Early Sports

“If I didn’t start at an early age, I probably
wouldn’t be on the high school team,” Mark says.

Brian says that all but two of the players on his team practice
all year-round.

“First, it’s high school basketball, the whole
season. Then, right after the season is done, the next day
practically, it’s club basketball, the practice. And
then right after that, we all plan to go to basketball camps,”
Brian says.

Many young children dream of one day playing ball for their
high school varsity teams. To get there, more and more of
them, like Brian and Mark, start very early. And it can cost
thousands of dollars.

“Yearly average per player, it’s probably around
$3,000 – just for club,” says Gary Matsuno, Brian
and Mark’s father.

It also costs hundreds of hours.

“It’s basically 12 months out of the year,”
Matsuno says.

But if a child hopes to make the varsity team, what choice
does he or she have? What choice does any parent have, but
to start early.

“When my daughter was 5 years old, somebody came up
to me and said, ‘If she doesn’t start playing
softball now, she will never be able to play softball in high
school.’ I said – she’s 5!” says Nancy
Lazenby Blaser, commissioner of athletics in her district.

It sounds ridiculous, but high school and college sports
really have become that competitive.

Still, “Don’t just say, ‘Oh, we can’t
pass up this opportunity.’ YOU CAN pass up this opportunity,”
Blaser says.

She says that parents have a choice. Sports don’t have
to be all about being the best player or making the varsity
team.

“Remember that sports are not it. It’s what they
learn through sports,” Blaser says. “It’s
the characteristics, the life lessons, the development of
their moral fiber and the decisions they make, and the exposure
to other people from other cultures to see that we’re
all the same and we can all work together as a team.”

For many kids, the best goal is just to play and have fun.

When kids play ball,
one coach is on the field while another coach is in the stands.

“I’ve seen parents come out of the stands to
the bench and actually yell at their kid when their kid actually
made a pretty good play,” 15-year-old Aaron says.

In the increasingly competitive world of kid’s sports,
parents can, and often do, lose perspective. Often, in an
attempt to help their own child, parents hurt other kids on
the team.

“Most of the time, when you look at what they’re
trying to get you to do or want you to do, it leads straight
to the benefit of their son or their child at the expense
of everybody else,” Coach Ron Bell says.

That kind of attitude is counterproductive to the most important
things good coaches try to teach, like teamwork, sportsmanship
and fairness. It’s often up to parents to keep their
peers in line.

“I think it’s good for the parents sometimes
to kind of step in and talk to some of the other parents and
say, ‘Hey, you just need to cool it a little bit,’”
says John Economos, the father of three boys.

Kids like Aaron say sports would be a lot more satisfying
without parental pressure.

“With parents yelling, I can’t concentrate and
do my best,” Aaron says.

A survey by the UCLA Sports Psychology Department
reports that positive parent participation is one of the leading
reasons kids continue to participate in youth sports. Those
kids who do continue to participate are more likely to stay
in school and get good grades. They are also less likely to
have behavior problems.

Involvement in sports is a great way for kids to develop
social skills and improve their physical fitness. A coach
is crucial, but parents are the most important role models
for good sportsmanship. As is the case in other developmental
activities with children, positive reinforcement is necessary
to see continued progress. Parents should support their children’s
efforts by attending sporting events, assisting with practices
and listening to a child’s concerns. Be sure to praise
young athletes when they perform well and encourage them to
do better when they lag behind their teammates.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, more than
20 million kids now participate in organized sports. What’s
the attraction? Besides the fun and frolic, working parents
often view sports as a better way to keep a child busy than
after school day care.

Some experts say it’s a good strategy. Sports help
build physical skills, emotional well-being and provide simple,
timeless fun.

For kids who spend the afternoon away from their parents,
organized sports can be a great alternative to regular after-school
care, particularly if the activity is well-supervised and
allows children the chance to compete and hone athletic skills.

American
Academy of Pediatrics
UCLA Sports Psychology Department