Do You Know Why Kids Quit Youth Sports?
Too Many Kids Quit Sports - According to a Michigan State University study, over 70% of kids quit sports by age 13. For professional sports, that is the equivalent of losing one potential Michael Jordan or Mike Modano a week. In addition, there is no way of knowing the impact on the talent pool of business leaders and other professions where continued sports participation helps develop critical life skills.
Parents Have the Biggest Influence Over the Sports Experience - Parents are the key to youth sports. Parents are involved in numerous activities in support of their child’s activities. Though parents often mean well, their lack of previous involvement with youth sports can cause them to emphasize incorrect behaviors and attitudes that, over time, lead to a child’s lack of continued interest in team sports. Although a good parent can overcome a negative coach, a good coach cannot overcome a negative parent,
Improving Parent Involvement Requires Weekly Effort - Changing parent behavior requires continuing education. Just like a child can’t learn to play at a high level in just a few hours, a parent cannot master the issues involved with youth sports in one meeting. Only a continued and sustained education effort can achieve significant improvement in parent behavior and in parent child sports interactions.
Childhood sports success comes when technical skills build confidence and motivation and then confidence and motivation make kids more receptive to building skills. Getting this cycle started and keeping it going are key roles for parents. However too much criticism or pressure too soon disrupts the cycle and turns kids to less parentally involved activities such as Playstation.
Sports Can be Positive - Sports activity can be a positive in kids lives and in the lives of families. The life lessons learned through playing can serve a lifetime and the closeness that comes from a family working together can overcome other life issues as well.
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