What’s the Point of Youth Sports?

Yeeeeeer OUT! This is one of my favorite pictures – I took it during our son’s Little League days.

What’s the point of youth sports? I believe that we need to reflect on this every time our children take the field, court or starting block. Listening to parents at various sporting events, I’d have to say that they think winning is number 1. After all, didn’t Vince Lombardi say, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing“? This might work for some activities, but does it really apply to youth sports?

Everyone loves a winner but most games end with a winner and a loser so does that mean that it’s a wasted effort for the losers? I sure hope not. What kind of life would it be if all we ever did was win? Aside from being unrealistic, we wouldn’t learn many lessons if we always won. Some might argue that always winning would dilute the powerful feeling of joy we get from triumph.

So, if not for the sake of winning, what’s the point of youth sports? The answer is probably different for everyone, one activity can fill many roles in our children’s lives. Unfortunately, many people treat youth sports as if only one thing matters. They scream at their children and others’. They get angry at the officials for a bad call. They complain to the coach that their child isn’t being given enough playing time. Sometimes, they have a point. Many times, they don’t. My point for today is that their behavior detracts from the value of the activity dishonors the game. Once your temper become the spectacle, the game, your team and your child suffer.

Actor Ray Winstone in the FA Cup video “Respect”, whose motto is “Lose respect, lose the game.”

(For the video, go to YouTube: Respect)

Play hard, make friends

Our son Gus (#13, left) and his opponent race for the ball.

When I think of sport, particularly amateur sports, I think of positive things, like the joy of playing. We have moved our family a lot and we learned that youth sports were a great way for our kids to make friends. Even more, volunteering helped my husband and I meet people. You have something in common, kids and sports, and everyone appreciates a volunteer. It’s not hard to see how sports unite us, is it.

However, we have also seen enough ugly incidents, mostly minor, a few serious, that showed us the worst in people. Whether it’s parents yelling at the refs, coaches yelling at their players (and even the other team’s players) or kids cursing each other, it feels as if we allow ourselves to ignore common civility – courtesy seems too much to ask of people. What is it that makes us be so hateful toward each other? Assuming you agree that it’s time we made a difference in this area, I hope you’ll follow this blog. I want to raise awareness of this issue and offer ideas on how you and I might unite our communities through sport.