If you have a child older than four years of age you have most likely been exposed to some form of organized youth sports. Youth sports are an excellent way for children to develop physical skills, social competence and character. But are youth sports getting out of hand? Are we expecting too much of our children at too young of age?

According to the first-ever National Youth Sports Report Card there is much to be improved upon. The Report Card was recently released by an alliance of the nation’s most prominent amateur and professional sports organizations. Their assessment is that youth sports need to focus more on the child’s experience and less on winning games or earning sports scholarships. Low grades were given for parental misbehavior and an overemphasis on a win-at-all-cost mentality among parents and coaches. Members of the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance (CTSA) include representatives from the NCAA, MLB, NBA and WNBA, and NHL.

CTSA’s report card, available online at www.sportsmanship.org, included two Ds, one in the category of “Parental Behavior/Involvement” and one in the area of “Child-Centered Philosophy,” which focuses on the child’s perspective of the experience. The panel issued a C- for the “Coaching” category, a C+ in the area of “Health and Safety” and a B- in “Officiating.”

The panel is greatly concerned that, on the whole, youth sports has:
§ Lost its child-centered focus, meaning less emphasis on the child’s experience and more emphasis on adult-centered motives, such as winning.
§ Suffered from the actions of over-invested sports parents, who maintain unrealistic expectations and fail to behave in a way that promotes the development of their own child and others.
§ Failed to provide sufficient background checks, training and evaluations for coaches, who are so instrumental in the youth sports experience.
§ Focused on early sports specialization, leading to burnout, overuse injuries and a hyper-competitive atmosphere focused on travel team participation at an ever-younger age.
§ Lost the voice of the child, who is participating in sports for his or her own goals, which experts say include fun, friends, fitness and skill development.

I share this information, not as an indictment on any one youth sport program in the Denver area (CTSA’s is a national assessment). Each of my four children have been involved in youth sports. They have had both stellar and hellish experiences. Most parents I talk with feel that youth sports has gotten out of hand, but they are at a loss as to what to do. My first recommendation is always to talk with your child. Secondly, I encourage parents to visit the CTSA’s website and download some assessments of their own. Look over the criteria they have developed. Reflect on your own experience. What grade would you give yourself and the program your child is involved in? And then ask yourself what can I do to improve the situation.

In a suburb of Minneapolis, a growing number of families are banding together to find ways to reclaim life-balance. Balance 4 Success is a group of parents engaging their community and families to replace busyness with balance to ensure kids’ success. This nonsectarian group recently developed Taking Back Sunday - a coordinated, community-wide effort by parents to schedule Sunday as a sports-free day. Read more about this and other efforts at www.balance4success.org.

Youth sport involvement can be a tremendously powerful experience for our children, if we maintain a proper perspective. My fear is that too many of us are using youth sports to mold our children into what Samuel Osherson has called “ a more heroic version of ourselves,” – a misguided project destine for a failing grade.

Rich Batten is the father of four and the author of the e-mail newsletter, Fastbreak for Fathers. The current issue is on Dads and Youth Sports. Current and back issues of Fastbreak are available at www.douglascountyextension.org  and www.beafanofyourkid.org