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Competitive sports provide kids with a variety of fitness and teamwork opportunities. Competitive athletes also learn the importance of goal setting, time management and mental toughness. Negatives exist, too, such as obsession, burnout and an unhealthy desire to win at all costs -- in addition to potentially lifelong effects of injury. Nevertheless, competitive sports offer enrichment beyond what can be taught in the classroom or at home.

Competition Teaches What Parents Can't

Parents help kids learn important life skills including studying, kindness, manners and work ethic. What they can't do -- on their own -- is teach them how to rebound from a devastating loss. As in sports, life has a way of taking away sure-thing victories, and adults who demonstrate tenacity and persistence are better equipped to overcome failure. There is no better way to learn these lessons than in competitive amateur sports, when the consequence of losing isn't life- or career-threatening.

Coping Skills

Athletes from the tee-ball field to Yankee Stadium take risks and assume responsibility when best-laid plans go awry. While this can result in short-term embarrassment or even injury, planning appropriate strategies -- as well as the focus and discipline required to implement them -- applies to more areas of life than just sports. Competitive athletes develop stress-coping skills that make handling pressure situations easier. And because competitive athletes don't want to let their teammates down, they work hard not to.

Fitness and Nutrition

Children who play competitive sports adhere to rigorous fitness training regimens. These kids know that the fittest among them play harder and perform better. Even though most young athletes won't compete at the collegiate or professional levels, many are more likely to continue exercising as a way to stay physically fit and mentally awake. Athletes generally stick to healthy diets, are less likely to smoke or engage in destructive actions and tend to maintain these behaviors through adulthood.

Sportsmanship

While tales of shouting coaches, angry parents and dirty play abound, don't let a few examples of bad sportsmanship spoil the numerous benefits of competitive sports. Congratulating an opponent on a game well played establishes class, regardless of personal outcome. Athletes that demonstrate humility and integrity engender respect among teammates, coaches, parents and opponents. And losing -- while not fun -- forces the competitive athlete to reevaluate strategies and decisions and may help encourage perseverance.

About the Author

Lisa Bigelow is an independent writer with prior professional experience in the finance and fitness industries. She also writes a well-regarded political commentary column published in Fairfield, New Haven and Westchester counties in the New York City metro area.

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Should Children Play Competitive Sports?

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Competitive sports provide kids with a variety of fitness and teamwork opportunities. Competitive athletes also learn the importance of goal setting, time management and mental toughness. Negatives exist, too, such as obsession, burnout and an unhealthy desire to win at all costs -- in addition to potentially lifelong ...

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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.

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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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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.

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Just something to think about...

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Just something to think about...

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THURSDAY, Aug. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Many children today start specializing in one sport early -- playing year-round, joining competitive club or travel teams and participating in special training programs -- believing they'll put themselves on the fast track to college scholarships or maybe even a pro sports career.

But for too many of these kids, that fast track leads straight to injuries, sometimes serious ones.

Recent research suggests that as many as four in 10 emergency room visits for children between 5 and 14 years old are for sports-related injuries.

No single sport is specifically to blame for the increase in kids' sports injuries. Instead, experts suspect that choosing to play one sport all the time, or playing several sports all at once, are factors leading to what are called overuse injuries.

"Any sport can produce an overuse injury," explained Dr. Cynthia LaBella, medical director of the Institute for Sports Medicine at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. "Overuse injuries are increasing for a couple of reasons. Sports are much more competitive at an earlier age, and many children are playing one sport year-round now. They're not getting enough time off for their bodies to recover. Or, they might be playing three sports at once, and what that amounts to is that they never get a day off."

While parents may counter that they were constantly active throughout their own childhoods and didn't suffer serious injuries, LaBella pointed out that youngsters used to be the masters of their own activity.

"Kids are now subject to adult schedules and organizational formats for adult-driven sports. In the past, kids directed the activities in the backyard. Where adults provide schedule and structure, kids may be pushed beyond what they would do on their own. When they play on their own, they take breaks and moderate themselves," she said.

Dr. Michael Kelly, chairman of the department of orthopaedic surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, said that while it's a lot healthier for the body to "cross train" with different sports, many kids today focus on just one sport.

"It used to be that you played football and, when that was done, you might play basketball, and then later, you might play Little League or tennis. You went from sport to sport and didn't have any sport-specific training to contribute to repetitive injuries," Kelly said.

Children are particularly susceptible to repetitive injuries, because they're still growing. Both Kelly and LaBella said children are most vulnerable to injuries in the growth-plate areas. Growth plates are soft areas of developing tissue. They're found at the end of the long bones and, because these areas are still growing, the bone isn't completely calcified in that area.

According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, growth-plate injuries are fractures, and they account for 15 percent of all childhood fractures. They occur twice as often in boys as in girls, with the greatest incidence among 14- to 16-year-old boys and 11- to 13-year-old girls.

So, does that mean parents shouldn't let their children play the sports they love? Not necessarily, said Kelly. But, parents do need to be willing to be the bad guy, especially if their child gets injured.

"Kids are always going to push, and they're always going to want to play. Even when hurt, a child probably won't make the right decision," said Kelly, adding that it's up to the parent to stop the child from playing if there's an injury.

Kelly acknowledged that that can be tough, particularly with high school-aged children who may have college scholarships riding on their ability to play. "I make it clear to parents that they can keep the next six months in mind, but they need to focus on the next 70 years," he said.

LaBella said children should never play through pain. "Pain is a sign of injury, and it's a sign that you need to rest," she said. If the pain doesn't get better after a couple of days, she advised that the child should go to the doctor.

Children also shouldn't start specializing in one sport until after puberty, according to LaBella, and, ideally, they should play just one sport per season and take off a month or two completely. That doesn't mean they should take two months off from all activity, she said, just from organized sports. "Go ride a bike or play soccer in the backyard," she suggested.

More information

To learn about preventing children's sports injuries, visit the Nemours Foundation.

SOURCES: Michael A. Kelly, M.D., chairman, department of orthopaedic surgery, Hackensack University Medical Center, N.J.; Cynthia LaBella, M.D., medical director, Institute for Sports Medicine at Children's Memorial Hospital, and assistant professor of pediatrics, Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago

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THURSDAY, Aug. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Many children today start specializing in one sport early -- playing year-round, joining competitive club or travel teams and participating in special training programs -- believing they'll put themselves on the fast track to college scholarships or maybe even a...

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The Benefits Of Competitive Sports For Kids - Natalie Hawkins

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Way back in 1982, my brother signed up to play youth soccer.

It was my parents' idea. David was 12 at the time-painfully shy, socially awkward, owner of few friends. Mom and Dad thought joining a team might prove beneficial. So they enlisted him in the Mahopac Sports Association with hopes that the fresh air and the green grass and running and kicking and laughing would instill confidence and happiness.

I don't recall the name of David's team, but it featured red uniforms and was coached by a local dad who worked as a fireman. He was a loud, boisterous guy, not unlike many of the fathers I see alongside fields most weekends in my hometown of New Rochelle, N.Y.

Before every game, the coach would have all his players form a circle, put their hands inside and yell out, "Team!" Then, without fail, my brother walked to the bench, sat down and remained there-completely ignored-for three quarters. Immediately before the final period began, the coach would point to David and begrudgingly insert him at right fullback for the requisite minimum amount all kids must play. He made it painfully clear to the others that my brother was the weakest of weak links; that he was useless as a soccer player.

More than three decades removed, I detest that coach. I know his name, know his whereabouts, and often fantasize about running into him in a supermarket or coffee shop.

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Why I Don't Want My Kids to Play Team Sports

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Way back in 1982, my brother signed up to play youth soccer. It was my parents' idea. David was 12 at the time-painfully shy, socially awkward, owner of few friends. Mom and Dad thought joining a team might prove beneficial.

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VisualNews.com, ContributorA place where you can find daily visual inspiration from around the world.

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For the 45 million children ages 6 through 16 currently participating in youth sports, many parents are having to reach deep into their pockets to cover the rising costs of equipment and sports-related activities.

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Any parent knows that young children are filled with energy, eager to run, jump and play. Transferring that natural energy to competitive sports can help keep kids active and healthy as the grow, and other distractions increase that may lead to a more sedentary lifestyle. Competitive sports such as soccer, track, basketball and swimming can also help kids learn important life lessons about teamwork and fair play.

Learning How to Compete

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Participating in sports teaches children and teenagers how to compete in the real world. As they grow older they'll face competition in school, in the workforce and other areas of life. But these competitions don't have to be negative or unhealthy. Playing sports can help kids understand how competition works in a friendly environment, and that if you try your hardest, you have a better chance to succeed.

Understanding the Value of Exercise

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

Improving Self-Esteem

Creatas Images/Creatas/Getty Images

Improved self-esteem is another benefit of competitive youth sports. 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. Losing with his team can also increase self-esteem, as he learns to hold his head high and feel proud for trying his best.

Decreasing Risky Behavior

According to the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, youth sports can help deter negative behavior, such as joining a gang, because competitive sports provide an outlet for expression, friendship and controlled aggression. Teens who have positive influences and friends feel less of a need to participate in risky behaviors.

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What Are the Benefits of Competitive Sports for Youth?

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Any parent knows that young children are filled with energy, eager to run, jump and play. Transferring that natural energy to competitive sports can help keep kids active and healthy as the grow, and other distractions increase that may lead to a more sedentary lifestyle.

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More Kids Are Suffering Sports Injuries

By BY SERENA GORDON

HEALTHDAY REPORTER

Mar. 23

83SHARES

Email

THURSDAY, Aug. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Many children today start specializing in one sport early -- playing year-round, joining competitive club or travel teams and participating in special training programs -- believing they'll put themselves on the fast track to college scholarships or maybe even a pro sports career.

But for too many of these kids, that fast track leads straight to injuries, sometimes serious ones.

Recent research suggests that as many as four in 10 emergency room visits for children between 5 and 14 years old are for sports-related injuries.

No single sport is specifically to blame for the increase in kids' sports injuries. Instead, experts suspect that choosing to play one sport all the time, or playing several sports all at once, are factors leading to what are called overuse injuries.

"Any sport can produce an overuse injury," explained Dr. Cynthia LaBella, medical director of the Institute for Sports Medicine at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. "Overuse injuries are increasing for a couple of reasons. Sports are much more competitive at an earlier age, and many children are playing one sport year-round now. They're not getting enough time off for their bodies to recover. Or, they might be playing three sports at once, and what that amounts to is that they never get a day off."

While parents may counter that they were constantly active throughout their own childhoods and didn't suffer serious injuries, LaBella pointed out that youngsters used to be the masters of their own activity.

"Kids are now subject to adult schedules and organizational formats for adult-driven sports. In the past, kids directed the activities in the backyard. Where adults provide schedule and structure, kids may be pushed beyond what they would do on their own. When they play on their own, they take breaks and moderate themselves," she said.

Dr. Michael Kelly, chairman of the department of orthopaedic surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, said that while it's a lot healthier for the body to "cross train" with different sports, many kids today focus on just one sport.

"It used to be that you played football and, when that was done, you might play basketball, and then later, you might play Little League or tennis. You went from sport to sport and didn't have any sport-specific training to contribute to repetitive injuries," Kelly said.

Children are particularly susceptible to repetitive injuries, because they're still growing. Both Kelly and LaBella said children are most vulnerable to injuries in the growth-plate areas. Growth plates are soft areas of developing tissue. They're found at the end of the long bones and, because these areas are still growing, the bone isn't completely calcified in that area.

According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, growth-plate injuries are fractures, and they account for 15 percent of all childhood fractures. They occur twice as often in boys as in girls, with the greatest incidence among 14- to 16-year-old boys and 11- to 13-year-old girls.

So, does that mean parents shouldn't let their children play the sports they love? Not necessarily, said Kelly. But, parents do need to be willing to be the bad guy, especially if their child gets injured.

"Kids are always going to push, and they're always going to want to play. Even when hurt, a child probably won't make the right decision," said Kelly, adding that it's up to the parent to stop the child from playing if there's an injury.

Kelly acknowledged that that can be tough, particularly with high school-aged children who may have college scholarships riding on their ability to play. "I make it clear to parents that they can keep the next six months in mind, but they need to focus on the next 70 years," he said.

LaBella said children should never play through pain. "Pain is a sign of injury, and it's a sign that you need to rest," she said. If the pain doesn't get better after a couple of days, she advised that the child should go to the doctor.

Children also shouldn't start specializing in one sport until after puberty, according to LaBella, and, ideally, they should play just one sport per season and take off a month or two completely. That doesn't mean they should take two months off from all activity, she said, just from organized sports. "Go ride a bike or play soccer in the backyard," she suggested.