on a letter to youth sports
I'll start by saying thank you. Sports shaped my childhood, gave me the best friends in the world, and countless hours spent with my parents. Through sports, I learned what it means to compete, to work as a team, and most importantly to fail. My highschool ERA my freshman year was 6.90 that's insanely bad. The memories I have with my friends and family of being on the field or court are some of the best of my life.
But as I (gradually) approach being a youth sports parent, I’ve been thinking about what’s happened to youth sports. And it really sucks. We’ve lost the plot of what made it so special. Playing little league with ALL of your friends because no one gave a shit about who was good and bad. Your social status was not tied to your batting average. The LF who was scared of the ball still was your best friend.
Now, it's become a battleground for parents and kids who feel the weight of extreme expectations, money lit on fire, and insane time commitments. Parents are spending thousands of dollars every year on equipment, coaching, and especially travel. I promise that the gear doesn't matter. Even worse is the time. Parents are spending weekends driving their kids to games in BFE, sitting through hours of traffic and tournaments to watch Johnny go 1-12 with 8 punchies. And for what? To put pressure on kids? If your kid is good enough I promise you the coaches will come & the scholarship/NIL money will follow.
Kids are forced into a climate where it's nearly impossible to find joy. The stakes have been artificially raised higher and higher. If they don’t make the Elite A Team, they "lose out on opportunities". And if they do make it, the pressure to perform becomes even greater.
Youth sports feel like a full time family job before kids even hit puberty. If I hear of another 10 yo select team I'm going to vomit. Parents are sold a lie that their kids need to be on the road, playing against the best competition, if they want to be “noticed.” It’s total bullshit. When I work with kids now they look like they're forced to be on the field or court. We've lost so many kids who could’ve enjoyed multiple sports as well rounded athletes but instead pushed into one sport, one path, one narrow view of what success looks like. This was me BTW.
So how do we fix this? It starts with taking the pressure off. Make youth sports accessible not just financially, but socially too. Parents shouldn’t feel like they have to sacrifice every weekend or max out their credit cards just to give their kids a chance to play.
To those in Private Equity, stay the hell away from youth sports. Recently firms have been swooping in, looking to extract every last dollar from parents. They obviously more about profits than kids. Youth sports have become just another thing to monetize, with no regard for the toll it takes on families.
Sports could/should be local. Show up at the park, play ball, and go home. When it's time to compete, compete for your town or your school. We should teach kids it's a great honor and responsibility to represent where you come from. High school sports, in particular. It’s about wearing your town or school’s name on your back, feeling the support of the community behind you, and realizing that you’re part of something bigger than yourself.
I hope we can change things. There are great examples of parents taking matters into their own hands and creating local youth sports leagues. I hope we see so much more of this.