, and Ugly | Harlan Banks & Anay Nagarajan | TEDxSaintFrancisHS

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VIDEO: The Benefits Of Competitive Sports For Kids - Natalie Hawkins

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VIDEO: The Benefits Of Competitive Sports For Kids - Natalie Hawkins

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The Benefits Of Competitive Sports For Kids - Natalie Hawkins

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VIDEO: Competitive sport: Harmful or healthy?

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VIDEO: Competitive sport: Harmful or healthy?

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Competitive sport_ Harmful or healthy_ (1)

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Intense training schedules. Pressure to win and be the best. Painful injuries. Given all these factors, it's not surprising that some athletes simply burn out on their sport. But what is shocking to many in the field are the young ages at which this is increasingly happening -- sometimes as early as 9 or 10.

The scenario often goes something like this: Eager to nurture the next A-Rod or Michelle Kwan, parents enroll their 5- or 6-year-olds in a competitive sports league or program. Over the next few years, training intensifies and expands to the off-season, making practice essentially year-round. Youngsters may join more than one league or a traveling team. They may have to sacrifice other interests and give up most of the down time that allows them to just be kids.

Soon the stakes get higher because many parents and coaches play to win. Winning means recognition and that could lead to lucrative opportunities -- high school championships then college scholarships and perhaps a shot at the pros.

"Kids sports have become much more competitive," says Dr. Jordan Metzl, medical director of the Sports Medicine Institute for Young Athletes at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

"And in general, high-level competition for young kids is not a great thing," says Metzl, co-author of "The Young Athlete: A Sports Doctor's Complete Guide for Parents."

With more kids than ever in organized sports, an estimated 30 million of them up through high school, Metzl and other experts in sports medicine and youth athletics say they are increasingly concerned about the pressures put on some children to excel. Not only are these youngsters at risk for emotional burnout, they may also develop injuries that plague them for a lifetime. Some will turn to steroids or other performance-enhancing substances to try to gain an edge. And some may give up on sports -- and exercise -- altogether.

'It's not fun anymore'
Kids with a strong internal drive may thrive on the competition. But the pressure can be too much for others, particularly grade-schoolers who aren't as equipped to deal with the stress as older athletes.

And the goals of sports for young kids can differ dramatically from those of their parents and coaches, says youth fitness researcher Avery Faigenbaum, an associate professor of exercise science at the University of Massachusetts in Boston.

"Most children would rather play on a losing team than sit on the bench of a winning team," he says.

When Faigenbaum asks kids who've quit why they're no longer interested in sports, their typical response: "It's not fun anymore." They wanted to have a good time, make friends and learn something new, he says. But make the game all about hard-core training and the final score, and many kids will sideline themselves.

"They're getting turned off of sports at a young age -- and that's a sad tale," says Faigenbaum.

There's ample evidence that sports participation can have important benefits for kids, including improved physical health and emotional well-being. Hopefully, they'll also learn life lessons in teamwork, discipline, leadership and time management. But kids can't profit from these benefits if they're quitting sports early on.

A new ball game
While parents may have spent much of their early childhoods riding bikes around the neighborhood, playing pick-up games of baseball or basketball with the local kids and maybe joining Little League, today's youngsters often fall into two disparate groups: those who sit inside playing video games and those who participate in organized competitive sports like soccer, ice hockey and basketball.

A big difference today is that kids involved in sports play harder and younger than ever, says Steve Marshall, an assistant professor of epidemiology and orthopedics at the Injury Prevention Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. And with dreams of college scholarships and multi-million dollar professional contracts, the competition can get out of hand, he says.

"Youth sports have become about more than kids having fun," says Marshall. "Frankly it's beginning to get out of control. It's almost a national obsession."

Certainly coaches who treat young athletes like military recruits can be a big problem. So can athletes who take the game too seriously and play when they're injured or, as they enter the teen years, turn to performance-enhancing substances that they hear of their idols in the big leagues using.

Parents the prime culprits
But experts in the field mostly point to parents as the prime culprits in promoting a competition-crazed environment in youth sports.

"Parents tend to think everyone's going to the Olympics," says Patrick Mediate, a physical education teacher and coordinator of the strength and conditioning program at Greenwich High School in Greenwich, Conn.

Of course, many parents are a positive force, supporting their children and making sports participation possible by taking the time to drive kids to and from practice and games. But parents who live vicariously through their children can be problematic, experts say. It's one thing for kids to dream of Olympic gold medals or Super Bowl rings and to work toward those goals. But it's another matter if parents are pushing their kids to do something they don't want or pressuring them to succeed in a way that's hurtful.

Marilyn Enmark, a youth soccer coach in Detroit, says she's seen her share of overbearing parents.

Recently, one of her players, a 7-year-old boy, hit the boards during an indoor game and was holding his head. His father, a former soccer player himself, went over to the boy but rather than asking him how he was feeling, scolded him for playing poorly. A week later, his mother called him over after a play and she, too, sharply criticized him. "He was sobbing," Enmark says.

Parents -- and coaches -- who push too hard too young, particularly when they emphasize winning above all else, can easily wipe out a child's motivation to play, says Dr. Henry Goitz, chief of sports medicine at the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo.

"They may be preventing the next Michael Jordan from coming to be," says Goitz, a team physician for the Toledo high schools and a former team doctor for the Detroit Lions. "They can take the heart out of a kid."

But not all pushing is bad, says Michael Bergeron, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. He acknowledges, however, that there's no good answer on where to draw the line.

"You need to know your child," he says. If kids truly hate a sport, then let them quit. But maybe they just need some encouragement. Some 19- or 20-year-olds may wish their parents had pushed them more to stick with sports when they were younger rather than giving up, he adds.

Injury toll
Aside from the psychological pressures that young athletes may experience from intense training and competition, physical complaints are a growing concern, sports medicine specialists say.

One of the most comprehensive surveys to date, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that from 1997 to 1999 sports and recreation-related injuries were more common nationwide than injuries from traffic accidents. Americans ages 5 to 24 were most likely to be treated for sports-related injuries by health professionals. Kids 5 to 14 had the highest injury rates of all -- 59.3 episodes per 1,000 people. That's slightly higher than the rate for people 15 to 24 (56.4 per 1,000) but substantially greater than the rates for those 25 to 44 (21 per 1,000) and 45 and up (6.2 per 1,000).

A fifth of kids lost one or more school days a year because of their complaints. Strains and sprains accounted for the most injuries overall, followed by fractures. Among kids 5 to 14, bicycling was associated with the most injuries, followed by basketball, football, playground equipment and baseball or softball. In those 15 to 24, basketball and football were linked to the most injuries.

Greater sports participation, particularly among girls in recent decades, is one reason injuries appear to be rising, experts say. A study published last September in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that over the last 30 years in the area around Rochester, Minn., forearm fractures, many of them resulting from sports and recreation activities, increased 56 percent in girls and 32 percent in boys, mostly among kids in the preteen and early teen years. Also on the rise are knee injuries known as anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, tears that are more likely to affect girls, often those who play basketball or soccer.

Another factor that contributes to sports injuries is the couch-potato culture where kids lounge around all summer watching TV, for instance, and then jump into a sport in the fall when they're woefully out of shape. "The musculoskeletal systems of boys and girls may not be prepared for sports," says Faigenbaum. "They're an absolute set-up for injury."

On the flip side, too much training can lead to overuse injuries such as "Little League elbow," which results from repetitive throws, and stress fractures.

Metzl diagnosed a pelvic stress fracture in one 9-year-old girl who had been playing soccer two to three hours a day, five to six days a week. But in kids like her, diet could also be a contributing factor. Too much soda and not enough milk can weaken bones. So he now orders bone density tests on young athletes with curious stress fractures and tracks the kids over time.

Early specialization questioned
A big issue, many experts in the field say, is the push for kids to specialize in a single sport very early in life -- well before puberty.

"This has backfired in our faces," Faigenbaum says. "It truly doesn't work."

Kids may hone certain skills in a particular sport with early, intense specialization, but they can also burn out emotionally and physically. And they may not necessarily be achieving the goal they or their parents hoped for -- becoming the best athlete they can be in that sport, he notes.

"When you play different sports, you use a variety of motor skills -- jumping, running, twisting -- that can transfer to a lot of sports," Faigenbaum says. But if young kids focus on just one sport, they may not reap these benefits.

"There's absolutely no evidence that says that if a [child] athlete plays just one sport that will guarantee success as a teen or adult," he says, adding there's actually more evidence that if they diversify they'll play better. Ask most pro athletes what they were doing at age 10, he says, and most will say they were playing two to three sports, not just one.

Focusing on a single activity also puts all of a young athlete's eggs in one basket, says Metzl. If kids don't try other sports, how do they know whether or not they might like those sports more -- or be better at them?

And even top-notch athletes can tire of their sport because of what it takes to win. At Greenwich High School, the boys' swim team program has been hugely successful, losing only one meet in the last 25 years. But just a handful of the athletes have gone on to swim in college, says Mediate.

"They have double practice sessions -- morning and night -- almost every day for 10 years," he says. "So it does add up. It's burnout."

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With more kids than ever in organized sports, experts in sports medicine and youth athletics say they are increasingly concerned about the pressures put on young children to excel at sports.

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How frequently do sports injuries occur?

In the U.S., about 30 million children and teens participate in some form of organized sports, and more than 3.5 million injuries each year, which cause some loss of time of participation, are experienced by the participants. Almost one-third of all injuries incurred in childhood are sports-related injuries. By far, the most common injuries are sprains and strains.

Obviously, some sports are more dangerous than others. For example, contact sports such as football can be expected to result in a higher number of injuries than a noncontact sport such as swimming. However, all types of sports have a potential for injury, whether from the trauma of contact with other players or from overuse or misuse of a body part.

The following statistics are from the National SAFE KIDS Campaign and the American Academy of Pediatrics:

Injury rates:

More than 3.5 million children ages 14 and younger get hurt annually playing sports or participating in recreational activities.

Although death from a sports injury is rare, the leading cause of death from a sports-related injury is a brain injury.

Sports and recreational activities contribute to approximately 21 percent of all traumatic brain injuries among American children.

Almost 50 percent of head injuries sustained in sports or recreational activities occur during bicycling, skateboarding, or skating incidents.

More than 775,000 children, ages 14 and younger, are treated in hospital emergency rooms for sports-related injuries each year. Most of the injuries occurred as a result of falls, being struck by an object, collisions, and overexertion during unorganized or informal sports activities.

Where and when:

Playground, sports, and bicycle-related injuries occur most often among children between ages 5 and 14 years old.

The highest rates of injury occur in sports that involve contact and collisions.

More severe injuries occur during individual sports and recreational activities.

Most organized sports-related injuries (62 percent) occur during practice.

Types of sports and recreational activities

Consider these estimated injury statistics for 2009 from the Consumer Product Safety Commission:

Basketball. More than 170,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for basketball-related injuries.

Baseball and softball. Nearly 110,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for baseball-related injuries. Baseball also has the highest fatality rate among sports for children ages 5 to 14, with three to four children dying from baseball injuries each year.

Bicycling. More than 200,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for bicycle-related injuries.

Football. Almost 215,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for football-related injuries.

Ice hockey. More than 20,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for ice hockey-related injuries.

In-line and roller skating. More than 47,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for in-line skating-related injuries.

Skateboarding. More than 66,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for skateboarding-related injuries.

Sledding or toboggan. More than 16,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for sledding-related injuries.

Snow skiing or snowboarding. More than 25,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for snow boarding and snow skiing-related injuries.

Soccer. About 88,000 children ages 5 to 14 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for soccer-related injuries.

Trampolines. About 65,000 children ages 14 and under were treated in hospital emergency rooms for trampoline-related injuries.

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default - Stanford Medicine Children's Health

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Stanford Medicine Children's Health Detailed information on sports injuries in children

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Sports are a part of our culture and touch nearly everyone's life to some degree. Getting your child involved in sports has many benefits; however, some parents also have some valid concerns about involving their child in sports, like time commitments and the potential for injuries. You know your child, but generally, the benefits of playing sports far outweigh the drawbacks.

Here are the five biggest reasons why you should let your child play sports and never look back.
Sports are Fun!
...and that is - by far - the most important thing. Remember, they are kids and playing with or making new friends while running around is fun. As a bonus, they will unwittingly learn life lessons and team strategies. If you or your child is hesitant, take them to a game and let them see how the game works and the interaction among the players. Soon they will be itching to join the fun!
Promoting an Active Lifestyle
It stands to reason that being on the move helps kids stay in shape and builds athleticism and endurance. Playing sports can also help to reduce body fat, control body weight, help fight depression and anxiety and strengthen bones. Developing an active lifestyle early means that there's a better chance that kids maintain it in the long run.
Learning Sportsmanship
In sports leagues there are winners and losers, competition is part of the game, but more importantly, kids learn sportsmanship and how to overcome adversity. Learning how to deal with things that don't go your way, like a missed shot or foul call, help children grow. Being a good sport, both in athletics and life is essential to being a good citizen.
Time-management Skills
There is a time commitment when joining a sport, but that is where kids begin to learn important time-management skills. If your child knows he has a game that evening but cannot play unless his homework is done, he is more likely to get that homework done before the game! Your child starts disciplining themselves and setting priorities without even realizing they are doing it.
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
Teamwork is an important life skill. It's also an essential part of team sports. Participation in sports allows kids to make lasting friendships, develop communication skills, feel a sense of community and learn to respect their teammates and coaches.

Even athletes in individual sports learn to work as a team with their coach and make lasting friendships with others in their sport.

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Five Reasons Why Your Child Should Play Sports

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Sports are a part of our culture and touch nearly everyone's life to some degree. Getting your child involved in sports has many benefits; however, some parents also have some valid concerns about involving their child in sports, like time commitments and the potential for injuries.

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Sports are a great way for kids to have fun while staying fit. Sports also teach important life lessons like:

working as a team

learning how to be a good sport

overcoming challenges

controlling emotions

taking pride in accomplishments

But it's not always easy to keep it together when it feels like winning is everything. Help your young athlete keep a healthy attitude about sports and develop the tools to deal with the stress that comes with competing.

Check Stress Levels

Competing always leads to some stress. And that can be good - a little stress helps the body face a challenge. But too much stress can take the fun out of a sport and make it hard to perform. Besides competing, other things can make athletes feel stressed out, such as:

too much pressure from parents or coaches to win

having too much on the schedule

not wanting to play the sport

If you or your child think there's too much stress around competing, consider:

Changing the focus from winning to putting in the best effort and having a positive attitude. Be sure the coach has the same outlook.

Looking at your family's schedule. If your child has too much going on, think about limiting practice time or only doing one sport or activity per season.

If your child doesn't want to play the sport anymore, find out why and make a decision together.

Ways to Deal With Stress in Sports

There will always be some stress in sports, so it's important for kids to know how to deal with it.

Trying different ways during practice can help them find what works best for them. They can try:

Deep breathing: Take a deep breath and hold it in for about 5 seconds, then release it slowly. Repeat five times.

Muscle relaxation: Contract (flex) a group of muscles tightly. Keep them flexed for about 5 seconds, then release. Repeat the exercise five times, then move to a different muscle group.

Going to a happy place: Picture a peaceful place or event. Imagine stress flowing away from the body.

Visualizing success: Imagine completing a pass, making a shot, or scoring a goal.

Mindfulness: Focus on the present instead of worrying about the future or the past.

Having a routine: Focus on the routine to keep stress in control.

Thinking positively and developing positive self-talk: Say "I learn from my mistakes," "I'm in control of my feelings," "I can make this goal!" to help keep the negative thoughts away.

To keep stress levels down when they're not competing, kids should:

Eat well and get enough sleep, especially before games.

Do something fun and relaxing. They can take a break from competing and go for a walk, ride a bike, see a movie, or hang out with friends.

Remember that no one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes in sports - it's part of the game. Be quick to forgive mistakes and move on.

Sports are about staying active, feeling proud, developing as a player, and making friends. Above all, whether they play on the varsity team or at a weekend pick-up game, the point is to have fun. By keeping that as the priority, you can help your child learn to handle the stress that is a natural part of competition.

Date reviewed: February 2019

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Competitive Sports: Helping Kids Play it Cool

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Sometimes the pressure to succeed on the field or in the court can be overwhelming. Learn what you can do to help your child keeps things in perspective.

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Are Youth Sports Too Competitive? (Published 2019)

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In Norway, 93 percent of children participate in organized sports. What can we learn from that country’s approach to youth sports?

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But is there a downside? Yes, say many sports medicine experts, when the desire to excel leads to rigorous year-round training in just one sport. Known as "early youth sport specialization," the practice is becoming increasingly common among pre-teen and young teen athletes, according to Peter Fabricant, MD, MPH, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at HSS.

In fact, of the 60 million children and teens who participate in organized sports each year, about 27 percent are involved in only one sport, according to the National Council of Youth Sports. Increasingly, they're training or competing year-round, often on multiple teams. Kids as young as seven years old may join travel leagues in addition to school-sponsored programs.

"We see kids as young as 10 years old on four soccer teams," Dr. Fabricant says. And this specialization makes kids more prone to develop certain types of injuries.

Understanding the Evidence

In short, the excessive stress on muscles, bones, tendons and ligaments associated with sports specialization has been linked to a greater risk of overuse injuries. Overuse, which accounts for about half of the injuries seen in young athletes, happens gradually and gets worse over time. "Basically, kids are overdoing it," says Dr. Fabricant.

Also common are shoulder and elbow injuries in young athletes involved in baseball, tennis and overhead sports. "Kids involved in field and impact sports often come in with stress fractures and knee problems," Dr. Fabricant notes.

The problem has become so widespread that the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine has published a consensus statement based on the available evidence. The panel of experts, including a physician from HSS, declared the practice to be detrimental, defining early specialization as participation in an activity year-round at the exclusion of other sports prior to age 12.

"There is no evidence that young children will benefit from early sport specialization in the majority of sports," the panel wrote. "They are subject to overuse injury and burnout from concentrated activity."
The American Academy of Pediatrics has also advised against single-sport specialization, notes Dr. Fabricant. But more research is needed to determine the ideal age for sport specialization, how to best prevent injuries in young athletes, and how to promote life-long enjoyment of athletics for good health.

Focus on Diversification

Despite the evidence against early specialization, it's not always easy to dissuade a kid from playing a favorite sport year-round. Coaches may push kids to train intensely in a sport, and parents may see specialization as a ticket to a college scholarship or professional career. They think about the success of athletes who started training at a young age, and place high hopes on their children.

So what's the solution? The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine suggests that young athletes play multiple sports rather focusing on one. Similarly, the American Academy of Pediatrics calls for diversification and advocates for the delay of specialization until late adolescence.

Dr. Fabricant agrees. "A better, healthier alternative to single sport specialization is for kids to play a variety of sports year-round," he says. "If a kid loves baseball, they can play that sport for two seasons. The other two seasons, they can participate in recreational or organized sports that don't involve overhead throwing. That way they're giving their arm a rest."

Prevention initiatives at HSS, such as the Youth Sports Safety Program, also seek to raise awareness about good practices that can reduce the risk of injury. "We still want kids to be active all year. We don't want them to be couch potatoes," Dr. Fabricant adds

Kids are often devastated when they get hurt badly enough to be sidelined, and that brings up another benefit of diversification. "If an injury prevents a young athlete from playing one sport, they may still be able to participate in another athletic activity," Dr. Fabricant notes. "For example, a kid with a sore shoulder could still be on the track team."

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Intensive Participation in a Single Sport: Is It Good or Bad for Kids?

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Pediatric orthopedic surgeon Peter Fabricant breaks down what you need to know about the effects of sports specialization on young kids.