Have Youth Sports Become Too Intense

On the flip side of the female athlete triad is the rising obesity one can observe in football players. “Researchers at Iowa State University found nearly half of the offensive and defensive linemen playing on Iowa high school teams qualify as overweight, and one in 10 meet medical standards for severe obesity”(Watkins 46). It is even more likely for high schools in states with more competitive football programs to have more extreme obesity problems. It is absurd to have an athlete be severely obese. Sports are supposed to encourage healthier weights, but this is proof of the opposite. By taking high school athletics too far, society is causing the need for the ever growing size of lineman.
According to “Have Youth Sports Become Too Intense,”

When Luis Llosa coached a little kid's soccer team, he had a young girl who wanted tremendously to play goalie. She voiced her opinions in front of her father, and the father tells Llosa his daughter cannot play goalie because she has horrible hands. Llosa watched the girl drop her head in shame; she just wanted to prove herself to her father, but he shut her down before she could even get a chance (NHPR 1). Winning the game became more important to the father than his own daughter’s feelings.
The importance of children’s athletics is for kids to have fun. When the child stops getting enjoyment out of the sport, then it is the parent’s job to take them out. Sports can have many positive effects on a child’s life, but it is important to remember too much of a good thing can make it a hurtful thing. As the culture of youth athletics spirals out of control, it is the parent’s responsibility to save the child from short-term and, unfortunately, long-term damage. Parents need to evaluate how far they are willing to go for youth athletics and when they will have taken their obsession too