The Anti-Development Machine
What decades of research say about youth sports and why most (insecure) adults ignore it.
“Here’s a fun youth sports fact!
Regardless of how swindled you get, how hard you work to confirm biases, or how naively you cherry pick narratives to fit your agenda..
People far smarter than you/your kids ball coach have proven today’s youth sports model is anti-developmental.”
-Ray Zingler on X
It’s funny because it’s one of those things where at this point, “everybody knows” the model is bullshit (even the slimy, conniving thieves, bold face lying to parents so they can bank roll the shit out of their kids at the expense of their development), but most still stay hush hush about it because they think, if they speak up, it will “nEgAtIvLeY aFfEcT tHeIr KiDs OpPuRtUnItIeS”.
And this is why they try to justify it.
They’ll cherry-pick the exceptions.
They’ll look the other way on purpose to confuse exposure with development.
And they’ll even use burn out (you can literally see on kids’ faces) as the whole “buckling down and overcoming adversity” spiel.
And they’ll do this all while…
Licensed surgeons, clinicians, physical therapists, psychiatrists, and psychologists have proven, no like actually PROVEN, with research and data, that the youth sports model we use today is overwhelmingly anti-developmental.
But you’ll give the people who (actually) care about your kid’s well-being the bird..
To trust some random loser dad who played JV 30 years ago or a financially incentivized 30-something year old with an 84-month truck loan, whoring himself out there to you, trying to get you to buy extra lessons because he can’t provide your kid who plays on his “elite” team enough “elite” instruction, at his “elite” practices that he runs (charges for) year-round, because he too is, #elite?
Interesting.
I get the identity crisis, and that sunk costs distort judgement when that random showcase writer, writes a cute little write up on your kid, but damn, brother, are you that gullible?
I hate to tell ya, but overscheduling, early specialization, constant competition, and adult-driven pressure consistently produce worse long-term athletic outcomes, even if you say out loud, you want “what’s best for your kid”.
I know you may not have “made it” on multi-sport participation, delayed specialization, play, & natural exploration, but I can promise you it’s a hell of a lot more effective than trying to live vicariously through your kid at year-round tournaments you start him in at age 9.
The system today, is not for kids development, it’s for adult validation.
When are you going to draw the line in the sand?