EVERYTHING
FOR YOUR FAMILY
Get In The Game
|
||||
|
Soon after middle school, youth athletes begin to walk away from sports. Like acne, it’s a fact of life. Professor Richard Stratton is editor of Virginia Tech’s “Coaching Youth Sports” website as well as a specialist in sports psychology. His research indicates that 70% of players drop out of sports by age 13. For parents who feel that their children’s participation in sports encourages fitness, socialization and self-confidence, this might seem like a sign of failure. There are a few things you can do to avoid the most common causes of sports burnout. However, the other reasons kids have for getting out of sports are complex and not so easily resolved. A survey of 10,000 players by the Youth Sports Institute of Michigan State attempted to capture the most common reasons. The survey presented the top three reasons children gave for dropping a sport: 1) lost interest in the sport, 2) not having fun, and 3) too much time required for practices and games. Reason No. 5 was too much pressure from coaches and parents. (“Just hit the ball!”) I recently conducted my own much smaller survey on this topic. As the neighborhood kids ran past or joined my kids in a game of street football, I asked their reasons for not returning to a sport they had previously played. In their own words A 6-year-old gave me his reasons for moving on from soccer: “It got boring. All we did was kick, kick, kick.” He said he looked forward to starting baseball or football instead. An 8-year-old explained why baseball lost its appeal: “Baseball was OK… but I didn’t have a lot of friends on the team. And I thought I’d hit more home runs.” Sitting at the end of a crowded bench for another season held little appeal. A 9-year-old told me why he was hesitant to continue basketball: “I didn’t make that many friends either. Nobody passed me the ball.” He was still interested in continuing basketball if he found a league where he knew more players. A 12-year-old described why he left soccer after many years: “I got bored. The coaches yelled at me too much. And I got busy with schoolwork. I have friends that have played soccer for six years or more but a lot of them quit playing around seventh grade because they have so much more homework than they used to.” A 14-year-old recreational volleyball player rationalized passing on high school tryouts: “I couldn’t find a ride.” She realized that due to the large number of incoming freshmen, she’d be competing against a large contingent of seasoned club volleyballers. Different ages, different reasons Younger kids seem to drop the sports that bore them; older kids have diverse reasons involving various outside pressures. A 7-year-old who’s ready to quit might have just endured a tedious season with little action and an uninspiring coach. A 12-year-old, feeling the pressure of maintaining a respectable middle school gpa, might be looking for more free time after school. A 14- or 15-year-old who drops a sport might be a realist – there are only so many openings on the high school squad. There are unique reasons, such as having a star sibling. The brother or sister of a standout performer in one sport might be hesitant to continue that same sport. After years of keeping up with the superstar, the inevitable comparisons that parents make grow tiresome to the one who was never quite as good. He or she moves to new pursuits. There’s also the curse of constantly rising parental expectations. One child told me, “Each time I achieve something in sports, my parents move me up. Then I have to prove myself all over again. It never stops.” Moving on Sometimes moving on from sports is just part of the maturation process for a teen. I saw my daughter’s friend, a 15-year-old all-star softball pitcher, the other day at high school. I didn’t recognize her – gone were the tomboy clothes and baseball cap. Instead, she was draped in black, with a new haircut, and wearing stylish rectangular glasses. She’s on the verge of transferring to the Orange County High School of Arts in Santa Ana to pursue a musical career. This means leaving a school where she is well known to the softball team, and assuming a new identity based on her talents with a violin instead of a ball and glove. No doubt she’ll still be able to hit a softball or strike out a batter, but she’s bravely taking her life in new directions based on her musical talent. Sometimes leaving sports is not giving up. It’s applying the resiliency and determination learned in the sporting world to the broader world beyond. David Kries writes about sports for OC Family Magazine. |
||||
RSS Subscribe
Digg This ArticleSEARCH THE SITE
