We must ensure we are leveraging youth sports to our kids benefit and not the other way around.
“Sports are important.
But more important than the sports themselves, are leveraging them to our youths’ long term benefit.
Winning is great.
But the primary value levers & focus from adults should forever be the lasting (positive) life lessons sports provide when the jersey is hung up.”
-Ray Zingler on X
Love of the game, camaraderie, sportsmanship, friendship, facing adversity, overcoming obstacles, finding a way to win, humility in victory and defeat, dusting yourself off and getting back out there.
Where did these concepts and values go?
Don’t get me wrong, we’ll touch on them for 2 seconds in a preseason team meeting, but I’m asking where they’re at during the length of the season?
Are these values that we adults grew up on learning from youth sports that paid and continue to pay dividends in our lives today, being prioritized in the modern game?
I know there are many great adults out there doing their damndest from a youth athletics purity standpoint, but I’m asking the question from a global perspective.
Is it love of the game or is it love of social media, the idea of the game, and the potential clout that comes with it?
Camaraderie? We’re encouraging them to play on one “team” today and quit and join another team tomorrow.
Sportsmanship? Do we even teach that anymore? I’m sure the kids are learning valuable lessons as adults regularly scream at umpires and officials leading to the nationwide shortage we are experiencing today.
Facing obstacles and overcoming adversity? Those two constructs are probably the biggest value adds in all of youth sports from an ROI perspective, but do you know where the majority of their “overcoming adversity” comes from in the modern age? It’s having to overcome toxic environments and “coaches” who lack their best developmental interests as they berate them into attempted submission.
It’s sad that we’ve lost our way in what I believe to be our youths’ greatest teacher.
We’ve prioritized “winning at all costs” compromising value and ethics at every single turn all in hopes of our kid getting the leg up on the other kid. Or worse yet, a coaches “improved social image”.
“There is no i in TEAM” amirite!?
If it doesn’t work out initially where we’re at, we just have them pick-up their ball and run to perceived greener grass.
The reason this is a big deal is because our youth are the most impressionable beings on earth.
What do you think happens when they take all these lessons (or lack thereof) and try to apply them in the real world?
Yeah.
Not good.
