PROBLEMS IN YOUTH SPORTS

One of the biggest problems with kids’ sports today is parent involvement. Not that parent involvement isn’t a good thing but many parents almost get too involved. By this I mean parents don’t want their kids to play to have fun but to win. It seems parents never seem to congratulate there child just for doing a good job they have to win a medal or ribbon to get any praise. And to me I think win or lose as long as they tried their best they should be praised.
            Another way parents are too involved is that they always get in the way of the coaches. As a student athletic trainer for four years in high school I was constantly seeing parents coming in after practice to talk with the coaches about their child’s playing time. Now a truly good coach would play only the best players, but sadly that not how the majority of coaches are; most of the time the players who parents talked with the coaches got to play. With the parents constantly interfering with coaches the rest of the athletes never get a chance to show what they can do.
            Finally one final problem I saw as a student athletic trainer was that more and more young kids are trying to get the edge above everyone else that they are willing to do anything to become better. This includes taking many supplements to increase performance and strength. I think doing this at such a young age is wrong and is definitely not good for their growing bodies. Even though it may seem these things help out in the short run, in the long run the damage they cause, in my opinion, is not worth it. From just what I have seen in my experience problems can range from, weak bones, muscle imbalance leading to joint instability, cramps, and increased injury especially to knees from the instability of joints.
            Even though it may seem impossible to keep parents from interfering with coaches all that needs to be done is for the coaches to be honest with players and not let a parents talk influence their decision on who should play. Parents should also realize that their child is doing this for fun and whether they win or lose they learned something from it and can improve to become a naturally better athlete. Also, athletes should be better educated on the negative effects of supplements and how even thought they seem to help out, all they really do is hurt them.