The Pressure of Playing Youth Sports

Youth sports such as midget football, community league baseball, or recreation league basketball are all intended to provide youth the opportunity to participate in an organized athletic activity under supervision and interact with other youth. What should be viewed as an opportunity for skill development, learning to work under the direction of coaches, and finding out the nuances of being part of a team is sometimes turned into a very negative experience. An opportunity to make a positive impact upon a youth by showing them the advantages which athletics have to offer is instead turned into an activity full of dread and anxiety.

Unfortunately, parents and adults, to whom youth look to for guidance and instruction, become the ones who turn the sport into something which is more for themselves than the participants. Adults should set as well as enforce the rules. Adults should set limits on the amount of pressure which is placed upon youth participants on and off the playing surface. Adults should use judgment when encouraging youth and do so in the proper manner.

However, many times the adult or parental judgment which one hopes for is absent in some coaches and parents. There are times when a coach is simply not suitable for an age group and pushes the players too hard for perfection when it is more appropriate for them to be learning the basics. Coaches are also at fault for discouraging players by focusing on those whom they feel can win them the game instead of giving all an opportunity to play. Granted there comes a point when you, as a coach, do have to put your best players in the best position to win. However, in many youth sport settings the goal is to encourage and instill a passion to play the game rather than win at all costs.