Censorship Of Gender Roles In Youth Sports

“Think for a moment about the different roles that you fulfill in your own life, it could be that of a runner, a cyclist, a mother, a father, a coach, a brother, a wife, a teacher and so on” (Symes). Throughout life, a person takes on many roles. Some roles, such as a daughter, or friend, or brother, will stick with a person forever. However there are some roles, such as a coach, or an athlete, that come and go. Many athletes tend to announce their role with a sense of ownership. For example, a football player, tends to say “I am a football player” instead of “I enjoy playing football.” By saying it this way, the athlete is signifying ownership of that sport. According to Symes, ownership of the role can help the athlete, by learning to commit

Media and sports are the two biggest influences on how people view themselves, or want to view themselves. According to the book Key Themes in Youth Sport by Ken Green, the youth is beginning to base their identity off of their success, achievements, progress, and self efficiency in sports. Several teens tend to find themselves, or start identifying themselves with a sport they are involved with. It is when the athlete starts becomes so significantly attached and associated with that sport identity, that they believe when they fail in the activity in which they are associated, their identity also fails, that is where the problem begins. Paul Stricker said, “It is necessary and critical that youngsters participating in activities and sports be given opportunities to succeed as well as chances to have a successful outcome from an unsuccessful event’ (Stricker). Seventeen out of fifty children consider a professional athlete one of their role models (Green). It is fascinating to turn on the television and watch a professional sport, right? Most people have a team they are wanting to win, some people even make bets on which team will win. For a parent with a child ten years old or younger who is engaged in a sport, the idea of picturing that young child on the television in a couple years is a little extravagant. However, if a parent with a child getting ready to graduate high school, or college, and is engaged in a sport, it seems a little more real to imagine their child playing at the professional level. At this point is when the pressuring, and stress really hits hard for both the parent and the athlete. Playing a sport at a college level, the idea of playing at the professional level has probably came into the mind of the athlete, and most likely the parents as well. The pressuring can begin anytime. It may start when the child is leaving co-ed basketball at the church, and the