Parents Article about year-round sports

[MaryA]

Ok, feeling like a bad mommy after reading this article...

http://m.stltoday.com/news/local/me...5616-8a77-69a1a88f2386.html?mobile_touch=true

 

[luvmygymdtr]

I'm incredibly stressed now.

 

[2G1B]

I have read that one before. Honestly... I don't feel bad. Maybe it is that even though I'm pushing 40; but as a kid I did year round swim team starting at 6 years old. So I don't see year round sports as some new thing maybe? But I LOVED being on team and most things that went with it. I did end up quitting in middle school because it was too far to drive (more than an hour from where I went to middle and high school) and there was no chance of school friends and swim friends every being the same people. I did swap to track and cross country though, which between the two of them went all of the school year.

 

[emorymom]

It is not news to anyone that gymnastics can cause overuse injuries and coaches should be cognizant of that. For baseball this is news and they are going to have to figure it out.

 

[LIGYMMOM]

$2,500 a year sounds heavenly.

 

[bogwoppit]

Mine never did gym year round. We had three weeks off at Xmas and twelve weeks off each summer plus school breaks. Even with that they managed to get injured.

Don't feel bad some kids will get hurt no matter what.

But my kids both managed to get to L6/7 by 12 even on those limited hours.

But those limited hours just meant they could do other sports too.

 

[MaryA]

$2,500 a year sounds heavenly.

Yes, I agree. That's what makes the article so hard to read. "These kids are practicing the same sport THREE HOURS A NIGHT!" "These parents are paying $2500 A YEAR!" And I'm thinking... "Um... 4 hours a night and we won't even talk about the expense." Not to mention that my daughter has been casted, splinted, x-rayed, bone scanned, and under the treatment of an orthopedist, a sports medicine doc, and a physical therapist within the last 6 months.

 

[sleeping judy]

Don't worry, tomorrow there will be an article about the dangers of children and their sedentary lives they lead nowadays. It all goes full circle. We just try to keep a good balance and hope that we are doing good job. My kids seem pretty happy and well-rounded at 6,9 and 12 and they all lead very active lives.

 

[Dr Maleficent]

In France most sports stop during most of the summer holidays. Ds has four weeks off for summer, then 2 weeks of conditioning and cardiovascular prep camp, the afternoons of which are devoted to other activities such as kayaking and climbing. He also has two weeks off at Christmas, one of which we will spend skiing. I would be very worried if he only had Christmas Day plus a few other days off. I think that doing a sport like gymnastics is great, and teaches them self- discipline, teamwork, how to overcome adversity and many other things, but I completely agree that growing bodies need rest periods, and none of our gymnasts have difficulty progressing despite the summer break.

 

[homer]

Cant get the link....says page not found...anyone else having problem or is it me?

 

[seoulmama]

Funny that so many of us noticed the $2500 a year quote! I think any sport that is played to such intensity can lead to injuries.

 

[MaryA]

Link still works for me...

 

[my4buffaloes]

I read the article and I don't feel bad. I have kids on either end of the sports spectrum. My oldest has literally played a different sport every season - most recently deciding as a sophomore to go out for the wrestling team. This means the only sports I can think of that he hasn't tried are lacrosse and hockey. He has been injured more than my dd who has done nothing but gymnastics since she was 3. His overuse injury is still lingering months later even though he hasn't run since early October. Cross country ramps up their miles to double that of a marathon trainer very quickly over the summer - all to run a 3.1 mile race. I totally disagree with it and have told my son that he is not to run that much. It is ridiculous, these are growing teenagers running 60-80 miles a week - it is not healthy for them! He still got hurt and it still causes him pain.

As for my dd, I never pushed her into gymnastics. I signed her up because I needed to get out of the house and at 3 years old there aren't a lot of options. I figured it would be good for her balance. I have tried to get her to do other things and she won't. This is totally her choice. We have time off (3 weeks total, but not together) over the summer. She had almost a week off at Thanksgiving. There are breaks built in which is one of the reasons I love our gym. She is serious, but not elite serious. She wants downtime at home and with friends. She doesn't do any other sports and I am fine with that.

I think a lot of sports injuries happen because not only do kids specialize and devote a lot of time to a sport from an early age - but they do that with several sports. Where I live it is totally normal for kids to play 2 or 3 sports year round for 1-3 different club teams. I know kids that play on 2 different travel soccer teams and play rec soccer. I would venture to guess that while my dd is in the gym 16 hours a week and most people thing that is crazy, if other parents added up the time their child spent on their numerous sports it would be more.

 

[MaryA]

Well, I can feel bad all I want, but in the end, if I were to pull DD out of gymnastics or force her to switch to Xcel or whatever, she would be very unhappy. I was a pretty sedentary child myself, and I delight in her strong, healthy body (well, healthy except for the injuries). I do wish that the sport of gymnastics in our country was not so intense, especially for kids on the non-elite track.

 

[GymBee97]

I don't feel bad one bit. Lets face it if we limited the kids time doing a sport the temper tantrum we would have to endure would be worse. Lets face it if they did this sport for only part of the year they can still get injured, have overuse issues etc.

If you are on a team at some point you're going to get injured or what ever.

I saw the $2500 price too and thought "If Only"....

 

[profmom]

Remembering back to my school days, it seems that kids managed to get injured plenty without the current child sport industrial complex. I do think that some of what's happening today is beyond pathological, but as long as the kids and parents are realistic about where sports are going and the program they're in is not leading to damaging long-term injuries from overuse, I don't think it's all that bad. (Though those two caveats seem to be violated far more frequently than in the past.) I clearly remember being an intensely driven child who happily put a lot of time into my chosen pursuits -- in high school, any night when I got six hours of sleep was a good one.

But I do agree that premier soccer is NUTS! Way worse than gym, IMHO. I think this site http://changingthegameproject.com/has popped up here before, but I mention it again because I think it does a nice job in looking at what's new about the way children's sports operate and how some of these developments are undermining the value that can be obtained from youth sports.

 

[gymboymom]

Interesting link profmom. Thanks

 

[Deleted member D3987]

i'd be more concerned about trampoline parks.

and as i've stated before, if what the kid is doing is their choice #100# then you won't have the problems that the article suggests.

my wife and i are living proof.

 

[my4buffaloes]

Interesting site profmom! I often think that society puts too much emphasis on childhood sports - something that most often comes to a screeching halt at age 18. A few will play in college. But for the most part once they graduate high school where is there left that they can play? So what do they do then?

Actually I don't worry about my gymnast in this regards - she has other interests, she will make her way just fine. I worry about this with my son who really has a need to be physical. He will need to find someway to be very active as an adult and organized sports will likely not be a part of it - so I suspect he will flounder for a bit trying to figure it out.

Adult "sports" are so different than childhood sports. I say sports in quotes because I think of the things I do as an adult - I hike, I walk the dog, I do exercise videos, bike rides in the summer, I try to be a runner - they are just so different than the sports our kids are growing up with.

Childhood sports do teach our kids a lot, but other activities do as well. Downtime also teaches them things about themselves that I think this generation will be lacking as they just don't get time to be bored or hang out alone. Working hard in school and struggling to get good grades teaches them a lot too - but society buts a lot more emphasis and rewards on doing well in sports and academic success gets pushed to the side. Adult like is most often not about sports, so what will happen then? it will be interesting to see!

 

[MaryA]

Working hard in school and struggling to get good grades teaches them a lot too - but society buts a lot more emphasis and rewards on doing well in sports and academic success gets pushed to the side. Adult like is most often not about sports, so what will happen then? it will be interesting to see!

Yes, walk into most high schools and what is the first thing you see (after you get past security)? Trophy cases filled with sports trophies. Very rarely do you walk into the school and see their "Science Olympiad" trophies in the lobby.