Playing youth sports can give youngsters some of the best experiences of their childhood. Concepts like achievement, hard work, teamwork and organization can help teach kids important lessons while they have fun. However, not all youth sports experiences are positive ones. Physical injuries are just some of the problems associated with youth sports.
Physical Injuries
Sports like football and ice hockey include significant body contact, and injuries to players are not uncommon. Broken bones can result from ill-timed collisions, as may concussions. Baseball, soccer and basketball also harbor chances for injury. Broken bones will heal in a matter of weeks or months, but children will not be able to play their sport while they recover.
Function
Some children who play sports are either forced into playing when they don't want to or must remain on the team when they want to leave. This can result in emotional abuse for the young athlete, the National Youth Safety Sports Foundation reports. Emotional abuse occurs when a child is treated in a negative manner that damages the child's self-worth. This treatment can come from a coach, parent or teammates.
Types
Emotional abuse can occur when parents tell the child who is playing sports that he is "letting down his family" because his performance is not what it should be. It can come from a coach who limits his communication with a player who is not playing at a level the coach expects. Teammates who ostracize a youngster may cause emotional damage to that player's psyche.
Signficance
If a youngster who participates in sports suffers emotionally as a result, that youngster may become withdrawn from other activities, according to the National Youth Sports Safety Foundation. Schoolwork may suffer; the youngster might fear taking part in other social activities. Other potential problems include that the youth will engage in risky behaviors, including delinquent and aggressive activities during adolescence.
Warning
Participating in sports can be a wonderful, memorable experience. However, if it is not, parents and coaches risk causing a youngster serious harm by forcing him to participate and making him "stick it out" at all costs. The key to knowing whether the situation can be fixed or not is to observe and communicate. If you see a problem, talk to your child and his coach about it. Find out from the coach if there are any issues you should know about. Talk to your child and let him know that you love and support him, and only want his sports experience to be a positive one.
