tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14468282.post2234562854138995474..comments2024-03-13T03:59:42.108-05:00Comments on Daily Blog: The Race to Nowhere in Youth SportsWendi Kitsteinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05515018912328000746noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14468282.post-51796640727756803212018-06-02T07:05:51.550-05:002018-06-02T07:05:51.550-05:00The article is on point! The biggest problem is th...The article is on point! The biggest problem is that too many parents see their kids accomplishments or lack of them as a reflection of their parenting jobs and that is not true. The other issue is that some push their kids so hard that they are always injured because their bodies cannot handle the punishment. The link below is a great resource for making sure that these kids get the proper help they need and don't hide their injuries in fear of disappointing their parents. <br /><br /><a href="www.khohealth.com/category/injury-directory/" rel="nofollow">Injury Directory</a><br /><br />Kho Healthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05492318384336150293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14468282.post-79889763954312002412018-06-02T07:04:00.220-05:002018-06-02T07:04:00.220-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Kho Healthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05492318384336150293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14468282.post-19794866484340278742016-02-05T07:48:47.152-06:002016-02-05T07:48:47.152-06:00Spot on! I did burn out. Did not even play baske...Spot on! I did burn out. Did not even play basketball my senior year... The sport I was supposedly a natural at. Opted for vball because it was newerand less of a chore.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03192386544230278728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14468282.post-6292261131749242822016-02-04T14:43:13.599-06:002016-02-04T14:43:13.599-06:00I am hoping to introduce my children to many sport...I am hoping to introduce my children to many sports, so they may choose what interests them. The teams I had through high school and college were invaluable to me for so many reasons. I would like my children to have that same "team" experience. The problem we've run into recently is that practice is often on weekday evenings to accommodate working parents, which interferes with family dinner time and bedtime. Sitting down for family dinner and making it to bed on time on school nights is not negotiable for me. The former is the quality time I get to spend with my children every day (since I am the "breadwinner" and at work during the day) and the latter isn't just good for the kiddos, but also provides me time to spend with my husband. As a bonus, getting to bed on time means much happier mornings when we are getting ready for school. I'm not sure what the answer to this is except to not participate until they are older and bedtime is later, but then I worry they'll lose their opportunity to participate because they'll be "behind" in learning the required skills. Tracinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14468282.post-47037763883934175952014-10-30T21:51:51.929-05:002014-10-30T21:51:51.929-05:00Starting last year in 2nd grade we sat our boys do...Starting last year in 2nd grade we sat our boys down and let them each pick one thing they wanted to do. Previously we have had them in scouts, soccer, gymnastics as toddlers, etc. all at different times. Two picked gymnastics and once hip hop dance. (Yes, I said dance. He LOVES it!). One lasted August - November for gymnastics and just wanted to stay home with me (he is my artsy homebody). The other one lasted through February before asking to be done with gymnastics. Before we allowed them to quit, they had to give us their reasons, finish the month, and repeat back to us about if their sport had been a team sport, they would have had to finish their season. But since we paid monthly, they just had to finish the month. We took the summer off anything that was weekly. We had vbs for 2 while 1 had drama camp at the local high school. (Same one that loves dance :). We finally found so,etching artsy and my homebody art boy CRIED the last day of art camp because he loved it so much. This school year they all got to pick again. 1 is still doing dance, and the other two picked our Wednesday night program at church. While it makes us busy, I feel it's not too crazy. To me it seems that where we live has such a huge emphasis on sports, like wayyyyy more than I remember growing up. On one hand I glad we aren't doing two baseball practices and two baseball games a week. I'm glad I don't have Saturdays filled up every week for sports. But then every so often I wonder if I'm doing a bad thing if they want to play when they are older but are years "behind" their fried so that have been playing for years??!! Time will tell, I guess. All I can say is my kids seem happy with their choices and I feel like I'm not driving them around all the time. Lol. Sorry for the book!denisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14208067052410711245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14468282.post-55441221407551989462014-10-30T15:37:29.109-05:002014-10-30T15:37:29.109-05:00Emily, I think you are exactly what I am talking a...Emily, I think you are exactly what I am talking about -- someone who played, enjoyed it, but didn't play it year wrong and wasn't pushed unnecessarily!Wendi Kitsteinerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05515018912328000746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14468282.post-25285110931698997242014-10-30T07:31:35.112-05:002014-10-30T07:31:35.112-05:00Very interesting post! I honestly have nothing but...Very interesting post! I honestly have nothing but positive memories from my experience in youth sports. Even though I wasn't the best athlete (you know this!!) the experience of being a part of a team taught me so much that I have been able to take with me as an adult. Now that I am about to be a mom myself, I can only hope that my daughter is blessed with a positive experience with sports too, if she chooses to play. Emilyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15190016835720351136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14468282.post-90594691553350257072014-10-29T21:40:37.497-05:002014-10-29T21:40:37.497-05:00I agree, Wendi! It seems like the culture of chil...I agree, Wendi! It seems like the culture of children's sports now is toxic! There are some sports in which it seems especially terrible (like hockey in Minnesota), but really, you see it creeping into a lot of sports. Parents seem to push their kids so much to the point of it being totally unhealthy. <br />The hard part is drawing those lines. Austin is almost 8 and is obsessed with sports. He LOVES to play. He comes home from school, drops his bag and runs outside to play football by himself in the yard or with other neighborhood kids. He'll kick a soccer ball around all day or shoot hoops until it is dark out. We have let him play 1 sport a season (plus swimming lessons because we want him to be safe in the water), but even when the teams are great and encouraging and a good environment, it is exhausting to drag all 3 of the kids to his games and practices. I can't imagine once we have all 3 kids with extracurriculars! Ugh! The great thing is that he loves to play sports, but the problem is that he loves every sport he plays (and actually shows skill for a few of them). Getting him to narrow it down in the future could be tough. But even then, already they are trying to recruit him to the special training academy sessions, etc and A) we're not up for that kind of time commitment, and B) he's 7 years old! for crying out loud! Back off people!<br />It also scares me being on the health care end of youth sports - my son loves football and soccer, but I keep seeing all these young kids coming in with concussions and major injuries from sports like football and soccer. It makes me nervous about risking his brain for a sport that most likely will not carry into the rest of his life Not worth his brain!Lisa Cronkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01684182366605706704noreply@blogger.com