Participating in a sport at an early age can be essential to the overall growth process during a child’s upbringing. Whether the participation is through some sort of organized league or just getting together amongst friends and playing, the lessons learned from this can help teach these kids and provide a positive message to them as they develop. There is a certain point, however, when organized sports can hinder progress, which is when adults get too involved and forget about the underlying reason to why they are helping. While adult involvement is necessary, adult involvement can sometimes send the wrong message to children when they try to make participation become more than just about fun and learning. According to Coakley (2009), “organized sports are worth the effort put forth by adults, as long as they do what is in the best interest of their children and put that thought ahead of their own agenda” (Coakley, p. 151). This is a valid argument because once adults put themselves in front of the children and their values, it needs to be re-evaluated as to why they first got involved in the beginning. Partaking in organized sport and activity from a young age can be beneficial to the overall development of children, as long as decisions actions are made in the best interest of the children and not stemming from ulterior motives of adults.
Coakley (2009) starts off the chapter by introducing how participation in organized sports came about and how gender roles played a major role early on. He describes how most programs were for young boys with the hope that being involved would groom them to become productive in the economy. Girls were usually disregarded and ended up sitting in the stands watching their sibling’s games, or becoming involved in cheerleading. Men became the coaches of these programs, while women’s roles were to stay home and cook or do laundry while making sure their sons were on time for their events. This all changed once legislation was passed requiring equal opportunities for girls (Coakley, p. 125).
Coakley (2009) then goes on to identify five major changes that were vital to the growth of organized sports. The first change was because more families had two parents working, which created the need for adult supervision. This contributed to the growth because more parents felt it was beneficial to enroll their children in some sort of sport or activity. The next change he identifies is the idea of the “good parent”, which means that they know where their children are at all moments. By allowing them to engage in organized activity, they knew their children’s whereabouts. The third change is the belief that child-organized activities lead to trouble. Keeping them out of trouble by placing them in sport was the best way to control this. The fourth change Coakley stated was that organized sports were essential to protecting children from the outside world. They believed that the world outside the home was a dangerous place for their children because of all the negative events shown in the media, and the only way to combat this was to place them in sport. Lastly, the final change he identified is the visibility of professional sports in society. Children were able to replicate the actions of these athletes through sport and it gave them incentive to succeed. By participating in organized sport, the aspiration of becoming a professional athlete was still a reasonable goal because parents were looking for the best programs for their children to come involved. All five changes were a major influence in the overall and continued growth of adult-controlled organized activities (Coakley, pp. 125-127).
Coakley (2009) then goes on to discuss five major trends in youth sports today. The first trend is the privatization of organized programs. This means that more youth activities are becoming sponsored by private and commercial organization, while less money is coming from public or tax-related funds. The second major trend is the emphasis on performance. This suggests that there is more stress placed on performance in activities and athletes are encouraged to assess the progress they made, whether they were involved in an organized activity or a recreational program. Next, he adds that there is an increase in the number of private, elite sport-training facilities. These facilities are committed to producing highly skilled athletes who go on to compete at the highest level of their sport. In doing so, parents are spending an immense amount of money to prepare their children for a specific sport or sports. Fourth, he states, more parents are becoming involved about the success of their children in organized sports. This is saying that parents are becoming as involved in sports as their children, which leads to adults acting in extreme ways to advocate for their children. This topic will be examined more closely coming up in the paper. Lastly, the final major trend noted is the increased participation in alternative and action sports. More of the youth are beginning to partake in activities that are not organized and where they are able to control their environment. Some of these sports include skateboarding, Frisbee, and roller-skating, amongst other sports that are unstructured and not run by adults. These five trends have created a movement within the sporting world (Coakley, pp. 127-128).
As stated above, one of the major trends in youth sport today is the increased involvement and concerns among parents. One of the reasons parents are becoming more involved is because many people credit the success of children to the parents. Coakley states that when children are flourishing in sports, parents are viewed as parenting in the correct way. This being said, success of children is important for parents. When children are successful, so are the parents. Rewards such as scholarship offers or earning a professional sport’s contract reflect the parents and how they raised their children. The sacrifices made by the parent early on are now seen as beneficial because their child succeeded (Coakley, p. 132).
Consequently, youth sports are also becoming more hostile amongst parents. Parents are becoming too involved and sometimes take things too personally in regards to their child’s participation. Obnoxious behavior from parents is becoming more prominent as the stakes become higher and the level of competition increases. This type of environment has led to violence in the youth sporting world between parents and coaches/parents and referees/parents and parents, and many send the wrong message to their children. Parents forget the real reason behind their involvement and that is the overall benefit and gain of their kids. They seem to get too wrapped up in emotion that they forget they are there for support. When this happens, the progress of youth sports sometimes takes a negative step back instead of a positive step forward (Coakley, p. 133).
Recent studies have looked at the involvement of parents in their child’s sport. Stein (1999) investigated the perception a child has of their parent’s involvement level and to what degree they were involved. The researchers hypothesized that the degree to which parents were involved would relate more to stress and enjoyment levels created by parents, rather than their level of involvement. Forty-two 13 and 14 year olds were surveyed for this study, with an average of 4.5 years involvement in their sport. Results showed that parents have a strong influence in their child’s sport experience but can also hinder the overall experience by causing stress and increasing burnout. This study suggests that the best way for parents to understand how involved they should be is to simply communicate with their child. Parents should first ask their child how their involvement makes their child feel, and then ask their child how involved they would like their parent to be. The communication factor can be beneficial to both the child and the parent because the parent will have a better understanding of how engaged they should be which would prevent any negative effects, such as unnecessary violence.
Anderson (2003) looked at the support and pressure of parents in regards to their child’s extracurricular activities. The purpose of this study was to provide recommendations for parents, particularly on how to become involved while contributing positively to their child’s experience in sport, while reducing actions that create a negative experience. This study was performed after events took place that caused negative consequences from parental actions. Results of this study showed that parental involvement and support was related to a child’s involvement in activities and also related to a child’s involvement and excitement during participation. It suggests that parents should continue to encourage their children to participate, while allowing them to make their own decisions regarding which activities to participate in and how involved they would like to be. This would increase overall enjoyment and decrease any negative consequences created by a parent becoming too involved and forgetting that they are there for their child, not for themselves.
Lauer (2010) focused on parental involvement and development of their child. It looked at how the behaviors and attitudes of parents, both positive and negative, would affect how their child developed as a junior tennis player. This study showed that parents were not only involved physically, but socially and psychologically as well. It also showed that parents who maintained a healthy perspective, which was one not based solely on tennis success, were able to point out a balance in their child’s life, which limited pressure felt by the child and increased overall satisfaction. It recommended that parents follow the parenting guidelines that had been presented in order to help their child reach optimal performance levels. Parents played an important role in their child’s development as a tennis player, so it is important they learn how to allow their child to develop without impeding progress.
Along with the increased involvement of parents in youth sport, violence has ensued as a result of parents becoming too involved. Parents tend to get too caught up in the moment when their child is participating and forget their own role that they should be following. When this occurs, violent behavior follows. Recent events in youth sport involving parents and violence has occurred. One incident took place in Boston in 2000. Two youth hockey players engaged in some rough activity on the ice. One of the children’s parents was on the ice monitoring plays, while the other parent was in the stands. The parent in the stands yelled to the parent on the ice to stop his son from being body-checked by another kid. This led to a verbal altercation and eventually a physical altercation resulting in death of the one parent (Boston Globe, 2009). A second incident of violence in youth sport amongst parents occurred two years later, again during an ice hockey match. Parents were upset by the physicality of play on the ice. The on ice events led to a melee in the stands by the parents, leading to the game being postponed (New York Times, 2002). A third incident recently occurred in Wilmington, Massachusetts between a coach and a parent. The child was ten minutes late to practice because of his parent and required to run laps. The parent told the coach it was not his child’s fault, which escalated into a violent situation. These events led to head and facial injuries to the parent and the coach being dismissed. The league president summed everything up when she was quoted as saying, “Violence should not be a part of youth sports at all…we are here to set an example” (New York Times, 2000).
The involvement of parents in youth sport has increased over the years. While it is difficult to reduce involvement, the best that can be done is educating parents on how to become involved while acting in a positive manner. This will hopefully reduce unnecessary negativity and violence in youth sport, and lead to a better experience by both the child and parent.