Essay Sample on Sports Participation Among the Youths

Most parents tend to apply the pay to play ideology to ensure their children involve fully in sporting activities. They spend quite high to support upcoming skills and talents in the young generation. In the summer games, for instance, parents' expenditure has been reported to rise to 3,500 US dollars to support their kids to develop their talents in sports. Besides, play-offs charge about 500 US dollars to participate in three competitions (Killion). In elite volleyball clubs, charges for participation is about 3,500 US dollars with transport addition of about 3,000 US dollars. The soccer clubs in the Bay Area also has extremely higher pay to play cost. Annually, players incur dues exceeding 4,000 US dollars, where uniforms and transport cost not included (Killion).

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Specialization and excelling in sporting activities is an essential aspect among the youth Parents incur a higher cost for their kids to participate in sports. The central reason behind the price involves hiring specialized coaches for their kids to emerge champions in the most competitive sports arenas (Sud). They believe that schools and other public platforms may not offer the best equipment and training to their children. Besides, some parents want their kids perceived by their coaches as unique; therefore, they pay an extra cost to receive special treatment and favors (Sud). This assures parents that their children will participate in all the tournaments hence gaining more experience.

Participation in sports is linked positively to general body health; children who participate in various games rarely develop health problems. A survey was conducted among high school students in the US to ascertain the relationship between sporting activities and health behavior influence (Pate et al.). The study also included an ethnicity perspective where white and black students were interviewed. The analysis showed that students who actively participated in sports were healthier than nonparticipants; besides, they were unlikely to involve in drugs and substance abuse.

Some of the kids are presumed to be less versatile hence incapable of participating in more than one sporting activity. Walsh and Peralta sympathize with athletes who only participate in one sport in high school. This puts more pressure on children since they perceive a single competition as a job, not a leisure activity. According to Walsh and Peralta, using only one muscle is not physiologically fit. Specialization in a single game limits the participants' interaction aspect where they make fewer friends; therefore, they appear lonely and dormant (Weekes, and Danielle et al.). Kids might not learn life lessons since they are used to seeing only one coach in their entire training session leading to boredom.

Focusing on one sport might expose youths to exploding in physical injuries. This condition is mainly caused by overstraining of a single body muscle during the training session and participating in actual tournaments. Blake Billinger perfectly demonstrates the fact that participation in a single game can cause injuries to the body (Kroichick). He started playing baseball at the age of ten in a club and played various tournaments during weekends. Later, his club was ranked among the best, which exposed him to more competitions outside the Bay Area. Billinger, in his young sporting career, scoped five to seven winning during the weekends, he always thought that he had enough rest to play as many games as he could. Later, at the age of sixteen, Billinger developed some complications in his elbow called ulnar collateral ligament, leading to surgery commonly known as Tommy John surgery in baseball (Kroichick).

In summary, most of the parents' regard sports in pay to play perspective. They believe that for their children to participate in sports, more resources and money have to be put in place to achieve in games. Besides, specialization in applying all the possible means, for example, hiring licensed and experienced coaches and resources, would as well result in competent and skilled sportspeople. Participation in sports helps in entire body development and also controlling health problems among the children. However, involving in one game may result in some health problems where a single body muscle is put into more strain, thus developing complications in rare cases. Therefore, parents should encourage and support their children to participate in sports to ensure an active and skillful generation.

Works Cited

Killion, Ann. "Paying To Play Is New Normal For Youth Athletes". Sfgate, 2013, https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Paying-to-play-is-new-normal-for-youth-athletes-4902034.php. Accessed 22 Nov 2019.

Kroichick, Ron. "Injuries Exploding As Youths Focus On One Sport". Sfgate, 2013, https://www.sfgate.com/sports/kroichick/article/Injuries-exploding-as-youths-focus-on-one-sport-4898770.php.

Pate, Russell R. et al. "Sports Participation And Health-Related Behaviors Among US Youth". Archives Of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, vol 154, no. 9, 2000, p. 904. American Medical Association (AMA), doi:10.1001/archpedi.154.9.904.

Sud, Seema. Http://Www.Versatilekids.Com, 2015, https://ke.linkedin.com/company/versatile-kids-inc. Accessed 22 Nov 2019.

Weekes, Danielle G., et al. "The Effect of Single Sport Specialization in Youth Sports: Does It Increase the Risk of Injury? A Prospective Study." Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine 7.7_suppl5 (2019): 2325967119S00408.