Youth Sports.. too much, too soon?

by H. Cobb Alexander, MD

Fifty years ago, organized youth sports were largely limited to Little League baseballand perhaps Pee Wee football. Girls in sports? Yeah, you can go cheer for the boys….or maybe do ballet or tap. Childrens’ play tended to be much less organized—pick-upgames on an empty lot or even in the street were the norm. Go outside after school;find some buddies, and just play by simple rules. In the summer it was baseball, and inautumn, flag football reigned. Playing one sport year-round, particularly an organizedsport, was unthinkable. Different seasons demanded different skill sets, leading to amore holistic physical development for growing bodies.

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Beginning in the 1970’s and accelerating ever since, the trend among youth has been to start organized sports at increasing younger ages, and focus on one sport ever earlier. Sports opportunities for girls have thankfully expanded greatly, and there is now a plethora of options from which to choose.

Travel sports now comprise a $7 billion industry, with families expecting to spend several thousand dollars a year on fees and travel expenses. Yet, for all the time and resources expended on youth sports, there are some troubling trends. According to a survey by the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, in 2014 there were 26 million youth aged 9-14 playing team sports, down almost 4% from 2009, and an average of 10% fewer sports were being played. The physical cost of concentrating on just one sport yearround is also taking its toll. Dr. James Andrews, in his excellent book Any Given Monday, relates that almost 40 percent of ALL sports injuries seen in the Emergency Room are for children under the age of fourteen, and overuse is the cause of nearly half of all adolescent sports injuries.

Many sports medicine experts are becoming increasingly alarmed at the negative effects of the trend to train children younger, harder, and more sport-specific. The problems range from being a strain on family finances—and time together—to the all-too-common scenario of a child being pushed at an early age to participate in one sport at the “elite” level—only to burn out in the early teen years and give up sports altogether. CDC statistics show that in the past 30 years, obesity rates doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents, with more than one third of people in these age groups classified as overweight or obese. Although poor dietary habits and video games have certainly contributed to this ominous trend, a lack of exercise is clearly a major factor as well. Even worse, 75-80 percent of obese adolescents will be obese as adults, increasing the risk of everything from heart disease to diabetes to the need for joint replacement.

So how should we, as parents, respond? John O’Sullivan, former pro soccer player and author of Changing the Game, has identified some behaviors to avoid. First, resist the push to become “elite.” The odds of any child going to college on a sports scholarship are exceedingly small, and even if that elusive offer is the goal, the child will be much more likely to get there by developing a broad range of athletic skills, from gross motor to hand-eye coordination, speed, agility, strength, and flexibility. This can only be done by exposing the young athlete to a variety of sports, since each will favor the development of different skill sets. This will prove invaluable in whatever single sport the athlete may focus on later. Studies have shown that single-sport athletes are 70-90% more likely to suffer an overuse injury than those participating in multiple sports. Even college football coaches are recognizing the superiority of having multi-sport players, with one nationally-prominent program having a recent recruiting class composed of 43 multi-sport athletes and only 5 single-sports.

Second, avoid the emphasis on winning at all costs. When children were surveyed about the things they found enjoyable in sports, winning was number 48 in a list of 81. Much more important to the child was the comraderie of being on a team, being respected by the coach, and having playing time. Trophies, cool uniforms, and other things parents often consider so important, barely made the list. This doesn’t mean that there should be no winners—children need to learn how to win, but also how to lose, using both to focus on improving the next time. For the same reason, giving a trophy to everyone—regardless of effort or attitude—demeans both the deserving and the undeserving.

Third, sports should above all be fun for the child—not a means of gratification for the parent. The more a parent pushes a child to practice and to focus on one sport year-round, the more likely the child will burn out. The youth sports inactivity level was 20 percent in 2014, and appears to have been even higher in 2015. Also, children, especially in their younger years, should be encouraged in free play— the children decide the game, the teams and the rules with no adult interference.

Whether touch football, tag, or simply hide-and-seek, free play encourages imagination, socialization, and maturation as the players learn to settle rules and disputes among themselves, without parental hovering.

For those engaged in team sports, Dr. Andrews has even more specific recommendations:

1. Proper preseason strength and conditioning. While staying fit is a full-year goal, preparation for any given sport should start two or three months before the first day of practice. The majority of injuries occur in the first few weeks of the season due to inadequate preseason preparation.

2. Young athletes need to take off a month or more each year to give their bodies a chance to rest and recover.Overtraining always increases the risk of injury, and a period of low-impact activity is necessary for the musculoskeletal recovery phase.

3. Cross training is also very beneficial, either by a deliberate regimen or by participation in a completely different sport during the off-season.

4. Follow the 10 percent rule—do not increase weight training activities, distance, or pace by more than 10 percent a week. “No pain, no gain” has no place in youth sports.

5. Strength must be balanced with flexibility. Tight muscles are more easily torn, and tight joints more easily injured than those which are supple.

Studies have shown that children who participate in sports do better in school, are more likely to go to college, and are much more likely to become healthy productive adults than those who don’t participate. As parents, we should do everything we can to foster in our children a life-long love of staying active and physically fit, and to have happy memories of their time in sports. That way, they’ll be there for us when we get old!