It’s not their fault, either. Adults everywhere are hijacking their experience.
“Kid’s don’t love sports like they used to anymore.
They love the social media posts and the short term attention that comes with them.
Sadly, this isn’t their fault, either.
Societally, we’ve sucked the fun out and taught them to to value validation from strangers on the internet.”
-Ray Zingler on Twitter
And just like that, the concepts of instant gratification and unlimited distractions robbed our kids of a true love for the game.
It’s crazy, kid’s don’t even watch or talk about sports like they used to anymore.
It’s all TikTok, Instagram, and trying to impress other people who don’t even care.
While I can’t and never will speak in absolutes, this is the case for a vast majority of kids.
The days of “Team. Community. Loyalty. Overcome Adversity. Love of the game.” are over for a lot of kids.
While all of the team sports are still “team games” very few teams “develop” into great ones, anymore.
The great teams are merely (oftentimes purchased) fabricated super teams where a bunch of highly skilled individuals join the same team and win by default.
After they win, they go their separate ways, either to the next level or the real world and then realize that mommy and daddy can’t help them elude adversity at every turn and hand pick their teams to ensure success.
So where do they end up?
In the transfer portal chasing perceived greener grass or on a social media website complaining about how the world isn’t fair.
I’m not one of those conspiracy theorists and I pride myself on being even keel, but it’s just a fact that our kids are growing up in an increasingly dangerous world.
They aren’t getting on their bikes any more to ride to the corner store to get some snacks to come home and watch college football day because they love the game.
They’re getting on tiktok and comparing themselves to guys on steroids and girls with bigger butts, driving their highly impressionable minds to believe they are inadequate.
Why the hell is it like this?
For a variety of reasons.
While we can’t stop the double-edged sword that is technology and the internet, we do have the power to teach our youth about sports and playing them the right way.
We do have the power to return them to wholesome, life changing experiences that allow them to harness valuable lessons that translate into the real world.
We do.
But adults have to make a decision.
Is it about the money? Winning at all (literal) costs?
Or is it about them?
We need to shift the focus back to them.
Their lives depend on it.
