By focusing on life skills, coaches can avoid losing athletes in private clubs, Und Scholar writes in the conversation
March 19 The conversation published an article written by Mark Reckassistant professor of Kinesiology. The article describes the growing trend of high school athletes in competition for private club teams rather than their school.
The article is below and can be read in its original form on The Conversation website. As of March 27, the article was republished by 12 media and read almost 25,000 times, notably by readers in the United States, Canada, France, Australia and the United Kingdom, among other countries.
Conversation is a non -profit organization Media resource that publishes stories of “explanatory journalism” by academics and makes these stories available for free and immediate republication. A full list of all articles written by und Scholars Can be found on the conversation website.
Facitoral members and graduate students who love more information on writing for conversation are invited to read Presentation of the conversation, A story that appeared in Und today in 2022. An additional story of 2023, “More than 340,000 readers around the world”, “ Note that UND teachers who wrote for the conversation report “exceptional” experiences and say that they would without hesitation that their colleagues become conversation authors.
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By Mark Rerick
Not long ago, high school students who wanted to play football, basketball or another sport had few options than Try for their school team. And it is to the gymnasiums and the secondary fields that the recruiters flocked to find talents for the colleges and even the pros.
This has changed in recent decades as Private clubs have emerged And climbed into popularity across the country. Today, children interested in almost all sports often have several clubs and leagues to choose Instead of playing in the university teams of their high school. The clubs were particularly good in Attract the most talented student-athletes Due to their intense and competitive nature.
Consequently, parents are increasingly debating something that would have been unthinkable there are some generations: where should our children play sports?
Inasmuch as former director of athletics from kindergarten to 12th year – And as a current parent of three young elementary athletes at the college level – I know that it can be a difficult choice. I saw first hand For the advantages and disadvantages to play sports both in high school and clubs.
While clubs can be the best for the most talented athletes, I believe Schools cannot be beaten for the wider goal they can put on the development of the character. Since the vast majority of students athletes will not play in leagues organized beyond high school, this is where I believe that the school objective should be.
My own unpublished research shows that it is also a means – while emphasizing the fun and social aspects of athletics – to obtain more students who practiced sport as young children to continue in high school.
The rise in the sports industry for private young people
Although I am a Defender without excuse For athletics in a school environment, I recognize The advantages that accompany participation in the club or private league programs.
But before the 1980s, private clubs were not common. Before high school, children played in teams organized by their schools, local parks and leisure programs or non -profit organizations such as YMCA. After that, the only option for most high school sports.
The first major step towards highly organized and privatized youth programs occurred during what was called “the Reagan revolution”, according to Research I did for my thesis. President Ronald Reagan’s financing discounts across the government have taken more expenses on states and cities, which limited capacity Local services and leisure services to young people for young people. This has left many of them with only enough funds to maintain their facilities.
At the same time, school districts systematically started Reduce the number of physical education courses Offered instead of increased concentration on matters such as mathematics and science. These two factors won the most Affordable options For Athletic participation For many families.
With the reduction of public offers, the sports programming for young people was filled by private clubs and leagues, which focused more emphasis on athletics, competition and sometimes elite style training. And it has become a big deal for adults who manage these programs.
Although good figures on these leagues are difficult to find, several data sources show that the private sports market for young people has experienced huge growth in recent years. A Recent estimate Total expenses for youth sports at more than $ 40 billion Estimate of $ 10 billion of the sports economy of young people in 2010.
But despite their growth, a statistic that gives to think for budding elite athletes remains true: Only about 7% of adolescents who play organized sports will go to the college level or beyond.
Knowing that 93% of high school athletes will end their competition careers to obtain the diploma, I think it is important that school administrators grant a premium to the management of sports programs that focus on building skills they will need as adults instead of simply winning games.
Why most students play
My own research supports this.
In my previous role as director of athletics for Grand Forks public schools, Dakota from the North, I regularly questioned our athletes at the end of their seasons on various aspects of their experience in the team. Among these questions, I asked athletes to tell me the three most important reasons they have chosen to play this sport for this season and if they planned to play again in the team next year.
Unsurprisingly, the three main reasons were constantly having fun, spending time with friends and staying physically active, in this order. You will notice that matches won or for the competition were not among them.
On the other hand, when asked why the students chose to abandon the following year, the main reason was their relationship with the coach, while a second second was that they did not have fun. For me, it was proof that what students-athletes wanted the most of their high school programs was not as much the development of sporting skills as personal development and growth.
Other studies support him. The overtraining and lack of pleasure are cited as the main reasons why 70% of young athletes who compete in a team Stop playing even before they reach high school.
Focus on fun – not competition
Here are five things that school administrators can do to help refer things and make their sports programs more attractive for students who plan to club, as well as those who are completely thinking about the abandonment of sports.
- Develop a sports program that teaches character traits and life skills that can be used for 100% of participants, not just the 7% who play university.
- Make sure the programs focus on pleasure, social growth and physical form, rather than competition.
- Encourage the coaches to spend individual time throughout the season with each student-athlete to discuss the objectives, role and progress of the athlete.
- Monitor students-athletes on their experience at the end of each season and modify the program accordingly.
- Include student-athlete assessments on the quantity they like to play for the coach as part of the assessment in the playoff coach.
High school sports may not be for everyone, but I believe that many more students would choose to participate if the accent was put on character construction and have fun with friends, not trophies.