White people obsession with kids sports

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alot of white men love sports and are the energy behind the kids in sport thing.

My son has a weinie personality. Flag football has been really good to toughen him up.

I've heard employers are looking for kids who played team sports because they have much better social skills, can take criticism without wilting.

Employers talking about team sports are just another coded way for white men to hire white men. Female athletes, athletes of hispanic and asian descent, these team sport participants don't get a boost. And let's be real, it's only certain sports.

Source, please?

Source: real life.

IOW: your @$$.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who perform at a high level in sports do better in college, college acceptance, leadership and business.

Yes, the first thing they asked me in BigLaw was what travel sport I played

Is critical thinking not required for someone to be in BigLaw? Because you clearly lack that skill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who perform at a high level in sports do better in college, college acceptance, leadership and business.

Yes, the first thing they asked me in BigLaw was what travel sport I played

Is critical thinking not required for someone to be in BigLaw? Because you clearly lack that skill.

Didn’t need critical thinking. I played D1 lax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow this thread is pretty devoid of actual information but sure is full of mindless generalizations. So congrats.

First I want to point out a problem with OP's argument that is common of racial generalizations on this website: "Asians" and "Asian immigrants to the US" are not the same. There are things that are common Asian immigrants in the US that are not necessarily true of all Asian people.

Also the nature of immigration skews perceptions of US culture. OP is basing their perception on interactions with colleagues. I am guessing OP works in a white collar profession in the DC area and that their workplace is full of UMC white people from UMC backgrounds. OP might have different perceptions if they were working in a different setting. OP has a view of "American culture" that is viewed on a narrow experience and with an outsider bent. All of this tends to skew reality.

Here are some actual statistics on youth sports participation:



While white children participate in sports at slightly higher rates than other races, it is not nearly as dramatic as some of you are portraying it. Also the participation of both white and black children in youth sports has actually declined in the last 10 years whereas rates of participation among AAPI and hispanic children are either holding steady or increasing.

The real divide is in family income -- families with HHIs of 100k or more account for nearly half of all youth sport participation. This should be unsurprising to most people -- youth sports are increasingly expensive and also require a lot of time investment by parents. So there is a clear advantage for families with both more financial resources and the kinds of jobs that accommodate having a stay at home or part time parent, or schedules that are conducive to things like evening and weekend practices (parents doing shift work have a serious issue with these demands).

The narrative that white people care a lot about sports and Asian people don't is both wrong and interesting -- the fact that so many of you are ignoring the participation of black and hispanic kids in youth sports altogether says a lot about who you view as your peers and who "counts" when it comes to cultural perceptions.

https://projectplay.org/youth-sports/facts/participation-rates

There’s a lot of grey to this.

I’m Hispanic and I don’t know a lot of other Hispanic families that go hardcore into sports. Our kids play games of soccer organized by themselves, occasional sports at the community center (not every year, not every season), and less often on school teams. It’s not intense unless the kid is showing talent.

I think OP is talking about a culture of sports where parents will take an average child and have them practice organized youth sports multiple times a week and spend weekends at games for a good part of the year. That’s very different imo.

Again, I’m speaking out of what I see and have experienced, but that type of difference, if widespread and not just me, wouldn’t be reflected in the data above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who perform at a high level in sports do better in college, college acceptance, leadership and business.

Yes, the first thing they asked me in BigLaw was what travel sport I played

Is critical thinking not required for someone to be in BigLaw? Because you clearly lack that skill.

Didn’t need critical thinking. I played D1 lax.

Lax is a joke

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow this thread is pretty devoid of actual information but sure is full of mindless generalizations. So congrats.

First I want to point out a problem with OP's argument that is common of racial generalizations on this website: "Asians" and "Asian immigrants to the US" are not the same. There are things that are common Asian immigrants in the US that are not necessarily true of all Asian people.

Also the nature of immigration skews perceptions of US culture. OP is basing their perception on interactions with colleagues. I am guessing OP works in a white collar profession in the DC area and that their workplace is full of UMC white people from UMC backgrounds. OP might have different perceptions if they were working in a different setting. OP has a view of "American culture" that is viewed on a narrow experience and with an outsider bent. All of this tends to skew reality.

Here are some actual statistics on youth sports participation:



While white children participate in sports at slightly higher rates than other races, it is not nearly as dramatic as some of you are portraying it. Also the participation of both white and black children in youth sports has actually declined in the last 10 years whereas rates of participation among AAPI and hispanic children are either holding steady or increasing.

The real divide is in family income -- families with HHIs of 100k or more account for nearly half of all youth sport participation. This should be unsurprising to most people -- youth sports are increasingly expensive and also require a lot of time investment by parents. So there is a clear advantage for families with both more financial resources and the kinds of jobs that accommodate having a stay at home or part time parent, or schedules that are conducive to things like evening and weekend practices (parents doing shift work have a serious issue with these demands).

The narrative that white people care a lot about sports and Asian people don't is both wrong and interesting -- the fact that so many of you are ignoring the participation of black and hispanic kids in youth sports altogether says a lot about who you view as your peers and who "counts" when it comes to cultural perceptions.

https://projectplay.org/youth-sports/facts/participation-rates

There’s a lot of grey to this.

I’m Hispanic and I don’t know a lot of other Hispanic families that go hardcore into sports. Our kids play games of soccer organized by themselves, occasional sports at the community center (not every year, not every season), and less often on school teams. It’s not intense unless the kid is showing talent.

I think OP is talking about a culture of sports where parents will take an average child and have them practice organized youth sports multiple times a week and spend weekends at games for a good part of the year. That’s very different imo.

Again, I’m speaking out of what I see and have experienced, but that type of difference, if widespread and not just me, wouldn’t be reflected in the data above.

*It looks like in the graphs that one rec sport would be counted as regularly the same as a kid who does travel sports or two sports a season.

[Anonymous]

Weird perspective given the race of many great athletes. Why point out only white people.
And given that China performs so well recently in the Olympics, some Asians are also doing a lot of sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who perform at a high level in sports do better in college, college acceptance, leadership and business.

Yes, the first thing they asked me in BigLaw was what travel sport I played

Is critical thinking not required for someone to be in BigLaw? Because you clearly lack that skill.

Didn’t need critical thinking. I played D1 lax.

Lax is a joke

You're finally picking up the subtext. Congrats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow this thread is pretty devoid of actual information but sure is full of mindless generalizations. So congrats.

First I want to point out a problem with OP's argument that is common of racial generalizations on this website: "Asians" and "Asian immigrants to the US" are not the same. There are things that are common Asian immigrants in the US that are not necessarily true of all Asian people.

Also the nature of immigration skews perceptions of US culture. OP is basing their perception on interactions with colleagues. I am guessing OP works in a white collar profession in the DC area and that their workplace is full of UMC white people from UMC backgrounds. OP might have different perceptions if they were working in a different setting. OP has a view of "American culture" that is viewed on a narrow experience and with an outsider bent. All of this tends to skew reality.

Here are some actual statistics on youth sports participation:



While white children participate in sports at slightly higher rates than other races, it is not nearly as dramatic as some of you are portraying it. Also the participation of both white and black children in youth sports has actually declined in the last 10 years whereas rates of participation among AAPI and hispanic children are either holding steady or increasing.

The real divide is in family income -- families with HHIs of 100k or more account for nearly half of all youth sport participation. This should be unsurprising to most people -- youth sports are increasingly expensive and also require a lot of time investment by parents. So there is a clear advantage for families with both more financial resources and the kinds of jobs that accommodate having a stay at home or part time parent, or schedules that are conducive to things like evening and weekend practices (parents doing shift work have a serious issue with these demands).

The narrative that white people care a lot about sports and Asian people don't is both wrong and interesting -- the fact that so many of you are ignoring the participation of black and hispanic kids in youth sports altogether says a lot about who you view as your peers and who "counts" when it comes to cultural perceptions.

https://projectplay.org/youth-sports/facts/participation-rates

There’s a lot of grey to this.

I’m Hispanic and I don’t know a lot of other Hispanic families that go hardcore into sports. Our kids play games of soccer organized by themselves, occasional sports at the community center (not every year, not every season), and less often on school teams. It’s not intense unless the kid is showing talent.

I think OP is talking about a culture of sports where parents will take an average child and have them practice organized youth sports multiple times a week and spend weekends at games for a good part of the year. That’s very different imo.

Again, I’m speaking out of what I see and have experienced, but that type of difference, if widespread and not just me, wouldn’t be reflected in the data above.

Loads of hispanic families in travel baseball. How do you not know any? I am not Hispanic and know a bunch.

[Anonymous]

I don’t understand why this thread is allowed to be here. Substitute “white” for any other race and it would have been taken down in a minute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who perform at a high level in sports do better in college, college acceptance, leadership and business.

Yes, the first thing they asked me in BigLaw was what travel sport I played

Is critical thinking not required for someone to be in BigLaw? Because you clearly lack that skill.

Didn’t need critical thinking. I played D1 lax.

Is this an attempt at a joke?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who perform at a high level in sports do better in college, college acceptance, leadership and business.

Yes, the first thing they asked me in BigLaw was what travel sport I played

Is critical thinking not required for someone to be in BigLaw? Because you clearly lack that skill.

Didn’t need critical thinking. I played D1 lax.

Is this an attempt at a joke?

He wasn’t even athletic enough to play lax.

[Anonymous]

My theory? It’s the happy middle ground. White families want their kids to have a fun, playful, enjoyable childhood. They don’t want them to study all day at school, then go to academic extracurriculars all the time, then do homework.

But - they also don’t feel comfortable with a large amount of free range, play-based, child-driven, unstructured time. They want to know where their kids are, that they’re safe and well cared for, and that they’re learning real skills.

Sports fits right in that spot. Fun, but structured.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a first gen Asian immigrant and have a middle schooler and elementary schooler. I grew up in Asia and moved here as an adult. In the course of raising my kids, I’ ve gotten to know people from various ethnicity and races. My immigrant friends from India, china, Korea, Nigeria, Pakistan, Ghana all have one thing in common in that doing well academically is valued. Some of these cultures values sports but it’s only pursued seriously if the child has a tremendous level of motivation and talent. Otherwise, sports is something you do for fun and stay active. We’re unlikely to spend $$ and time pursuing travel sports or private coaching etc for an average kid.
As I interact with white colleagues, especially at work, their life revolves around sports. They coach multiple kids teams, 2 year olds are ice rinks over the weekend learning to skate. The level of rigor and commitment amazed me.
I ask this from a place of curiosity and not judgement - why is the cultural importance of sports higher than academics in the American society? I mean, an above average soccer player has zero prospects in soccer while an above average engineer can make 6 digits right out of school. Can you help me understand?

Leadership training.

Team sports teach how to lead and communicate under pressure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who perform at a high level in sports do better in college, college acceptance, leadership and business.

Yes, the first thing they asked me in BigLaw was what travel sport I played

Is critical thinking not required for someone to be in BigLaw? Because you clearly lack that skill.

Didn’t need critical thinking. I played D1 lax.

Is this an attempt at a joke?

He wasn’t even athletic enough to play lax.

Impossible. Only real athlete to play lax was Jim brown