The Politics of Youth Sports

I remember the days when parents would drop their kids off for practices, heck maybe even a carload of kids and another parent would pick them all up,be it baseball, football, basketball etc. Now parents feel it necessary to go and watch the practices in order to coach their children from the sidelines.  Some even take their chairs to sit and watch while clapping and cheering for their child.  Gone are the days when kids compete on their own and earn their spots on a team without their parents finding it necessary to be their player agent. The true intent of team sports has been grossly twisted into something that requires kids to have the most expensive equipment, hang out with the 'right' crowd,  and a parent coaching the team so they get to play. Sadly, many children who have potential get discoutraged early on because a coach's child  gets preferential treatment or a select group of  players who may have developed sooner than their peers get labeled as the stellar players and others with dormant skillls waiting to be developed get overlooked and miss opportunities. It is so unfortunate becasue a few players do not make a team.  The extreme demand placed upon young athletes to compete and be better than everyone else is slowly undemining the concept of  a  team.  Coaches have lost sight of the reasponisbility to train, develop and coach ALL members of the team and not just a select few. Sometimes this focus on a handful of players is not intentional  and coaches are not even aware of the permanent damage they do, not only to the  athletes thet overlook but also to those they focus on.  This focus  and lack thereof  creates a feeling of importance and worse superiority  for the athletes who get the attention and kudos while making other  members of the team fell that they don't  even matter.
Early on when this happens often times  the athletes overlooked end up quitting or giving up. The athletes that get labeled as superstars at a young age begin to feel a sense of entitlement and later have difficulty if they lose their position or have to deal with defeat or disappointment.