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Elite Sports : Are they forcing families to compete against them?

By: Victoria Pazzano

Picture this, a group of kids playing roller hockey in the driveway with smiles on their faces. That's quite a rare situation these days simply because of organized sports. Organized sports, specifically elite sports, aren't about having fun and just playing the game anymore. The elite athlete's world has come to a whole new level with new problems and pressures to deal with, all increasing because of competition. Elite sports are taking over families and in some cases, ruining lives.

Elite sports not only overwhelm the life of the individual athlete, but they really interfere with the lives of the parents as well. Kelly and Katie, age 13 and 15, both play soccer. Their father Pat, well . . . let's just call him the casual, part time chauffeur. He drives both his daughters to practices, (which can exceed to approximately 16 hours a week) games, the occasional tournament and even to soccer camp. Chaos like this can cause many families to re-arrange their entire lives and schedules to revolve around their child athlete. In other words, they are putting their child's sports ahead of the quality time the family unit could spend together. This fact, sad but true, is becoming more and more common among the 40 million young athlete's involved in elite sports in the United States.

How much is one family willing to spend to enjoy a sport? $400. . .$500 or $600? In addition to the emotional stress placed on family life, the financial stress of elite sports also causes problems. Learning the proper technique through clinics and camps, having the appropriate equipment, and funding travel expenses (for the athlete and their family) are all expenditures that can really add up, especially if there is more than one athlete in the family. Here is a small fraction of the "basic" costs of various elite sports for a single child:

Soccer- $565 to $1515/season Basketball- $833 to $3070/season

Baseball- $485 to $2400/season Hockey- $1850 to $4100/season

Tennis- $1980 to $20450/season Swimming- $1150 to $2950/season

As you can see, these expenses are exorbitant. The shocking part is they do not include the money spent on fundraising and other miscellaneous costs. And the question is for what? What is all of it for?

Is the pressure of elite sports seen as the opposing captain glares straight at you before the referee drops the puck? No. To many elite child athletes, it’s the look on their parents' faces when they lose a game. The last, most cynical, by product of elite sports is the associated pressure. Too much pressure placed on the child’s shoulders by parents who believe that their child should live a better life then they ever did. More than likely, it is these parents that try to live out their dreams through their child's sporting accomplishments.

 Subtle pressure like this often causes problems for the child athlete. Primarily, it can cause a loss of concentration for the athlete in their sport, and over time, their enjoyment in the actual sport decreases rapidly. Eventually, these child phenoms will begin to show signs of fatigue and burnout. "We ask [the kids] what critical issues are related to their burnout and parental pressure is often an issue," says Marty Ewing, a Michigan State Professor and a member of the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports.

With the investment of time and money given to their child’s sport, parents obviously want their child to succeed, and getting an athletic scholarship is part of that. Dave Riddell, an experienced teacher and coach of several sports teams at Hazel McCallion Senior P.S. says, "Many of the parents and kids I work with are clinging to a dream that they will one day be a pro or an Olympic athlete. But many don’t want to face the fact that there is a greater chance of being hit by lightning than getting drafted to the NHL or making to the Olympics".

Many parents will argue that elite sports are a great way for children to learn about cooperation, respect, and courtesy however, these families must not be living in the real world. Just because a child is committed to a sport, does not mean he/she will learn anything from it. Parents can become so involved in the child's sport they forget about all that cooperation, respect, and courtesy their child is supposed to learn. Take Thomas Junta for example. He was the much publicized hockey dad from Cambridge Massachusetts that was recently found guilty for beating his son’s hockey coach Michael Costin, to death. He faces 20 years in prison for an extremely bad decision. Imagine how his son feels. He witnessed his father beating another man to death after his hockey practice! Don’t you think that this action will definitely change his outlook on sports, and even life, forever? What kind of message and lessons is Junta’s action sending to young athletes?