On a chilly Saturday morning, parents file into the soon-to-be relocated YMCA to watch their 3 to 6-year-olds participate in a youth basketball league the Y provides. It’s a tremendous league giving kids the opportunity to play organized basketball. Both parents and children enjoy the hour they get to spend inside the gym. I’m just trying to figure out when the fun ends, and the competitiveness begins. We all hear the horror stories of parents gone mad. Heck, you don’t have to travel far to see it. Visit a local little league park, or an elementary school basketball game and see it with your own eyes. Parents treating youth sports like it’s an end-all be-all, screaming at officials or confronting coaches. It’s a problem that has gradually gotten worse in the last 15 years. When do we get to that point? The line, no matter how appropriate, has seemed to change over time. College coaches find their way into children’s lives at an earlier age. Pushing the envelope and pushing parents to get their kids into the spotlight quicker. Youth sports have gonefrom a local, friend vs. friend competition to a traveling showcase of talent. A showcase of talent that is ultimately supposed to help land kids college scholarships. The reality that parents need to grasp is that percentages aren’t in their favor. Only two percent of athletes continue to play collegiate sports past high school. A much smaller number of those athletes will find the protection of a full-ride scholarship. In today’s society we glorify those who are on television, and turn a blind eye to what sports were intended for in the first place. Believe it or not, there was a day when sports were intended to teach life lessons. Lessons of discipline, and respect were at the forefront of the mind in parents and athletes alike. Growing up involved with sports brought different levels of responsibilities and expectations. Those expectations and the culmination of achieving the goals inside of those expectations were the rewards. Kids had no concern with who was there to watch them, unless they were family or friends. It was a better time. Now, at some point, kids are pressured to perform for future gains. It seems that anyone that picks up a baseball, or puts on football pads, the end goal is the thing that’s always in focus. No matter how tough it is to achieve this goal, parents seem to exhaust all options in order to give their kid a chance at a dream that percentages say won’t happen. Don’t get me wrong, using your resources to give your child the best chance to achieve their/your dreams isn’t the problem. It’s the behavior that comes along with most parents during the chase of those dreams that seems to continually be the issue. Weekly stories and videos keep the outlandish behavior of parents on the forefront of the issue. To throw all parents under this umbrella isn’t fair, but it’s becoming the majority, not the minority. I’m just trying to just figure out when the fun is over. I look forward to watching my 4-year-old son Andrew every Saturday morning, and watching parents laugh and enjoy time watching their son or daughter play for the enjoyment that comes along with a game. In the back of my mind I can’t help but think that this won’t last. Sooner or later the game will become a job to both parent and child. Until that time, I’m going to enjoy my Saturday mornings, and realize that in today’s athletic climate, they will come to an end.
