The Power of Youth Sports

Youth sports in the United States was a $15.3 billion industry in 2017, grew to a $19.2 billion industry in 2019, and is projected to be a $77.6 billion industry in 2026 worldwide. Currently there are more than 60 million participants. According to ESPN, basketball has the highest number of participants for both young boys and girls with baseball, softball, and tee ball right behind it. Football is in the top 3 for boys followed by soccer and then track and field. To round out the top five for girls are soccer, volleyball, and track and field.

The average family spends $100-$400 per athlete, per sport, per month to participate. Some families can spend up to $10,000 a year to support their child's athletic endeavors. Those expenses include things such as equipment, fees, travel, private lessons, uniforms, and clinics. Cost is directly related to the level of sport your child is participating in. Club programs tend to cost more than recreational programs. Traditionally club programs are more time consuming, require a larger commitment, are often year round, and there is often travel outside of one's own community. Recreational programs typically demand less time, usually do not have tryouts, are played only during their designated season, and stay in their local area.

The growth of youth sports has fueled the growth of other industries as well. There are state of the art new facilities being built all over the country helping construction businesses. Those new facilities open up the possibility of larger tournaments or events being hosted. This increases revenue for the surrounding businesses including hotels, restaurants, shopping, and entertainment venues. Pay to play events provide travel agencies with more business and more opportunity to then establish relationships with clients for other trips they may want to take in the future.

What usually begins as a parent wanting to get their child in an activity to get some socialization and enhancing their gross motor skills turns into thousands of dollars, full evenings, carpools, long weekends, great friends, and a lot of life lessons. Over the years, youth sports have changed from sport revolving around the family to family revolving around sport. More and more kids are involved in multiple activities and parents are running around getting them all the places they need to go. Some coaches understand the multiple sport give and take while others want their sport to be the number one priority. This is one of the many reasons why it is important everyone is on the same "page" when it comes to the activity your child is participating in.

The child, coach, athlete triad is formed as soon as sport becomes a part of your family's life. The relationship between the child and parent, the child and coach, the parent and coach become the basis for your child's youth sports experience. If there is a good balance between all three participants, there is a good chance it will be a very positive experience for everyone involved. There will still be disagreements along the way, but communication between all three partners will go a long way to coming to a peaceful resolution.

In the coming posts, we will explore the different parenting styles, coaching styles, and how the characteristics of each style effect the triad. Over my 42 years in sport, I have experienced a lot of things as an athlete, coach, and parent. I want to take those experiences and present situations that can then be analyzed by looking at each situation through the eyes of the parent, the athlete, and the coach. Everyone has their own unique perspective and by looking at things from all sides, we can gain an understanding of what the other is thinking and feeling. By doing this, we can take a potential explosive situation and make it a positive one.