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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Wow...you are angry and super defensive.  Participation in youth sports is down across the country...that's a fact.  I've read it in several other articles, not just this Atlantic piece, which I thought was well written.  I don't really have any skin in this game because my kids are swimmers, and swimming has always been year-round and club focused.  But other sports were different.  People didn't play baseball, basketball, and soccer year-round when I was a kid.  They played in rec leagues during the appropriate season and then in high school.  And guess what??  Many kids I grew up with went on to play at the college and professional level.

You say that people don't have to play travel, they can play rec.  But rec leagues are dying...especially baseball leagues.  I'm sure you're judging everything from your UMC perspective thinking, "we have plenty of rec leagues.  Tons of kids play sports, etc."  But that is not the reality among less affluent people.  Obviously you don't care -- as long as your kid is doing well on his/her travel team, all is good, right?  [/quote]

"Wow...you are angry and super defensive." -- nope. The tone you're not reading is contempt for "fairness" whiners like the guy who wrote this article and apparently also you. There is no need for me to "defend" my kid participating in rec sports, since I don't believe there is any stigma for doing so.

"Participation in youth sports is down across the country...that's a fact." -- no, it isn't. Participation in sports is constant or increasing. Some sports (e.g. football) might be declining but others are increasing.

"People didn't play baseball, basketball, and soccer year-round when I was a kid.  They played in rec leagues during the appropriate season and then in high school." -- People didn't even play in rec leagues when I was a kid. It was the school team or nothing.

"Many kids I grew up with went on to play at the college and professional level." -- Bullshit. The number of high school kids who play in college is tiny, and the number of college kids who play pro is also tiny. For you to know "many" kids like that is simply not credible. Name them!

"But rec leagues are dying...especially baseball leagues." -- Wrong again. Your combination of arrogance and ignorance is hilarious.

https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2018/04/12/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/Baseball.aspx

[quote]Participation in baseball has again posted sizable gains, according to new data from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. Measures for '17 showed baseball participation grew 6% overall and 12.9% for casual participation. That follows 7.7% and 18.4% growth, respectively, in ’16. Over a three-year span -- a period roughly corresponding with the implementation of MLB's Play Ball youth participation effort -- casual play for baseball has grown 49.1%, and baseball has added 2.5 million new participants.[/quote]

"But that is not the reality among less affluent people." -- Uh huh. And what do you actually know about that? Do you know any poor people? I bet that's complete bullshit like your claim to have grown up with pro athletes.

"Obviously you don't care -- as long as your kid is doing well on his/her travel team, all is good, right?" -- Yeah, pretty much. If you think my kid should have to play rec just because you have the sadz about some "less affluent" kids (that you don't even know) who can't play travel, you have another thing coming.[/quote]

You are calling me ignorant, and then making claims with no data to back them up.  Here are several articles discussing the fact that youth sports participation is declining:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/recruiting-insider/wp/2017/09/06/youth-sports-study-declining-participation-rising-costs-and-unqualified-coaches/?utm_term=.83720a2b3dff
https://www.si.com/more-sports/2015/08/11/american-youth-sports-participation-drop-decline-statistics-study
https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakewilliams3012/2016/06/15/youth-sports-participation-continues-to-decline-and-congress-may-have-a-solution/#6ed498a0177d

The only major sport with rising participation is ice hockey.  Baseball, on the other hand, is one of the sports hit the hardest.  I am relying on studies/data...what are you relying on?

As for doubting that many of the people I knew in high school played sports in college or professionally, you are wrong.  I grew up in Southern California where the sports are in a different league than in this area (especially baseball).  I'm not sure why you want me to name those people.  You do understand that not everyone who plays sports in college or even professionally becomes famous, right?  I mean, the vast majority of people in this country don't even know who Mike Trout is (https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/baseballs-dilemma-mike-trout-is-mlbs-ultimate-all-star-and-yet-he-is-not-a-star/2018/07/16/bc17e36c-8490-11e8-8f6c-46cb43e3f306_story.html?utm_term=.d09957fe04ad), so you're certainly not going to recognize any of the names of the people I grew up with who played professional baseball and other sports.  [/quote]

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