Quick, what would you say is the biggest challenge facing youth sports right now?
If you are like a lot of people in the field, you will probably say money. Sports is just getting way too expensive these days with the pay-to-play model. Fair, that is a problem. High fees are making sports cost prohibitive, but I don’t think that is the biggest problem. I think our biggest problem is people.
Think about it, you can give a kid free slot on a team. You can provide free transportation. You can remove all of the financial barriers, but at the end of the day it’s the people who shape the experience of youth sports. And right now it’s not looking too hot.
There are stories galore of parents attacking officials. There are far too many stories of abusive coaches. Of course, you can’t forget about the bullying that happens in locker rooms. And this list is nowhere near exhaustive. If we want more young people playing sports, we need to shape the sporting experience so that it is positive and they want to keep coming back season after season.
To do that starts with drawing upon principles like sports-based youth development to design programming, training and hiring qualified coaches, and holding everyone accountable for their behavior. As we all think about how to improve youth sports, let’s start with people.
How would you go about building a more positive culture in youth sports?
The Sideline Fix 