Transcriber: FRANCISCO JAVIER LUJAN
Reviewer: Chryssa Rapessi Each year, 40 million kids in North
America registered to play a sport. Forty million. Seventy percent of those kids will quit
their sport before the age of 13. That’s seven out of every 10 kids
finished gone, done, out. I’m an athlete development expert.
I’m the father of two sport obsessed boys. I've coached for over 20 years. I have consulted over 50 organizations
from grassroots to the professional and Olympic levels of sport. I’ve seen the impact of kids
quitting sport firsthand. Why are they quitting? Adults. Parents, coaches and administrators
are sucking the spontaneity, independence and fun from kids sport. Pass by any playground, and you’ll see kids experiencing the joy
and wonder of movement. They’re having fun. Left alone, kids form teams
based on fairness. They understand that where there
is no balance there is no fun. And fun is what kid’s sports
it’s all about. For the kids... by the kids. Enter the adults. They see this prepubescent
playground potential, and steal control. They prioritize their wants first. They break the kids into two groups
house Team and elite team, parents show up with lawn chairs and
bullhorns, yell instructions at their kids and heckle the 11-year-old official. The elite team destroys the house team
and the kids in the house team quit. It’s no fun or learning in winning
or losing by a lopsided margin. With nobody left to pummel,
the adults come up with an Einstein idea, a stroke of genius will take
our elite five to 10-year-old team and challenge other elite five
to 10-year-old teams in the district. This way, we can crown the champion and our future Hall of Famer
won't fall behind. And when we win at that level, we're going
to see a national championship, perhaps a Disneyland. Many parents think their kid’s performance
is a reflection on themselves. Something that placement on a house team
will adversely affect their social status, so they pay extra for coaching,
personal trainers, hoodies, ball caps and backpacks, all smoke
and mirrors confirmation of elite status. And with that increased investment
comes an increase in expectation, usually in the form of parents saying, “I’m paying all this money
and that’s how you show up.” Because being a member of the elite team
demands a serious commitment, an extra hour of practice every evening, four to five hours on the weekend. And no less than five showcases,
formerly called tournaments, per-season. And don’t even think about playing
another sport or having another hobby, because there's no time for that. As the demands and the cost
of being on the elite team rise, the number of kids who can play
and afford to play drops. But don’t worry, we can just get another elite six-year-old to enter the playground
transfer portal and join our team. Nobody. Nobody... and I mean, nobody
under 15 years old is elite. Elite is when your heads and shoulders
are above the highest performing talent at the highest level of sport. Christine Sinclair, elite soccer.
LeBron James, elite basketball. Serena Williams is elite in tennis. And Michael Phelps was elite in swimming. The term elite use at the grassroots
level of sport is done to leverage parents ego
and FOMO, fear of missing out. Really serves one purpose. Take your money. Seriously I’ve traveled around the world
and asked top-ranked coaches and officials what makes elite players? And their answers are similar. Thirty-five percent
is genetic predisposition, athlete’s parents are both 6′5",
and they’re 6′9" and athletic. They’re going to have a distinct advantage in sport where height matters
like basketball and volleyball. Twenty-five percent comes
from an internal drive. The athlete hits 1,000 balls against
the wall every night because they want to, not because somebody told them to,
not because they have to, because they want to. Twenty percent is contingent
on the right environment, affluent neighborhood, close proximity
to great facilities, two patient parents. We all know the saying it takes a village. Fifteen percent quality coaching experienced knowledgeable coaches
who understand how to meet the athletes where they are and support
their individual development needs. And five percent is sheer luck. The athlete was giving their best
performance, the right time, right place and seen by the right person. Less than two percent of North American
high school athletes will ever set foot in a collegiate setting. And less than two
percent of that two percent, will make it to the pros. Well just slightly higher odds
than getting struck by lightning or winning the the lottery. Yet, parents, coaches and administrators
in North America and beyond continue to push the two-percent
development pathway on 100 percent of the participants. Said differently. Adults have transformed the joy of playing
sport into the chore of working sport. And kids are dropping out in droves. Their default is
less stressful environments that are leading to sedentary lifestyles
and unhealthy habits. We really need to give sport
back to the kids. For many kids, sport is the perfect
dress rehearsal for real life. Kids solving their own problems and making their own decisions
leads to better mental health. Kids remaining healthy, active and vibrant leads to better physical health. And kids learning how to communicate
and interact with one another leads to greater social
competence and confidence. Youth sport has significant downstream
benefits, particularly in the workforce. Studies show that sport teaches kids
how to communicate together and work cohesively in groups. And this is especially true
for girls and women. Fortune magazine reports that over 80
percent of female Fortune 500 executives played a team sport
at some point in their lives. Movement, play and sport have benefits
that go beyond sport, beyond those in sport and beyond
those whose kids play sport. It benefits all of us. So here are three actions we must take
to give sport back to the kids. Number one, let the kids be kids.
Kids aren’t small adults, they are kids. We wouldn’t expect a six-year-old
to solve a nuclear physics equation, and we need to dial back our expectation
of kids' early performance in sport. Malcolm Gladwell’s
10,000 hour mastery rule wasn’t meant to be jammed between
the ages of seven and 10. and admittedly, he wasn’t even talking
about sport when he made the comments Proficiency and mastery take time,
repetition and patience. They also require that kids make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. Rather we are winning or we are learning In over 20 years as a coach, I’ve seen the negative impacts
adults can have on kids, parents pushing their kids out of sport
because it becomes too much pressure. Coaches turning kids off sport because of
their abusive win at all cost mentality. And administration failing to recognize and pivot to the needs
of the the next generation. There’s only three questions, adults should ask kids
at the end of every game and season. Are you having fun? Are you working and improving your skills? and are you excited to come back
and play next game or next season? Let the kids be kids. Second action. See something,
say something. We wouldn’t tolerate
the levels of abuse we see in new sport in any other facet of society. Can you imagine standing by
while an adult berated or abused your kid under the guise of toughening them up? Or paying for products and services
with no clear breakdown of where your money’s going. Or being told your kid can only take one
class if they wish to attend this school. Yet we do this in sport all the time. We tow the line based
on the fear of repercussion, like if we challenge a leadership
our kids will suffer although they are already suffering. And we don’t just say something when we
see something wrong happening to our kid. We need to speak up when we see
something wrong happening to any kid. And I’m guilty. I’ve watched an adult
coach berate a 15-year-old. Night, after night, after night. Until he eventually quit the sport, disconnected from his peer group, and dropped from honorable
to absent from school. He turned to drugs and one night overdose
on the floor of McDonald's restaurant. It happened over one season.
And it can happen that fast. Fortunately, he survived. But he’s not going to have to manage
his addiction for the rest of his life. Not what kids sign up for. I heard adults make excuses for the coach. At least some parents say, thank God,
that wasn’t my kid. And at the end of the season, five other kids who also experienced
the same level of abuse quit the sport. Not the team, the sport. And since then, I’ve been saying something
when I see something that’s not right. Third action. Restructure the industry, Youth Sport is the only
$28-billion-a-year annual industry, operating with no CEO. And history shows that any power
without constraint usually ends in abuse. And in youth sport it has. Youth sport should operate
like any successful franchise business with a clearly defined operating
system and checks and balances that hold people accountable
to doing the right things. Governing bodies need to create
and distribute volunteer training programs so that every single adult
who comes in contact with the kid, understands their role and
responsibility in doing the right thing. Every sport organization in the world
has an obligation to ensure that the over 40 million kids
who register to play each year have a fantastic sport experience. The Icelandic coaching ethos, as many as possible, as long as possible, in the best environments possible. Imagine that was the mission statement
for every sport organization. Sport management hierarchies are stifling
progress. We need to flatten them. The Australian Cycling Federation
reorganized itself from 18 boards with
130 directors and 11 CEOs, to one board, 12 directors and one CEO. Thus freeing up more time, energy
and investment directly to the athletes. It can be done. Let kids be kids. See something, say something,
restructure the industry. Think about how these
reactions can help you, your community or someone you know
in giving sport back to the kids. Pass by any playground and you’ll see kids experiencing the joy
and wonder of movement. They’re having fun. They're creating friendships and unknowingly developing
critical life skills. We must see youth sport is the valuable
tool for human development that it is. And prioritize the wants of the kids,
before the adults. We’re only moving sport forward
when we give it back to the kids. Give it back.
