Introduction
Youth sport is an area of interest for many people in the world. It is especially a notable area as more and more athletes join the hall of fame at a very tender age. Now we have children as young as in their pre-teenage years participating, exceling in worldwide sport and leaving their mark in the world. With all form of success however, a lot of hard work, determination, consistency and practice is required to become the crème of their sporting area. With such inputs for their professional development as sportsmen, these young people are subjected to a lot of stressful conditions of practice as well as long hours of engagement in order to build the necessary stamina to win global sporting events. This paper brings into perspective some of the challenges that the youth encounter as they engage in competitive activity in the sporting arena.
Child Exploitation
Youth sports are fantastic builders of character. Important life traits such as resilience, the concept of hard work and rewards, commitment, endurance among others are imparted in the course of participating in such sports (Bompa, 1992). As such, young athletes who are trained to endure rigorous training processes and sports specialization engage the power of their focus in order to achieve what they want in life. The effect is that the young person can easily achieve anything they set their mind to within their area of specialization (David, 2004). However, concern is raised where high intensity training goes overboard and doesn’t regard the normal development of the young person engaging in the sport.
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In youth sport, exploitation could occur in many different forms so that some of them are subtle, while others are readily recognizable. Children and young people undergoing rigorous training and therefore become unexposed to their social lives for proper growth and development, end up feeling emotionally detached from their peers (Malina, 1994). This is because such youth are not engaged to grow in all spheres of life. Considering the legal definition of abuse and exploitation, we note that any act towards the child from the parent or caretaker that results in death or injury, emotional or otherwise can be deemed to be abuse. Emotional abuse is regularly experienced in the course of sports where the child is subjected to attacks on self-esteem when they fail to reach a perceived bare minimum (Peterson, 2003). Name calling such as “Hey Fatso”, threats, insults, criticism, bullying among other acts to emotionally wound can be deemed to be in this category of threats facing the youth in sports.
Moreover, physical abuse occurs in cases where there is slapping, pushing around, kicking, puling at body parts, and punishments for poor performance through excessive exercise and so on (DeLench, 2014). Additionally, there are chances where sexual abuse may occur. In this case, the person in power is taking advantage of their position to express sexualized actions towards the youthful player (DeLench, 2014). For example, the person in charge could long kiss on the lips instead of just a peck on the cheek or sexualized touching as opposed to patting. Therefore, despite the possibility for great performance in the course of sporting, there is potential for exploitation in the course of engaging in the sporting or training.
Health Concerns
Another issue that comes with rigorous training and constant working on the specialized sport is the health of the player. Again, we note the place of sports in the growth and development of any child as critical for the maintenance of health during this time. Therefore, play is an important catalyst for growth in any child as it ensures the mental, physical and emotional growth of the child (Glanville, 2011). However, serious concerns begin to surface as the youthful participants in sports are subjected to constant stress to perform in their area of expertise (Bompa, 1992). Considering that the youthful players engaging in such games are between the ages of six and eighteen, they are yet underdeveloped and are prone to illnesses including heat illnesses, injuries and eating disorders as a result of their participation. Therefore, over-use injuries, concussions and eating disorders are commonplace among high-school students as a result of over-engagement in sports (Malina, 1994; Bilber & Gregory, 2010).
Additionally, these youthful participants are exposed to psychological, physiological and physical demands that may not match their body capacities (Kokko, Kannas, & Villberg, 2009). As a result, high stress levels, depression and anxiety are constant risk factors for such athletes. Such concerns could cause subsequent conditions that arise from the consistency of prevailing negative circumstances. Sleep deprivation as a result of the need to practice more, among other environmental issues that cause excellence to be brought out, are often done at the expense of the youth participant. Serious health concerns are normally not factored in when schedules for practice are drawn. High competition levels often leave professional trainers without consideration for the health effects of the player.
If we should consider the statistics in the issue, nearly half of all sports injuries within the sector are due to overuse (Bilber & Gregory, 2010). Inappropriate intensity for the workouts can be seen as the reason for such, as well as extra-long seasons for participation in games (Robinson, 2011). For example, high-school American football experiences nearly five times as many catastrophes as opposed to college football (Robinson, 2011). Here, younger players are more exposed to injuries than their older counterparts. Since the players’ bones are only growing, their likelihood of injury grows significantly (Bilber & Gregory, 2010).
Obsession with Excellence
The spirit of sports is in the competition. Where there is no competition – a winner and a loser – the fun goes right out of the game and there is no need to keep watching it or playing it. With this in mind then, the concept of a winner and a loser is a significant part of the game. The only catch is – nobody wants to be the loser. Sports trainings have thus been all about winning. This hasn’t always worked well for youth sports as obsession with winning has pushed players beyond the limits, and in some cases, out of the sport. The cause for ceaseless rigorous drills and exercises has been as a result of the need to win. Therefore, players are pushed further and further until they can win. They have to exercise even more in order to maintain their victory.
Obsession with excellence can lead to other complications at the emotional, psychological and physical level (Donnelly, 1993). This is because the trend leads the player to focus all their energy towards winning at the expense of looking at other aspects of their lives. Consider an athlete who is fixated on winning an Olympic gold medal and probably breaking a world record. Serious time and effort are put into practice, creating the risk of burnouts during practice as a result of excessive engagement. Moreover, the loss of such an opportunity can cause anxiety in the person. Losing the chance to become the person that they wished to become means that the person can suffer from emotional distress, depression among other conditions related to negative emotional stimuli. The result is that such a player is subjecting themselves to adverse factors due to their fixation with achieving their goals.
The Times Magazine noted that when winning becomes the focus for playing games, the interest of children wane with regards to participation in that sport. This is because the sport is no longer appealing to them (Glanville, 2011). Therefore, a certain extent of fixation with winning defeats the purpose of sports – that is social interaction and development of the child participant.
Research according to The Times showed that the more serious one takes the sport, the less interesting it becomes to the participants (Glanville, 2011). Active engagement in the sport is necessary for proper performance within the field of expertise. However, where the environment depicts that winning is the only option for the participant, the interest – especially on the part of children – greatly reduces. Here, games will seem like work and there will be little interest in participating in them. It is equally notable to know that youthful players often have to practice all-year round to become elite players in their areas of interest, further exemplifying the seriousness of the sport rather than its fun aspect (Nash, 2016). Less interest is paid to sports that are seen as a dutiful performance rather than a passion. Therefore, we consider some reasons why young athletes stopped playing.
“ Early Retirement”
Young athletes have the larger part of their lives ahead of them. Therefore, it is difficult to perceive that they would drop out of sports as early as their formative years of play. Nonetheless, the prevailing circumstances have proven to become harmful to the development of talent, leading to youth talent dropping out of sports.
One major reason for the early retirement phenomenon for young athletes is the exposure to injuries. As seen, high school football is four more times as likely to have a catastrophic accident as opposed to college football (Bilber & Gregory, 2010). The implication is that there are up to four times as many people critically injured within the high school arena as opposed to the college environment. Therefore, four high school students will drop out of playing professional football because they were injured in the high school arena as opposed to college football. Additional factors such as growth and bone structure of the young players increases the odds for injury and permanent dropping out from playing (Micheli, 1983).
Additionally, concerns raised by children concerning the commercialization of sport and the accompanying demands make it no longer interesting to play. Pressure from parents, trainers and other parties on the player are sometimes too much to handle, leading to the player’s withdrawal from the game altogether. Others, on the other hand, plan to retire at a particular age. At this age, they decide that they have played enough and go off the field.
Conclusion
In effect, there are many challenges facing youth in sports. From health concerns to the need to reconsider the purpose of sports, it is necessary to deeply fathom the extent of the effect of such environmental factors on the performance, growth and development of the youthful participants. The main challenge should be to promote positive youth development and plan experiences with young athletes. It will take active involvement and careful preparation.
References
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Bompa, T. (1992). From childhood to champion athletes. Toronto, Canada: Verotas Publishing Inc.
David, P. (2004). Human Rights in Youth Sport: A critical review of children's rights in competitive sport. New York: Routledge.
DeLench, B. (2014). Abuse in Youth Sports Takes Many Different Forms . Retrieved from Mom's Team: http://www.momsteam.com/health-safety/emotional-injuries/general/abuse-in-youth-sports-takes-many-different-forms
Donnelly, P. (1993). Problems associated with youth involvement in high-performance sport. In B. Cahill, & A. Pearl, Intensive Participation in Children's Sports (pp. 95-126). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Publishers.
Glanville, D. (2011). Kid Sports: Is Our Obsession with Winning Making Us Lose the Point? Retrieved from Time Magazine: http://ideas.time.com/2011/10/25/youth-sports-is-our-obsession-with-winning-making-us-lose-the-point/
Kokko, S., Kannas, L., & Villberg, J. (2009). Health promotion profile of youth sports clubs in Finland: club officials' and coaches' perceptions. Health Promotion International, 24(1) , 26-35.
Malina, R. (1994). Physical growth and biological maturation of young athletes. Exerc Sports Sci Rev., 22 , 389–434.
Micheli, L. J. (1983). Overuse injuries in children's sports: the growth factor. Orthopedic Clinics of North America, 14(2) , 337-360.
Nash, S. (2016). The Enemy of Excellence in Youth sports . Retrieved from Steve Nash Youth Basketball Blog: https://stevenashyb.wordpress.com/2015/01/12/the-enemy-of-excellence-in-youth-sports/
Peterson, J. (2003). Don't trust me with your child: Non-legal precautions when the law cannot prevent sexual exploitation in youth sports. Tex. Rev. Ent. & Sports L., 5 , 297.
Robinson, B. (2011). Guidelines for Youth Sports Safety. NASN School Nurse, 26(5) , 318-19.
