Who says it’s only about how you play the game? Tales of elite youth athletes and the professionalization of kids’ sports.
“A children’s game, as we used to think of it, requires no instructors or umpires or spectators; it uses whatever space and equipment are at hand; and it is played for no other reason than pleasure.”
Neil Postman, The Disappearance of Childhood
Children are not playing children’s games anymore. Four square and rec basketball have been replaced by youth sport teams and organizations modeled in every way on the big leagues. Simply put, it’s not your father’s game of stickball anymore.
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“A children’s game, as we used to think of it, requires no instructors or umpires or spectators; it uses whatever space and equipment are at hand; and it is played for no other reason than pleasure.”
Neil Postman, The Disappearance of Childhood
Children are not playing children’s games anymore. Four square and rec basketball have been replaced by youth sport teams and organizations modeled in every way on the big leagues. Simply put, it’s not your father’s game of stickball anymore.
Common in today’s competitive world of youth sport are the single sport athlete at age five, year-round private coaching and tournaments, a spike in sport-related injuries in children, and magazines that rank the top 50 basketball players in the country—in the fifth grade. Also common are the opportunity for travel around the country, college scholarships, the thrill of competing at the highest level, the development of lifelong friendships, and the valuable lessons of teamwork, discipline, and humility associated with organized sport.
Sound familiar? If you are a parent, coach, athlete, reporter, doctor--or anyone else who is intimately familiar with the increasingly competitive world of youth sport--we invite you to contribute your story or article to "Little Pros."
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