There is a thread below about the decline of participation in "Pop Warner" football in the U.S., and it raises (for me, anyway) the issue of, "What, exactly, is the point of kids playing sports?"
One: Playing sports can be fun. The games themselves can be fun; it is fun to challenge yourself, it can be fun to compete. Mark this one as a positive.
Two: You might gain some physical conditioning. Another positive. Different sports do different things, but pretty much all of them get the kids out being active, and if they aren't killing each other, it's probably a good thing.
Three: Learn self-discipline. This process is perverse because most kids have to be forced to do anything difficult (hence, crazy coaches), but the theory is that once they are forced to try hard for a time, they will eventually see the merits of it and be self-motivated. This is what football parents often cite, and I have to admit, ex-football players - particularly ones who were well rounded in school - frequently become leaders in later life. And it probably has something to do do with the discipline and perseverence they learned playing football.
Four: To develop skills that might eventually get them a "free" college education. While this is possible, it has to be weighed against the time spent, the money spent, the diversion from actual academic effort, and the possibility of injury or other harm from playing the sport. It goes without saying that anyone playing a sport, or any parent having their kid play a sport in the hope of one day being a professional, is delusional. Statistically, professional athletes are non-existent. You are talking about a couple thousand people in a country of 300,000,000. And at least half of that couple thousand is foreign-born. So there.
Five: To satisfy the parents' desire for vicarious thrills through their kids' success. If this is you, please shoot yourself; your kid will be better off with the insurance money.
Most regrettable to me is the fact that most American kids never PLAY a sport. They either go to an organized practice or a scheduled game, but going to a field and playing pickup baseball or football, it doesn't seem to happen anymore. Basketball, yes.
And THIS, my fellow Americans, is why we will always suck at soccer. If you don't PLAY soccer (the way ghetto kids PLAY basketball), you won't reach the top level.
One: Playing sports can be fun. The games themselves can be fun; it is fun to challenge yourself, it can be fun to compete. Mark this one as a positive.
Two: You might gain some physical conditioning. Another positive. Different sports do different things, but pretty much all of them get the kids out being active, and if they aren't killing each other, it's probably a good thing.
Three: Learn self-discipline. This process is perverse because most kids have to be forced to do anything difficult (hence, crazy coaches), but the theory is that once they are forced to try hard for a time, they will eventually see the merits of it and be self-motivated. This is what football parents often cite, and I have to admit, ex-football players - particularly ones who were well rounded in school - frequently become leaders in later life. And it probably has something to do do with the discipline and perseverence they learned playing football.
Four: To develop skills that might eventually get them a "free" college education. While this is possible, it has to be weighed against the time spent, the money spent, the diversion from actual academic effort, and the possibility of injury or other harm from playing the sport. It goes without saying that anyone playing a sport, or any parent having their kid play a sport in the hope of one day being a professional, is delusional. Statistically, professional athletes are non-existent. You are talking about a couple thousand people in a country of 300,000,000. And at least half of that couple thousand is foreign-born. So there.
Five: To satisfy the parents' desire for vicarious thrills through their kids' success. If this is you, please shoot yourself; your kid will be better off with the insurance money.
Most regrettable to me is the fact that most American kids never PLAY a sport. They either go to an organized practice or a scheduled game, but going to a field and playing pickup baseball or football, it doesn't seem to happen anymore. Basketball, yes.
And THIS, my fellow Americans, is why we will always suck at soccer. If you don't PLAY soccer (the way ghetto kids PLAY basketball), you won't reach the top level.
