Pros And Cons Of Children In Sports

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Dreams of glory, gold metals, and fame bounce around in every parent’s mind as he/she signs up his/her child for his/her first sport. The desire for college scholarships and multimillion-dollar contracts has many parents pushing their children harder than ever to participate in sports. Children are being enrolled into sports leagues at a younger age than ever before, many of whom are even being pressured to participate year-round in the hopes of creating the next Michael Jordan. While involving a child in athletics has several benefits, it also has a great deal of drawbacks. Pushing children to participate in sports they show no interest in can negatively impact their self-esteem, create resentment, result in a drop in grades, and increase their chances of…show more content…
Dreams of first place trophies have countless parents expecting their children to be excited about the opportunity to participate in athletics, without even asking them if they have any interest in playing sports at all. While this assumption is a “win-win” situation for those children who dream of scoring the winning touchdowns for their teams – as they receive the ability to bask in the glory of victory as well as the look of pride in their parents’ eyes – how does it affect the children who have no desire to become the next olympic stars? Feelings of stress, anxiety, and inadequacy often consume the children who tremble in their newly-purchased cleats at the thought of competing in sports. The reason for this is simple: every child has a different skill level. Although some young athletes find it exceptionally easy to slap baseballs out to centerfield, not every child is this athletically inclined. As a result of this lack in skill, many children find themselves in humiliating situations where they continuously fail. This repeated embarrassment can cause a child to develop a negative sense of self-esteem and leave him/her with massive amounts of unneeded stress. On top of that, parents often urge

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