By: Jayden Cohen

Local Editor

In youth sports today, many competitive clubs create teams with all of the athletes who try out. They take players of different skill levels as long as the families pay the club’s fees. To solve this issue, youth sports clubs should prioritize their players’ development over the profit they make off of them.

Youth sports used to be simple. There was one local team that athletes tried out for, and they either made the team or they tried out again the next year. There was one set of jerseys that got passed down season after season and teams would practice a few days a week at a local elementary school or park. Kids were there to have fun, be part of a team, and become better at sports. Clubs were a lot more affordable causing less stress on families financially. 

Now, youth sports have become a business. In the last five years, the cost for youth sports has gone up by 46% according to Project Play. Sports clubs started strategizing how to make the most money from their athletes. When children try out for the clubs, almost everyone earns a spot on a team. The clubs want to take as many players as they can get because they can have more families paying all the expensive fees. Clubs will have age groups with six teams trying to fill up rosters. Once an athlete makes the team, registers, and pays, the bill starts adding up quickly.

Clubs intentions are now focused on bringing in more kids because it means more money. When kids are scouted or recruited for a college team, other athletes aspire to play for the clubs those players were recruited from. Other kids sometimes believe that a coach from that club or the style of training the club does, can help them get recruited just like they did for someone else. While this belief among athletes is not always true, with interest from athletes, more money pours into the club. 

To receive these invested athletes, clubs are having young kids practicing every day for multiple hours a night. Practices can be harder to get to because clubs want to practice in nicer facilities so not every practice is local. Athletes are losing more time to do homework or spend time with their family. There is more driving and time committed in the evening for sports.

Youth sports are some of the best memories that people carry with them for the rest of their lives. Kids learn many different skills and life lessons through sports, like sportsmanship, collaboration, resilience, and hard work. Now, some families are having to worry about how they are going to pay for their kid to play another season. Not only that but these clubs push athletes to their breaking point and burn out at young ages because they try to attract more kids for more money. Youth sports clubs should prioritize creating talented, well-rounded people instead of focusing on their own financial success. 

Source: ProjectPlay.org