Sports and Competition: Are We Pushing Our Kids?

May 1, 2017 Rochelle C. Eisenberg

If you have young children in sports, you know the deal. Game day. The pressure to win. The desire to be the best.

It often happens as early as four or five years old, as parents begin to enroll their children in rec leagues. Later, if they are not part of a travel team, there’s worry they won’t succeed.

Yet, this desire to push our children too early may be impacting their enjoyment of sports. According to a poll by the National Alliance for Youth Sports, 70 percent of kids in the United States stop playing organized sports by age 13 because “it’s just not fun anymore.”

That’s not to say parents shouldn’t sign their kids up early for sports. The benefits are enormous: from better health to opportunities for socialization. It just means it may be time to rethink how sports programs are designed. That’s one of the reasons the JCC recently introduced a new program that incorporates learning the basic skills in a clinic environment, in addition to playing the game.

“I was finding that many kids who were in sports leagues lacked many of the basic skills to be successful. They often grew frustrated. They lost confidence in their abilities and began to not enjoy the game,” says Rebecca Chinsky, senior director of recreation and JCC Maccabi at the Rosenbloom Owings Mills JCC, an agency of The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore.

This new program teaches everything from kicking, passing and goalkeeping in soccer to dribbling and shooting in basketball. Kids even learn the rules. The more they learn, the more proficient they become and confidence rises.

“In an era of sport specialization, at the youngest ages, finding the balance is not easy. A modest schedule of year-round activity that focuses on basic skills that are common to most sports promotes an active lifestyle. It also promotes the skill development necessary to compete at a higher level once the sports that they love are chosen in adolescence,” explains Wendell Lee, youth wellness coordinator at the JCC.

One of the biggest fans of the program is Esther Jandorf. Her son Ian signed up for the youth basketball league at the JCC this past winter. As the shortest kid on the team, Ian often had trouble making a basket. But thanks to Coach Lee, what could have been a negative sports experience turned positive.

“Wendell was so calm. He didn’t yell. He just guided my son. Ian often would stay late after clinic to practice. And Wendell stayed late watching him until he was done,” says Jandorf.

The JCC program is based on the National Alliance for Youth Sports’ Nine National Standards which serve as a blueprint on how organizations should conduct youth sports programs. These standards emphasize teaching developmentally-appropriate skills and age-appropriate competitive environments.

“Participating in sports provides so many benefits for children, from cutting down on body fat to providing an outlet for stress. It provides opportunities for interacting with peers and teaches self-control and time management. That’s why it’s important to make these programs positive experiences so that our kids will continue to find ways to participate as they grow,” says Chinsky.

“This JCC program was a great way for my son to have fun in a relaxed atmosphere, one in which he was constantly being assessed. I think that’s why he learned more than he ever thought,” says Jandorf.

Visit jcc.org/leagues to learn more.

Top photo: These youngsters participated in the JCC’s basketball clinic where they learned skills that would help them gain confidence and enjoy the game.