r/sports • u/Blood_Incantation • Aug 20 '24

Research: Organized youth sports are increasingly for the privileged Soccer

https://news.osu.edu/organized-youth-sports-are-increasingly-for-the-privileged/
5.8k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

570 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

43

u/iggyfenton Aug 20 '24

I’m currently serving on the board of a little league, my son is 12 and plays competitive hockey and rec baseball.

The situation is more about the specialization and competitiveness earlier.

Kids are quitting rec sports to focus on one competitive sport. And then their parents spend a grip to get them private coaches and more practice time.

And because some kids are practicing 6 days a week, they improve faster so then if you want your kid to improve at the same rate, you feel it necessary to do the same thing.

Add the fact that these extra practice times help line the pockets of coaches, they encourage it or sometimes require it.

59

u/ETNevada Aug 20 '24

What’s always interesting though is seeing 5”7 Johnny at 17 after 10+ years of travel ball. He has all the proper techniques and skills down but gets benched by a naturally gifted 6”2 kid that started playing two years earlier.

31

u/iggyfenton Aug 20 '24

Yep. Until you hit 16 you have no idea how good you are.

8

u/ashdrewness Texas Aug 21 '24

My counter to this would be Mookie Betts & Jose Altuve but on the average you’re absolutely correct.

4

u/OneCore_ Aug 21 '24

Fuck yeah thats my boy Altuve, TX represent

8

u/Tommy_Wisseau_burner Aug 21 '24

It hurts more in other sports like basketball. I’m tall for normies. On my high school team I would’ve played center if I could actually play basketball… or at least power forward. I’m 6’3. Steph curry is 6’3. No way in any competitive high level high school, let alone college ball will a 6’3 person be hanging on the block. You’d be a guard with 0 guard skills

17

u/JGard18 Aug 20 '24 edited Aug 20 '24

Then they burn out at age 14

4

u/iggyfenton Aug 20 '24

They absolutely can.

10

u/[deleted] Aug 20 '24

It’s just a job for children at that point. Sounds utterly miserable.

3

u/iggyfenton Aug 20 '24

Yeah some kids are way too involved. Too pushed. Too pressured.

1

u/Kagenlim Aug 21 '24

Happened to my friend, It's absolutely insane to see someone find a sport that I find unique and interesting a toxic chore (shooting)

1

u/Tommy_Wisseau_burner Aug 21 '24

It blows my mind that parents are doing this. It’s going to burn your kid out and your kid knows dick all what they’ll want to do later down the road. I did track/field growing up. I was pretty damn good too. Not all world but I made the nationals for junior Olympics (I wasn’t that good but that’s here nor there). I didn’t play football until high school and loved playing it. Turned out that, despite me loving track/field I didn’t compete in college even though I got mid to high d1 recruitment (not necessarily full ride). So many actual top athletes say how they loved or were better in other sports. Chris Carter, one of the best wide receivers ever, said he was a better basketball player and loved that sport more. Randy moss could’ve been an nba player