Every sport I have ever played, I have seen a parent being far too demanding of their young athlete. "We will be out here all night if we have to! I want this play run how it's supposed to be run right now!" a furious father screamed at his child, who is now shaking and terrified to screw up again. "Dad I'm tired! I don't want to do this anymore! Can we please go inside? It's so late and I just want to rest." "No! We will go inside when you can run the play right!" Pushing a young athlete too hard can cause them to be injured far easier or burned out from that certain sport they are being forced to overplay by their parents and or coaches. Mark Hyman, author of “Until it Hurts: America’s Obsession with Youth Sports and How It Harms Our Kids” wrote, “ Every year more than 3.5 million children under 15 require medical treatment for sports injuries, nearly half of which are the result of simple overuse.” I personally know and have witnessed many cases like these millions of kids all across the country, many have not just been under the age of 15 either. I have seen many over 15 being …show more content…
But, there is a certain extent as to which parents should be involved. Every year, every sport I’ve played, I have seen a parent pushing their child to the point of an injury, or pushing their child until they are terrified of their parent because they are far too intense with them. In many cases, these parents have a big dream for their young athlete. Dreams are never a bad thing but when someone would force their kid to do something even when they don’t want to do it just because they have a dream for them, that is when it becomes too much and needs to come to an end. Yes, there are athletes that do make it big and end up at the professional caliber. But, there is only a small fraction of high school athletes that will ever become a professional athlete -- 2 to 5 out of 1000, to be