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Youth Sports Dropouts

October 16, 2012

Depending on the study, we’re told that 80 to 90 percent of all youngsters who ever participate in organized youth sports have stopped doing so by the age of 13.  Before they reach 9th grade.

High school sports never gets a chance with eight or nine of every 10.

There are many reasons for this, and of course not all of them are bad.  Some kids find something better to do, or at least more fitting for them.  But a lot of them have barely begun to mature and cannot possibly know what they might like to do or be good at doing with some coaching and encouragement.

Research tells us that much of the reason for the early dropouts has to do with an unhappy or unfulfilling or “unfun” youth sports experience.  Some of that has to do with too much too early, or at least too much structure too soon; too much practice, competition and travel too soon; and too much screaming too soon.

That environment drives some youth from team sports in favor of individual sports.  Some drop traditional sports in favor of alternative sports.  Some leave sports altogether.

A Different Language

January 16, 2015

Every other year my wife and I are able to spend the December holidays with our son and his wife who are international school educators, but we must journey to the other side of the world to make that happen. In crossing both the international dateline and the equator to see them in Australia last month, I learned a helpful lesson for those of us who try to communicate about school sports.

For two weeks I attempted to be a follower of Australia's "national pastime" -- cricket -- but try as I might, I could not grasp a passable understanding of the sport. On the surface, cricket seems a lot like baseball; but there are far more differences than similarities to the sport many North, Central and Latin Americans grew up with and know so well. I watched cricket on television and read the extensive newspaper coverage every day; but even after studying the rules and listening to and questioning a local expert, even the most basic rules, strategies and language of cricket remain mysteries to me.  

For a while at least, my struggle with cricket may make me more understanding of some parents and others who are so quick to criticize high school sports. Possibly I’ll be more purposeful and patient to explain our policies and the philosophies behind them.

Many of today's parents and spectators have never played the sports their children now play. They don't really know the rules and strategies of the games that were not a part of their upbringing, and they tend to be more unreasonably critical of decisions by coaches and officials in those sports.

Competitive cheer, gymnastics, lacrosse, ice hockey, soccer and other sports seem "foreign" to those who never played those sports. But it's true that in all sports we are likely to experience the most criticism, and the most unjustifiable complaints, where there is the least understanding or appreciation. That's true of a particular sport’s playing rules, and it's also true of the policies and procedures that govern all school sports. And in both cases, this demands extra effort on the part of coaches and administrators to communicate the rules and the reason for those rules.