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

Anonymous wrote:Lots of South Asians in the junior USTA and UTR tournaments.

Just say Indian you racist

While culturual generalizations can be helpful, I doubt all your white neighbors are obsessed with travel sports. In my neighborhood the sports obsession is pretty race-neutral and kids I knew who were in travel sports at 7 weren't just white. If you don't like the sports obsession, make some friends whose kids are playing rec or just running free in the neighborhood. Maybe it's because my kids just play rec (and before you ask, their age span is from late elementary to middle school so they are all at prime age for travel sports), but I know tons of those.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you perceive people elevating sports over academics, when reality is that equal emphasis is placed on sports and academics. Sports has been wonderful for my kids, including travel sports. Social skills, teamwork, confidence, leadership - I have no regrets. Plus those travel sports years were a lot of fun for our family.

NP. I don't really see this. Kids are pulled out of classes all the time to participate in some sport or another--that sends a clear message that sports are more important than school.

I just pulled my kids out for a day for a tournament. I can guarantee you that it will have no impact on their grades, which are excellent. Learning doesn't only happen in the classroom. By the way, if I had musicians, I would not hesitate to pull them out for a big concert.

Lots of South Asians in the junior USTA and UTR tournaments.

Asians dominate in fencing, tennis, swim around here. Is it just team sports you think are for white people?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you perceive people elevating sports over academics, when reality is that equal emphasis is placed on sports and academics. Sports has been wonderful for my kids, including travel sports. Social skills, teamwork, confidence, leadership - I have no regrets. Plus those travel sports years were a lot of fun for our family.

NP. I don't really see this. Kids are pulled out of classes all the time to participate in some sport or another--that sends a clear message that sports are more important than school.

I think American schools are fairly easy at least in public school. They are also long and kids are there for a lot of hours. Maybe people are pulling their kids out if it's a tournament or they are trying to get a college scholarship in high school but otherwise that isn't happening regularly.

Anonymous wrote:I think you perceive people elevating sports over academics, when reality is that equal emphasis is placed on sports and academics. Sports has been wonderful for my kids, including travel sports. Social skills, teamwork, confidence, leadership - I have no regrets. Plus those travel sports years were a lot of fun for our family.

NP. I don't really see this. Kids are pulled out of classes all the time to participate in some sport or another--that sends a clear message that sports are more important than school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it never called racist when people put down “white” people whose kids play sports?

OP is absolutely being judgmental and not simply asking a question. Lots of kids of many backgrounds enjoy playing sports. As many others have said, there are a lot of type a people who are good at sports and academics. Many people feel strongly that being physically fit and developing teamwork, cooperation, and fueling a competitive nature provide solid skils to kids as they enter adulthood.

One kid’s interest in sports is no less enriching than another kid’s interest in music, theatre, or art.

The sports bashing gets so old.

+1. OP is trying to stir the pot.

Clearly different cultures have different ideas about different things.

No, read OP is carefully. OP expressed curiosity. I understand as I used to be mystified and wanted to know what I was missing. Others have responded contemptuously with comments including race. This pattern is no different from other DCUM posts. There’s always some amount of toxicity you have to weed throughout here.

So let's say I title a post "Black people obsession with basketball" and then proclaim everyone else who is from a white country agrees with me in this sentiment and "I'm just curious".

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Google is your friend. Start with articles like these, go to the original research and then to the citations:

https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/being-a-team-player-why-college-athletes-succeed-in-business

This article is from this year but the research has been available for years. There are more out there. Also plenty of articles simply linking career and sports success.

The research for this particular article shows that team sports players admitted with lower gpas than average outperform peers. (In contrast, individual players of wealthy sports, indicating a wealthy background, only leads to a slight career advantage).

Your link is about college sports. The vast majority of kids playing sports in elementary school (this forum) won’t make it that far in their chosen sport.

It’s interesting, but I do wonder if the crop of kids who become collegiate athletes is fundamentally different. Your take away may be overly broad.

So find the other ones. Deloitte had one about women leaders and sports. There have been countless studies on sports.

Did you study an instrument? What did you learn? Precision? Perfectionism?

There is a lot of work that does not require precision or perfectionism. It does require knowing how to be a team captain, playing on a team to win, motivating a team, coaching a team. You won’t learn this in science class.

Hey, just for the record I want to state that for many kids, playing an instrument is a great way to learn a lot of skills besides precision and perfectionism. Playing in an ensemble or orchestra is absolutely a team activity. You literally have to be aware of every other member of your group at all times, and follow your leader to do your part. These kids work hard to take a piece of music and each contribute their own effort to make a whole.

What I’m saying is that there are a lot of ways to learn the value of teamwork and effort, and it’s OK if some groups prefer one over another!

That’s an interesting premise and even mentioned in the working paper as an area to be studied: how do other extracurriculars align with career progression? No one said sports or nothing. I would say there’s a big difference between learning to play a piece perfectly as an ensemble and learning to win and lose as a team, but I have never done a comparison.

Just look at corporate lingo and how much of it is borrowed from sports. The kids who have played have a deep understanding of these concepts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it never called racist when people put down “white” people whose kids play sports?

OP is absolutely being judgmental and not simply asking a question. Lots of kids of many backgrounds enjoy playing sports. As many others have said, there are a lot of type a people who are good at sports and academics. Many people feel strongly that being physically fit and developing teamwork, cooperation, and fueling a competitive nature provide solid skils to kids as they enter adulthood.

One kid’s interest in sports is no less enriching than another kid’s interest in music, theatre, or art.

The sports bashing gets so old.

+1. OP is trying to stir the pot.

Clearly different cultures have different ideas about different things.

No, read OP is carefully. OP expressed curiosity. I understand as I used to be mystified and wanted to know what I was missing. Others have responded contemptuously with comments including race. This pattern is no different from other DCUM posts. There’s always some amount of toxicity you have to weed throughout here.

Curious that OP said “white people” then interchanged that with “Americans”.

My guess is more ignorance in an unintentional way than racism.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Google is your friend. Start with articles like these, go to the original research and then to the citations:

https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/being-a-team-player-why-college-athletes-succeed-in-business

This article is from this year but the research has been available for years. There are more out there. Also plenty of articles simply linking career and sports success.

The research for this particular article shows that team sports players admitted with lower gpas than average outperform peers. (In contrast, individual players of wealthy sports, indicating a wealthy background, only leads to a slight career advantage).

Your link is about college sports. The vast majority of kids playing sports in elementary school (this forum) won’t make it that far in their chosen sport.

It’s interesting, but I do wonder if the crop of kids who become collegiate athletes is fundamentally different. Your take away may be overly broad.

So find the other ones. Deloitte had one about women leaders and sports. There have been countless studies on sports.

Did you study an instrument? What did you learn? Precision? Perfectionism?

There is a lot of work that does not require precision or perfectionism. It does require knowing how to be a team captain, playing on a team to win, motivating a team, coaching a team. You won’t learn this in science class.

Hey, just for the record I want to state that for many kids, playing an instrument is a great way to learn a lot of skills besides precision and perfectionism. Playing in an ensemble or orchestra is absolutely a team activity. You literally have to be aware of every other member of your group at all times, and follow your leader to do your part. These kids work hard to take a piece of music and each contribute their own effort to make a whole.

What I’m saying is that there are a lot of ways to learn the value of teamwork and effort, and it’s OK if some groups prefer one over another!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it never called racist when people put down “white” people whose kids play sports?

OP is absolutely being judgmental and not simply asking a question. Lots of kids of many backgrounds enjoy playing sports. As many others have said, there are a lot of type a people who are good at sports and academics. Many people feel strongly that being physically fit and developing teamwork, cooperation, and fueling a competitive nature provide solid skils to kids as they enter adulthood.

One kid’s interest in sports is no less enriching than another kid’s interest in music, theatre, or art.

The sports bashing gets so old.

+1. OP is trying to stir the pot.

Clearly different cultures have different ideas about different things.

No, read OP is carefully. OP expressed curiosity. I understand as I used to be mystified and wanted to know what I was missing. Others have responded contemptuously with comments including race. This pattern is no different from other DCUM posts. There’s always some amount of toxicity you have to weed throughout here.

Curious that OP said “white people” then interchanged that with “Americans”.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it never called racist when people put down “white” people whose kids play sports?

OP is absolutely being judgmental and not simply asking a question. Lots of kids of many backgrounds enjoy playing sports. As many others have said, there are a lot of type a people who are good at sports and academics. Many people feel strongly that being physically fit and developing teamwork, cooperation, and fueling a competitive nature provide solid skils to kids as they enter adulthood.

One kid’s interest in sports is no less enriching than another kid’s interest in music, theatre, or art.

The sports bashing gets so old.

+1. OP is trying to stir the pot.

Clearly different cultures have different ideas about different things.

No, read OP is carefully. OP expressed curiosity. I understand as I used to be mystified and wanted to know what I was missing. Others have responded contemptuously with comments including race. This pattern is no different from other DCUM posts. There’s always some amount of toxicity you have to weed throughout here.

Anonymous wrote:Why is it never called racist when people put down “white” people whose kids play sports?

OP is absolutely being judgmental and not simply asking a question. Lots of kids of many backgrounds enjoy playing sports. As many others have said, there are a lot of type a people who are good at sports and academics. Many people feel strongly that being physically fit and developing teamwork, cooperation, and fueling a competitive nature provide solid skils to kids as they enter adulthood.

One kid’s interest in sports is no less enriching than another kid’s interest in music, theatre, or art.

The sports bashing gets so old.

+1. OP is trying to stir the pot.

Clearly different cultures have different ideas about different things.