8 Things Everyone Hates About Youth Sports

We love youth sports. And so you do! But, of course, there are also a few things everyone hates about youth sports.

And the funny thing is, a lot of it has to do with the way parents act about youth sports. Our love for the sport itself and for our children leads us to behave in ways that suck the fun out of youth sports for the kids.

Of course, we’re not saying every parent with a child who plays youth sports is guilty of any of these things. And we aren’t suggesting parents are to blame for all 8 of the things everyone hates about youth sports either.

But let’s call a spade a spade – parents have a part to play in almost all of them.

The good news is, if we can take a step back and recognize what we’re doing wrong, we’re one step closer to fixing the situation!

1. “Daddyball”

Youth sports coaches are often parents volunteering their time and skills to help teach future generations. And while this is great in many ways… it has a dark side: Daddyball.

“Daddyball” is the slang term for what happens when Coach Dad shows flat-out favoritism toward their kid. It isn’t anything new, but it has become an increasingly common phenomenon in youth sports – one everyone hates.

Some Coach Dads are very quick to retaliate against anyone mentioning this very real problem by saying some variant of “coaches’ kids are usually better players because their dad’s a coach and they work together outside of team practice.”

But that’s kind of how Daddyball creeps in. Playing with your kid is one thing, but working together outside of team practice is flat-out favoritism. You’re providing extra coaching that the other kids in the team aren’t being offered.

Worse, Daddyball more commonly results in Coach Dad’s kid being treated like the team star even if there are better players on the team.

If you’re a parent who coaches youth sports, be wary of slipping into Daddyball habits. Don’t hesitate to ask someone to hold you accountable when it comes to treating your team fairly.

2. Treating Referees Poorly

We get it – none of us are ever going to perfectly agree with the referee when our team is playing. It doesn’t matter whether it’s youth sports or a world cup game, the referee is going to get yelled at.

But have you ever considered how this is impacting youth sports?

As parents and coaches alike, we expect our kids to learn good sportsmanship. This includes showing respect for the opposing team’s players and the game’s officials.

Yet we’re sitting in the stands hurling verbal abuse at the referee when they make a call we don’t agree with. It doesn’t matter whether or not it really was the wrong call – it’s setting a horrific example and making youth sports less enjoyable for everyone involved.

What makes it worse is, just like the coaches are often parents volunteering, the referees are often just older kids (typically teenagers) volunteering.

Even the professionals rely on assistants and sports technology to help them make the right calls during a game. But the kids still learning how to properly referee youth sports are expected to be perfect!

3. Participation Trophies

Other than a few rare (but very vocal) individuals, everyone hates participation trophies. Kids who grew up receiving them say they’re absolutely meaningless and degrade the meaning of an actual trophy or medal.

When you start handing out participation trophies, everyone’s a “winner,” so no one really is. It doesn’t matter if you put in zero effort, because you’ll still get a trophy, so why bother putting in any effort?

Do you see the problem and how it’s teaching kids a terrible lesson? Participation trophies were envisioned as being inclusive, but really, they’re just another thing everyone hates about youth sports today.

4. Youth Sports Specialization

Youth sports are supposed to be about having fun. It’s a fundamental aspect of youth sports – so much so that when you look at the Three Stage model, fun is mentioned in each stage:

• The Romantic Stage, where kids are having fun and falling in love with the sport
• The Technical Stage, where kids are having fun while developing the skills they’ve begun to exhibit
• The Mature Stage, where the fun players are having is enough to help self-motivate them to continue improving

Parents often try pushing their kids into choosing a single sport to commit to long before they reach the Mature Stage (age 10 at the earliest, but more often older).

Worse, it’s gotten to the point where some coaches are pressuring the kids by making participation conditional on agreeing to play that one sport exclusively. And then they turn around and wonder why 70% of kids quit youth sports by age 13.

Don’t restrict your kids from enjoying all of their favorite hobbies!

5. Club Sports

This is sort of an extension to youth sports specialization, as the two issues go hand-in-hand.

In fact, some consider club sports to be part of the reason kids are being pressured into choosing a single sport at a young age.

Club sports can be great, it’s true. For young players who show real talent and potential, clubs offer professional training that can help foster the professional sportsmen and sportwomen of the future.

But it’s become a competitive thing where parents are pushing their kids into joining a club “just in case” or (perhaps even worse) so they can live vicariously through their children.

And the greatest irony of all is that while club teams are promoted as a family, they rob kids of time with their actual families.

Not only do they insist on holding as many as 4 mandatory practice sessions during the week, but they book tournaments away from home over family holidays like Easter and Thanksgiving.

6. Youth Sports Have Become Pay to Play

Another unfortunate side-effect of the fact that youth sports in the US almost always means club sports is that it’s pretty much become pay to play. And this is having a very negative impact on youth sports as a whole as well as on families.

Far too many children are effectively being forced out of youth sports because they can’t afford it. As far back as 2013, the data was already showing that kids whose parents were earning $100,000 or more were far more likely to participate in youth sports.

Not only does this negatively affect youth sports numbers, it also has a negative effect on quality. Young players bursting with talent are being forced out because they can’t afford to pay to play.

Just as bad, it’s made paying for private training more common than paying for academic tutors. Because youth sports is costing parents thousands of dollars, many aren’t able to put anything aside to pay for college.

And that has a trickle down effect, putting increased pressure on the child to perform exceptionally in the hopes of attracting a scholarship.

7. Overuse Injuries

What happens when you take a young child and pressure them into choosing which competitive sport you’ll nearly bankrupt yourself to pay for them to participate in?

Now add the fact they’re being forced to play at club-level nearly year-round…

Kids are being forced to play to the point where overuse injuries account for 46% to 54% of all youth sports injuries.

Overuse injuries can be very serious and affect athletes for the rest of their lives. Cartilage and growth plate injuries, stress fractures, even joint swelling that can result in lifelong back pain!

8. Other Parents

Remember when we said in the beginning of this post that not every parent with a kid who plays youth sports contributes to these issues?

Unfortunately, most of us will have found ourselves guilty of one or two of the first 7 things everyone hates about youth sports. And this last one sort of brings it full-circle to the second point.

Next time you attend a kids’ game, watch the other parents. How many of them are screaming at the referee, sideline coaching, badmouthing the other team (or even their own kid’s team members), and generally acting like toddlers throwing temper tantrums?

Chances are, you’ll be shocked at how many are doing exactly that. And its something that everyone – especially the kids – hates about youth sports.

Conclusion

So there you have it – 8 things everyone hates about youth sports!

But don’t let any of those things fool you into thinking youth sports isn’t worth the time and effort. In fact, at Teamwatch, we believe these 8 things prove that youth sports are worth it when treated with respect!