Are Parents Ruining Youth Sports Analysis

In the articles, “The secret life of Tiger Woods,” by Wright Thompson, and, “Are parents ruining youth sports? Few kids play amid pressure,” by Michael S. Rosenwald, both analyze the lives of varied athletes that have sacrificed things to get to where they are now as an elite-athlete. Although in my opinion, I think the quest to becoming an “elite athlete” is ultimately not worth the sacrifices it requires. In the article, “The secret life of Tiger Woods,” Tiger Woods grew up with a shortage of friends which made his childhood so odd. He basically sacrificed all of his friends because he was too focused on playing golf, therefore he never had the time to make friends like a normal kid would do. This is stated when the article asserts,

In the article, “Are parents ruining youth sports? Fewer kids play amid pressure,” explains the sacrifices children have had to go through because of their parents longing them to play a sport at such a young age. This article rather relates to “The Secret Life of Tiger Woods,” considering the fact that both articles talk about how these athletes have sacrificed essentially their whole childhood for sports. However, Tiger Woods never had the pressure that the other children in this article have had to go through. Their parents would spend tons of money to travel, to buy expensive equipment, private coaching, and even more for their children to be successful. It may not seem that overwhelming, but some parents have even started their child’s career with sports since they were very young. This had led to teams that are specifically made for kids who dedicate their life for their sport, usually starting at the age of 7 or sometimes younger. Although, many kid’s opinion on taking a sport seriously are as a matter of fact almost the same. All have an idea of sports to be fun, not to be a serious thing to focus on. In the article it asserts, “High on the list: positive team dynamics, trying hard, positive coaching and learning” (Rosenwald, 3). This is where many parents do not understand the true meaning of sports. Pressuring and sacrificing their kid’s childhood with constant practice and focus on their sport would be so tiring that the child would more than likely get tired with the sport. To conclude, sacrificing a kid’s childhood away from overwhelming pressure from their parents is an unnecessary thing that no one should ever have to go