How far is too far? (Children in Sports)

Recently, I finished watching a game of my cousin?s 8th grade basketball game. Her team won by a score of 60 to 19, and it was an off game. The entire team has to shoot something like 500 shots a day, and has been playing together, year round, for like 5 years now in various programs.

Another bother trend is high school football, and sports in general. For what used to be just a seasonal commitment, it is now a year round lifestyle. You have practices almost year round, every day, and it is starting to get insane.

How far is too far?

What ever happened to just ?casual? high school sports?

In trying to train and build a winning team, and perhaps even the next great pro player, are we ruining our kids?

 

I touched upon this somewhat on another thread recently as far as golf is concerned. I started to play it at the age of 9. I've received real coaching from the age of 14 to 18. Now my future isn't golf. I know that better than anybody else. But in being part of a training group, I got to see a lot of other young promising golfers, most whom were much more talented than I. Anyways, I got to see the grim reality of parents coaching their children. It sickens me today looking back at it. Parents telling their children how to approach the game, "encouraging" them to train harder and worst of all, lecturing them for their mistakes or failures. You ask how far is too far; well this certainly is. And I'm not making anything of this up. I'm using golf as an example only because i've seen the case with my own eyes. I'm sure that the same can be found in other sports. While Tiger Woods has done a lot of good to the game of golf; unfortunately many parents in the world have learned the wrong lessons in how to bring your child to a sport. Looking back at my childhood in hindsight, I'm very thankful to my parents that they didn't push me in any direction; that I got to choose it.

 

When I use to play it was year around, for me... It was winter, summer, and spring. Was it a lot of practice...yeah, but that's what made me a good player. I practice so much, that the movements became apart of me (it was like breathing), I was always in rhythm with the football and baseball. I could always deal with the work load, but trying to balance school along with it, was tough. My grades sufferd for it big time. I went from a 3.79 GPA: to a 2.98 GPA... I was a hellva player, but I wasn't that good of student anymore. So practiceing alot can effact some kids (take a look at me), but that's not to say that it'll happen to everyone. Some people can do both, but it's hard. So in a sense: It probably is a good idea to give yourself a break from time to time. That way you can balance your life out better. So enclosing: it depends on the kid. Some can take the heavy burden and some can't.