Kids today have so many great opportunities to participate in sports. There is an endless supply of structured opportunities for our youth to learn to play sports – leagues, clinics, camps, private lessons, and tournaments.
But is this a good thing?
What happened to the pickup games? Do kids play anymore without adult supervision? What about playing sports for the fun of it?
Have sports become too structured?
Think back to when you were young and you got your first bike.
• Did your dad buy a set of training wheels so you wouldn’t crash?
• Did you attend a summer camp to learn to ride your new bike?
• Did your father hire a bicycle professional to teach you to ride?
• Did he make you run laps or do 10 pushups when you crashed into the neighbor’s flower bed?
• Did he hire a sports psychologist to help you learn how to ride past your neighbor’s flower bed without crashing into it?
• Did your dad have a sports doctor on retainer to teach you how to stretch before riding your bike or help you recover from your injuries when you crashed in your neighbor’s flower bed?
• Did he have you practice riding up and down the street doing a progression of drills on your bike? First, pedaling down the street using only your left foot and pedaling back using only your right foot?
• Did your father sign you up for a bicycle league so you could compete against your friends to see who was best?
• Did your dad purchase the Dartfish video system so he could compare your bicycle skills to the nation’s best?
• Did he hire a dietician so that you could perform at maximum efficiency while you learned to ride your bike better?
Most likely your dad took you out, put you on your bike, ran along beside you, gave you big a push, said a prayer, and looked for the box of band aids.
America’s youth are fortunate to have so many great opportunities to learn to play sports more efficiently and safely. At the same time, American youth are missing out on the best part of sports – learning to play the game.
Bicycle analogy compliments of John Kessel, USA Volleyball.