by Perri Williams ‘23

As early as age 5 or even younger, sports become a key activity in many kids’ lives. Parents introduce their children to multiple sports at young ages with the hope of many outcomes, the most obvious being for their child to get weekly exercise and make new friends. Little do parents know that will all change in a few years. When their child is around the age 12 those same parents will be shuffling that kid to practices that can take up five hours of their family’s week. Then there is having to devote entire weekends to playing multiple games at tournaments near and far. All at the cost of thousands of dollars per year. What went so wrong?

Many young athletes get good enough that at around age 10 they move from the recreational team of their preferred sport to the travel team. In order to join these selective teams, there is usually some form of a tryout. The biggest catch is that parents will have to pay for their kid to play. The cost depends on the level of the league and the amount of travel that the team plans to do, but that total average figure regularly can range between $5,000 to $10,000 annually. Take a moment to do the math–a young athlete playing on a travel team from ages 10-18 could end up costing a total of $40,000, or even more. Then there also is the time commitments for the athletes and their parents–multiple practices per week, regular-season games, weekend tournaments, summer camps, off-season training, and on and on. The Youth Sports Industry is a $19.2 billion market, and this push for profits risks the well-being of young athletes. These children have become their travel/select teams’ way into their parents pockets. In Maryland, the most dominant youth team sports include soccer, lacrosse, baseball, and softball. This market forces teams to create enticing aspects to their programs to make theirs sought after. Sometimes those enticements may include extra practices or participating in elite tournaments. Another factor is success and legacy. Naturally, the more successful a team is, the more people will want to join them, especially if they produce athletes that will continue their sport in college. But is this a realistic expectation? Very, very few people get the opportunity to play their sport at any level in the NCAA. The exact number is a little more than 480,000 student-athletes out of 19.6 million college students in the United States. So, realistically, kids going to college for their preferred sport is not a very attainable goal.   

All of those select/travel team practices or the elite workouts that made the family choose the team in the first place can also cause burnout. Many people forget that not only do these kids constantly work out, but they also still have school. If players are lucky, they may get a coach who truly cares about their grades and their future beyond their sport. But sadly, there are many coaches whose self-interest lies with how the team does on the field at all costs and who could care less about their athletes’ academics and overall emotional and physical well-being. This puts even more stress on young athletes.

When playing a sport, injuries are almost inevitable and may include major injuries like an ACL tear, any ligament tear, a broken bone, or even a brain injury. Adding to an already stressed athletes load, injuries can trigger mental health issues such as depression and suicidal thoughts, anxiety, eating disorders, and substance abuse. Athletes are conditioned at a young age to believe that their lives revolve around their sport, and it is time to separate the sport and the person because athletics are not a forever thing.