Participating In Youth Sports

Improved Essays
Participating in youth playing sport is a great way to learn physical and social skills that will help young people throughout life. We want to get as many children involved in sport as possible, but unfortunately this is becoming harder as the cost of playing sport is increasing. We have analysed the economics within sport to determine whether money factors have become an issue in sport.

It is said that organized sports have become more popular than ever (Hyman, 2012). As a result of this, the cost of sport participation is rising. With youth playing sports, parents now need to take into consideration the costs that are included with the sport such as the uniform, gear and facilities. This is without considering the travel expenses, meaning
…show more content…
It also has an aspect of luck - if children are born into a low-income family they are disadvantaged due to the cost of participating. There have been cases where others have had to assist due to the cost of sport. An example of this comes from an essay written to the Major League Baseball Players’ Tribune by Andrew McCutchen. His coach paid for training camps and tournaments. McCutchen believes that he would not have made it to Major League Baseball if it wasn’t for the assistance from his coach (McCutchen, 2015). Coaches should not have to support athletes financially, especially since coaches are generally volunteers. This proves that expenses are becoming too expensive in youth sport. Scholarships, sponsorship and community trusts help to assist with the cost but generally do not cover petrol, uniforms or boots (New Zealand Government, 2008), which means there are restrictions on what funds can achieve. Perhaps a similar idea to StudyLink, but for sport could help in improving participation levels in youth. With a number of sport dropouts saying that sport costs too much, an allowance system may help to improve participation and remove the financial barrier of sport. This along with community grants, scholarships and sponsorship should help to keep youth athletes in …show more content…
Many youth athletes require the funding that is provided by scholarships in order to reach the elite level. For some promising athletes who may struggle financially, a scholarship (or any other form of funding) can be the difference in reaching the desired ‘elite’ level and missing out. Renowned sport sociologist Jay Coakley suggests that “If you’re not upper middle class or middle class with three credit cards, you’re going to have a hard time keeping your kids involved in sports at a relatively elite level” (Coakley, 2010, p.17). According to a CNBC report written by Mark Koba (2014), “some parents see college scholarships as a reason to get their kids into youth sports." (Koba, 2014). This places unnecessary pressure on children who are participating in sport and want to have have fun alongside their

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    Although many athletes are given scholarships, they still can fall in debt to other things such as books, living, and extras. Meshefijian stated, “In the past twelve years, the amount of money generated by sports has increased nearly 300%” (par. 3). Student athletes lose the opportunity to have a job for a majority of their time because they are preoccupied by games, practices, conditioning, and on top of that they must also be a full time student and maintain a GPA that keeps them eligible to participate in their sport. College scholarships can only support a student for so much. Earning a salary would substitute the money they would be earning if they were able to have a job.…

    • 1767 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    “Competition is a virtue and everybody is so busy competing, they have no time for compassion” (Major Owens). In today’s day and age kids do not have the time to play outside with their friends or play kickball with their neighbors. Instead, they are traveling and spending most of their nights practicing with their club teams. Youth sports have put a strain on kids to the point where the sport has become a job rather than a hobby or passion.…

    • 1653 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Over the last few years specifically, college sports have been rapidly gaining popularity in the United States. Crowds of up to 75 thousand paying fans squeeze into massive college stadiums and arenas to watch teenagers perform a sport they have dedicated much of their lives to. Some people may even argue that college sports are over overshadowing major professional sports in the realm of popularity. Students in college are solely playing for their love of the game and not millions of dollars. These student athletes’ performance on the field generates millions of dollars for their colleges in every season.…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jessica Statsky, the writer of the essay, “Children Need To Play, Not Compete,” describes how children’s sports have been changing in recent times. She speaks of how the parents and coaches near fanatical criteria being imposed are negatively affecting many of the children involved with the sports. The concerns she feels derive from the potential dangers that children in the age ranges of six to twelve are exposed to in all organized sports activities. The dangers she covers are the physical well-being, mental health and anxiety, drop-out rate, and the stresses created by the adults involved in the sport. Statsky’s first observation is the physical risks that young, growing children are being exposed too in sports programs.…

    • 1030 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The athletes should not be asking for money from the NCAA and rather their parents. There are some cases in which an athlete’s family does not have the finances to be able to provide their child with the things they might need but these athletes can sacrifice an $8 meal at McDonalds and they can just go to the school cafeteria to eat a meal instead. Many sacrifices can be made by these students in order to make life suitable for these athletes rather than giving them…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Ultimate Paycheck The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) and College and University Athletic Departments are only profitable because of one reason and that is the athletes that agree to come play for the colleges and universities. The athletes are what make college athletics so successful. The NCAA is one of the most profitable nonprofit organizations in the country. According to Marc Edelman in the article “The Case for Paying College Athletes”, The college sports industry generates $11 billion in annual revenues.…

    • 1846 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the essay “Children Need to Play, not Compete”, Jessica Statsky writes about the importance of children being able to have fun playing a sport without the pressure of winning or losing (152-157). Playing sports can be a huge part of a child’s life, but parents and coaches need to remember that sports are here to keep a child busy and active. Children use sports to make friends not compete with each other to see who is better. When sport oriented parents and over controlling coaches try to have kids play at a professional level this causes children to lose interest (152, par. 1). With this being said the parents and coaches need to realize how they are taking the game to an unsafe and unsportsmanlike level.…

    • 870 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Paying student-athletes could distract them from their duties as a student; they have to be not only motivated to play, but also to study what they truly want. For example, student-athletes can lose passion about playing or studying because they could think that the have made it to their highest level by being accepted at a good college and also getting paid. Furthermore, these athletes might think that as they are being paid to play in the college’s team they could not take the risk of an injury if a game is not an important one like a national championship. Also, they might lose interested on studying because they could consider that earning a good amount of money is enough for what they had expected. Therefore, paying student-athletes leads to negative effects to their career and responsibilities as a student by distracting them with a salary as a…

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sports helps to keep children out of trouble and inspire them to do great. They learn valuable skills, such as discipline, commitment following rules through sports. The experience will benefit them and make them a better in person in life. Parents and coaches can ruin the experience by overworking them to fulfill their needs. This causes the athletes to get more injured and bitter about the sport.…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This helps out the athlete because that money can be used to buy his father a new car or something nice for his mom. Reggie Bush is a great example of this. While playing for USC back in 2005 he was viewed by many as the best player in college football and was expected to go number one in the draft. Before attending college Reggie attended an early college high school which allowed him to get his associates. With the scholarship he received from USC he was able to play football for four years while getting his…

    • 835 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Also, many kids choose not to play sports because when they get older, sports exclude many players while only a chosen few get to participate. With the parental pressure of parents constantly watching the scoreboard and put unnecessary pressure on their children. With this parental pressure, the children’s confidence, ability, and joy in playing would naturally…

    • 1495 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Youth sports have been a very popular recreation in America. It allows kids to have the chance to play a sport at a young age. However, many of the kids only play a single sport, and the types of adults that either spectate or coach youth sports are mainly split into two opposing sides. One half helps the kids to succeed in the sport they are playing and let the kid choose if they want to play that sport, and the other half force the child to play a sport that they may not like and gravitate towards the child’s every mistake like a moth to a flame. This can cause many problems for the child and can often be overwhelming.…

    • 1193 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    For many years, playing sports in college was merely part of the curriculum, done for the love of the game. But things have changed dramatically and this paper argues that today, college and university athletes should be paid. Discussion There was a time when playing college football or other sports was something young people did because it was fun and because it took some skill to make the teams.…

    • 1385 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In discussion of youth sports and the benefits associated, one controversial issue has been improving the developmental benefits while decreasing the risks associated. On the one hand, research provides evidence surrounding the numerous developmental benefits associated with youth sports participation. On the other hand, research provides us with the risks involved with youth sports if certain precautionary measures are not addressed. However, more strict regulations placed on youth practice times and rule changes for competitive games, if implemented correctly, can greatly decrease the risks involved in youth sports and further improve the benefits already associated. Others have even maintained that youth sports, despite the risks involved,…

    • 1289 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Children and teens of today's society are getting less exercise and physical activity than ever before. The solution to this epidemic is joining competitive sports, they are not just good for the child’s health they are also good for various other things. Of course, there are risks involved in competitive sports such as getting injured and sometimes seriously injured and competitive sports may get heated and can become all about the winning but they need to take the risk in order to see the many benefits competitive sports have. Competitive sports numerous benefits but here are a few, competitive sports have social benefits.…

    • 1876 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays