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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.(Stenston 4)

Statistic

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At first, he said only that his stomach hurt. But as I asked more questions, he brought up the subject of concussions. (Cohlen 2)

Anecdote

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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(Stenson 4)

Fact

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Competitive athletes are consistently involved in situations where they are challenged. This not only occurs on the competitive field of play but in the practice gym as well. When this happens, their level of perseverance and determination will be tested. The hope here is that they become stronger within over time.

(Mango13)

Factr

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These attributes are essential in accomplishing the goals one sets. They become most evident when athletes are put in tough situations that require the actions of perseverance and determination. How bad one wants to accomplish one's goals will be directly proportional to the amount of desire they have to accomplish.
(Mango 13)

Fact/Expert Quote

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When a child wins a game with his team, he feels accomplished and recognized. Even when he doesn't win, he can learn a valuable lesson: that you can't win every time(Davis 17).

Expert Quote

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Losing with his team can also increase self-esteem, as he learns to hold his head high and feel proud for trying his best(Davis 17).

Fact

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Yet past studies have generally found that while walking and biking to school increases physical activity levels, it has little or no impact on body weight. Dr. Drake and his colleagues noted that the sample sizes in those studies were small — in many cases, just a few hundred students — so recruited over 1,700 high school students and their parents to examine the relationship between commutes to school, levels of sports participation and body weight(O'Connor 18)

Fact

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As for more organized activities, about 17 percent of the students played on one sports team, 18 percent played on two, and 35 percent were on three or more. The study revealed a dose response relationship: the greater the participation level in organized sports, the lower the risk of being overweight or obese. The trend became most significant when students played on at least two teams, representative of year-round participation in sports(O'Connor 18).

Statsitic

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Creating and setting goals is an integral part of being an athlete. They give direction and represent a place in the future where one wants to be. Without them one is just going through the motions.
(Mango13)

Expert Quote

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But when Will voiced his fears, I woke up. This was one of those moments that could have changed the lives of the children I’ve been reading about, kids who played through pain and got seriously hurt. (Cohen, 1)

Anecdote

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But when Will voiced his fears, I woke up. This was one of those moments that could have changed the lives of the children I’ve been reading about, kids who played through pain and got seriously hurt. (Cohen, 1)

Anecdote

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As a physical educator it is impossible to cover the benefits gained from sports participation without mentioning the fitness improvements achieved through training for and participating in athletic activities. In a society where obesity has become a major health issue the physical fitness advantages simply cannot be denied.
(Mango 12)

Anecdote

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He’d read Troy Aikman’s account of being unable to remember a Super Bowl victory. He knew that Steve Young had retired because of concussions. And he recognized that if he kept taking hits year after year, he could suffer the same fate — or worse. (Cohen, 1)

Fact

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Teenagers can significantly lower their likelihood of being overweight or obese by walking or biking to school and playing on at least one high school sports team, but preferably two or more, a new study suggests.

(O'Connor 1)

Fact

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He fell asleep? Isn’t that the first thing they tell you to avoid in a head-injury situation? Was this the moment I’d been dreading since his mother (grudgingly) and I (excitedly) told him that, yes, he could play tackle football? Was this a concussion? (Cohen,1)

Anecdote

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Additionally, many children who are active in sports are motivated to eat healthier foods, such as fruits and vegetables(Davis 17).

Fact

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It is the mental and conceptual area that many use to support the importance of participation in competitive sports, something I wholeheartedly agree with. It is also this same area that some point to when behavior exhibited by some athletes does not seem to support what we believe they should be learning. As with anything, however, one can only get out of something what one puts in. Additionally, with good coaches and good programs a positive code of ethical standards (PCES) is of major focus. It is something they most certainly support and work toward instilling in athletes under their direction.
(Mango12&13)

Fact

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I’ve become all too familiar with accounts of N.F.L. veterans exhibiting Alzheimer’s-like symptoms in their 40s, of teenagers dying after playing too soon after a concussion. But these tragedies didn’t seem very relevant to my own life until Will took that first big hit. (Cohen, 1)

Statistic

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Nationwide, about a third of high school students are overweight or obese, a figure that has prompted federal efforts to boost physical activity of any kind among teenagers. Health officials recommend that children get an average of about one hour a day of moderate to vigorous activity, but most fall far short of that(O' Connor 18)

Statistic

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Ten days earlier, he’d taken a helmet-to-helmet hit during practice and possibly, although we really don’t know, sustained a concussion. (Cohen, 1)

Anecdote

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Teenagers can significantly lower their likelihood of being overweight or obese by walking or biking to school and playing on at least one high school sports team, but preferably two or more, a new study suggests(O'Connor 18)
Fact/statistic

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Now, come spring, Emmett will begin his inevitable decline. The “Fall Ball” kids will be far superior. The coaches will hand them the prime positions. My son will be placed in right field. He’ll hit eighth. Maybe ninth. He’ll grow frustrated, feel inferior, lose interest. It won’t be as bad as 1982, but it’ll seem familiar.(Pearlman 11)

Anecdote

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At first, he said only that his stomach hurt. But as I asked more questions, he brought up the subject of concussions. Will, it turns out, knew more than I realized. He’d read Troy Aikman’s account of being unable to remember a Super Bowl victory. He knew that Steve Young had retired because of concussions. And he recognized that if he kept taking hits year after year, he could suffer the same fate — or worse.(Cohen 1)

Anecdote

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Millions of American children and teenagers are overweight. This obesity epidemic has make the early onset of health problems such as diabetes more common. Participating in competitive youth sports burns calories and helps to prevent obesity(Davis 17).

Fact

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“He shouldn’t play until he feels 100 percent better,” Will said. “Because even though football is all he does, he still needs his brain.”(Cohen 2)

Anecdote

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They calculated that if all adolescents played on at least two sports teams per year — in other words, one team per season — obesity rates would plunge 26 percent and the prevalence of overweight adolescents would fall by 11 percent (O'Connor 18).

Statistics

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In the United States, parents spend $671 on average per year to cover the costs of uniforms and the hefty fees charged for registration, lessons and coaching, and at least 1 in 5 ends up spending over $1,000 per child, every year(Visualnews 21).

Statistic

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Do competetive sports hurt students physically and mentally?

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Do competetive sports hurt students physically and mentally?