9 of 10 children say "fun" is the main reason they participate in youth sports.

[TomM]

9 out of 10 children say "fun" is the main reason they participate in youth sports.
http://bit.ly/1KTvRwt

[imnofish]

Interesting data.  With young grandchildren exploring a variety of sports and other activities, I see this as very consistent with their views.  So glad to see their parents not putting a lot of pressure on them.

[bulldog]

9 out of 10 children may want candy and ice cream for dinner. 9 out of 10 kids probably don't want to clean their rooms either and it is the parents that "obsess" over it. I would guess 9 out of 10 kids would like to take tests with no score on it and everyone receives an A in class...it is probably the parent that "obsess" over poor grades as well. Maybe parents should just stop and let the kids do what they want, when the want, how they want and see what that turns out.

No competition...no scores...no grades...see what that gets us.

[Jeff Farrell]

Well how do those 9 of 10 define fun?  I am pretty sure 8 of the 9 define fun as winning!  In principle, I whole heartedly agree with the context of making it fun, but we also have to be honest to ourselves about the diversity in what fun means to so many!

[imnofish]

"See what that gets US."  I thought it was about the kids; not us.


Did you guys follow the link and read the article?  Apparently not.  Nobody advocated kids not having competition, scores, or grades.
Figure 7 summarizes research regarding what kids feel makes sports fun and where each concept ranks among their list of motivators.  If we really want kids to get involved and stay involved, shouldn't we at least consider what the kids are saying?

Here are the top 6 things kids indicated made sports fun/motivating for them:

1. Trying your best
2. When coach treats player with respect
3. Getting playing time
4. Playing well together as a team
5. Getting along with your teammates
6. Exercising and being active

Where did "winning" rank?  48

[bulldog]

imnofish...I apologize right away - I may come off a bit sarcastic in response to your post...Sorry.

Yeah...I followed the link and read the article. And it is a bogus article. There is no information about the size of the audience surveyed, the ages of the sample or the questions that were asked. They elude to a 2014 George Washington University study but do not give the link to the study to determine the validity of the author's article.  I dug for a long time trying to find George Washington University study and could not locate it for a long time. It was well hidden.  After some digging I found the survey only used 142 soccer players, 37 coaches and 57 parents as their source of information. You have to assume the coaches and parents are tied to soccer as well. So 236 soccer people are the basis of a valid survey? Seems to be a rather small sample size considering the number of kids in the U.S. I am sure if you ask a kid if he would rather have fun or win many kids would say "have fun"

Also...the article didn't mention if keeping score was part of having fun. If you dug deeper into some of the citations used in the article the part about "fun" from the George Washington University study is really only a small part of the entire article. The author choose bits and pieces from 60 different source to make a point in 6 paragraphs.

The actual survey breaks the "FUN" determinants into predetermined categories...they seem to "lead" the choices. Also "showing team spirit" ranks lower than "winning" . And I would agree that the things that rank above "winning" are important. Of course "trying your best" and "getting playing time" are more important than winning. What kid doesn't want to be on the field as compared to winning?

The article eludes that the video game world has it figured out. Okay...let's follow that thought...

Making the child the center of the experience is why video games are successful. That idea sure leads to the idea of sportsmanship and team building...doesn't it? That idea works well in team sports. Each child should be the center of attention as an individual and to heck with the team aspect.

Or the point that video games have no parents involvement...sure...I will drop the kids off at practice with no parents involved. That will go well. Hey parents...don't get involved with your kids. Good advice.

Social Connections with friends...YEAH video games are so socially interactive. They are designed to be ONE or TWO person players. I don't recall the last time I saw a group of kids playing video games and interacting "together"...they are not designed for that.

And it is about US...It is an encompassing term. I guess I don't separate US as "the adults" and THEM as "the kids"...But if you want to nitpick that line I will change it...

No competition...no scores...no grades...see what that gets THEM. Do you like that better?

[imnofish]

Yeah, you do come off pretty sarcastic, but that's okay.  I came off rather sarcastic, myself.  Sorry if that offended you. 

I think it's pretty obvious that your original response was an authentic gut reaction, based on your own ideals regarding youth sports.  If the response was based on an in-depth analysis, I would expect the resulting insights to be referenced in that post.  Apparently, you went back and looked for something to back up your initial post.  Your "analysis" is obviously colored by your inherent prejudices, which makes you as human as the rest of us.  Kudos to you for being so diligent, after the fact. 

Why not at least consider the possibility that most kids are less concerned about the things we adults often emphasize, in the context of their athletic experiences?  With the huge declines in high school sports participation, compared to that at the youth level, there's nothing wrong with at least considering some new paradigms.  Looking back on my own experiences as an athlete, parent, and coach, I am confident that one approach does not meet the needs of every child participating in athletics. 

[bulldog]

Actually imnofish I did do the digging before I posted. My line of work tends to make me question stats...."4 out of 5 dentist"...when I see that kind of survey result posted I immediately start looking for their testing criteria and the generalizations they make to make bold statements. Heck, I surveyed 70 youth wrestlers one year. Asked them if "winning was more fun than losing"...100% said winning was more fun than losing. So if I posted a statement that said "100% of youth wrestlers say winning is the most fun in wrestling" I would not be wrong. My testing is BS but I would not be wrong.

Most kids are less concerned about the things we adults emphasize...they are less concerned about good nutrition, about the importance of teamwork, about commitment to a goal, about setting priorities. There are a ton of things that kids are less concerned about than the things adults emphasize. Many kids would be happy to leave a tournament with a trophy. Some don't care how they did. I have a photo from a youth tournament years ago where a kid is standing at the bottom of the podium looking prouder than anyone else holding his trophy higher than anyone. He didn't care that he got beat up that day...he got a trophy. And that is fine. Good for him. It isn't about winning...he tried hard that day, made some mistakes, improved a bit in each match and came back the next weekend for more. 10 years later he is still at the sport and still loving it.

But his parents didn't buy into the idea of just go out and "have fun"...they have instilled a set of beliefs that will benefit the kid when he is an adult. My problem with the test is that it makes it sound like that you should let the kids decide what is important to them and guide the sport in that direction...

I think we are on the same page...I just call BS on the testing and the generalization of the statements they make...

[imnofish]

Yes, statistics can be confusing.  For example, did you know that 5 out of 3 people have trouble with fractions?