Approximately 35 million kids play organized sports each year, and all but a mere two percent of them are miserable with the experience. Clearly, something must be done to bring the fun back into youth sports, before our society alienates future generations from one of America’s greatest diversions.
“Too much money, too much parent involvement, and too many brokenhearted 6-year-olds, that’s exactly what’s wrong with youth sports,” stated Jay Atkinson of the Boston Globe. “Not to mention too many well-meaning adults who have no clue about all of the above.”
For the three reasons listed above, management of youth sports must be assigned to the school district. Even though it would add another burden to the already loaded backs of educators, what better body is there to oversee our children’s athletics?
After all, schools now feed our kids breakfast and lunch, teach them about the dangers of sex and drugs, and guide them in the socialization process from toddler to young adulthood. An institution that can feed millions of children daily and transport them to and from their destination on schedule can surely do a better job handling youth sports than the current, and too often corrupt, system.
The first step for schools to successfully run youth sports is to eliminate evening practices and all sports for children until age seven. In grades three through five, all athletic instruction would be held immediately after school by the physical education teachers. These instructors need not be compensated, since they would be allowed to arrive to work one hour later than other teachers in the morning. This proposal obviates the well-meaning but troublesome meddling of parents.
The schedule would be manageable, as each weekday would be dedicated to a particular sport for that season. In the fall, Monday, for example, would offer a one-hour session for children interested in football. The practice would consist of ten minutes of stretching, ten minutes on the fundamentals of tackling, and another ten on the basics of blocking. Additional time would cover passing, handoffs, making and taking snaps, and learning some simple running plays.
The rest of the week might involve girls volleyball on Tuesday, boys soccer on Wednesday, girls soccer on Thursday, and girls tennis on Friday. For winter, the sports might be divided into girls basketball, boys basketball, wrestling, gymnastics, and boys volleyball. In the spring, students could get instruction in softball, baseball, girls tennis, track events, and field events.
The idea of one hour practices after school once a week has several advantages. It would prevent the child from getting bored with the sport, a problem that leads many to quit after a few years. The limited practice times would also allow children to try several different sports at the same time, a benefit that is nearly impossible to gain under current youth athletics organizations.토토사이트
All sports would begin inter school competitions in sixth grade, which is not a radical change. Most schools already start football, basketball, wrestling, and track in seventh grade, so adding an additional year and a few other sports would be manageable in most districts.
The school district would see only minimal increase in the financial responsibility of taking on youth sports. Most schools already have the facilities, so there would be no need to rent a playing venue.
The only additional expenditures involve a bus to deliver home athletes in grades three through five, as well as a few extra coaches at the junior high level. Whatever small sum is not made up from the gate should be considered money well spent in exchange for kids who are happy to be involved in sports without parental interference.
Since there are no participation fees, there is no danger of the all-too-common cases of embezzlement. There are monthly reports of treasurers in youth sports organizations stealing money from their members, including one recently described on CBS news.
“An Abington, Pennsylvania man was arrested after being accused of stealing about $40,000 from two youth sports organizations in Montgomery County,” stated CBS news. “Prosecutors say Michael Hrouda was the President and Treasurer of the Abington Bulldogs Wrestling Club and Treasurer of the Ardsley North Hills Athletic Association, who police say between 2008 and 2012 withdrew cash from the organization’s bank accounts and wrote checks from their accounts without authorization. District Attorney Risa Ferman says the bottom line is that he was stealing from the kids.”
Youth sports organizations are difficult to audit, and they are often left under the management of parents with very little background in finance. Schools, on the other hand, undergo annual audits with certified accountants handling all fiscal responsibilities.