Reply to Are kids still doing it all? Rise of travel sports and scheduled kids.

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]70% of kids dropout of sports by the age of 13.

There’s an interesting article that describes why -

“  parents invest significant time and money in their kids to train with teams and buy their uniforms. They expect “results." They drive them all over to year-round sports, sometimes more than one during the same season. Oftentimes, perhaps unintentionally, they drive them out of sports entirely.

For a lot of kids, it comes down to the fact that sports become less fun and more about the concept of what success is from more of an adult’s eyes than a child’s eyes,” Moffatt says. "Kids want to stay active, play and have fun with their friends, and winning and losing is something that they care less about.”

About 70 % of kids drop out of organized sports by age 13 and the so-called “professionalization of youth sports” can’t be understated as a significant factor why, according to a new report released Monday by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

“In addition, the pressure to succeed at a young age, as well as the perception that this is the most efficacious route to future athletic success, further leads to high volumes of training and loss of enjoyment in sport, both of which can contribute to widespread burnout and attrition among youth athletes.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2024/01/22/70-of-kids-drop-out-of-youth-sports-by-13-new-aap-study-reveals-why/72310189007/
[/quote]

Every time I read these articles I just think to myself: are the authors totally hallucinating and do they not know what high school is like these days? The reason the kids quit at that age is because we make it so difficult to make the high school sports teams at that age and then they choose do other extracurriculars at school if they can’t make the team.[/quote]

I didn’t see a link to this report, just the quotes about it, so I don’t know if there’s actual data here or just the opinions of the people quoted.  But in general, I don’t think that the kids dropping out at age 13 is necessarily a problem (unless the kid isn’t keeping physically active). Sports kept the kids outside, socializing and engaged up until their teen years - much better that than at home on a screen, keeping to themselves, etc.  And two, high school is when some opportunities open up that a teen wouldn’t have had access to before.  A full school orchestra, drama club and performances, band, robotics club, volunteering, an after school job - so the formerly athletic teen may be transitioning to other extracurriculars.  [/quote]

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