00:33A study by the American Academy of Pediatrics shows that 70% of kids drop out of organized sports by age 13 due to injury or burnout.
00:43Dr. Nirav Pandya, a professor of orthopedic surgery and sports medicine at UC San Francisco,
00:50told Straight Arrow News kids are sometimes allowed or even encouraged to do too much too early.
00:56And I see it with soccer, with baseball. These kids have been playing competitively since 5, 6 or 7,
01:01and then they drop out and they're like these washed up, quote unquote, washed up athletes, you know, heading into high school.
01:06And they talk about the days that they used to play competitive sports.
01:09Dr. Pandya is concerned that quitting sports at such a young age might hurt a child's long-term motivation and relationship with physical activity.
01:18There are also more serious injuries in preteen children, 50% of which are from overtraining.
01:25ACL tears, shoulder and elbow damage, hip and ankle surgery, conditions that were once seen mostly in college or professional athletes who train year-round,
01:35are leaving scars typically reserved for veteran athletes before these kids start high school.
01:41And that's what I'm seeing in my clinic. These kids come in and they're just, their joints, their ligaments are just torn apart
01:46because they're trying to be professional athletes as opposed to just play sports and their body just can't handle it.
01:51There's a reason why you're growing. There's a reason why you're a kid.
01:54And we're trying to make them adults when their bodies aren't ready for it.
01:57The perception that more kids can now make money in college or even at the high school level
02:03has become a major motivator for families to specialize in one sport, which can lead to burnout and injury.
02:10The social pressure to keep up has helped youth sports grow into a booming business.
02:15The cycle is fueled by a universal truth. Parents want the best for their kids.
02:21Matt Lyle is a motivational speaker and former coach at the college and pro level,
02:25with over 3 million followers across his social media channels.
02:29He uses travel baseball as an example of a sport that features a lot of specialization at a young age.
02:36I think the problem is we have so many people in the industry that are trying to make money
02:41that there's a lot of voices that are saying, you know, hey, you've got to specialize.
02:46All right, he's 10 and now he's on a 10 and under team and he could make this national team.
02:50If you pay $5,000, I think they're selling this dream really, really early now, earlier and earlier.
02:57Both Coach Lyle and Dr. Pandya agree that pursuing a single dream should be reserved for kids
03:03who show exceptional talent and success.
03:06For most young athletes, the better path is playing multiple sports and trying different positions early on.
03:12I think about my son and, you know, I selfishly want him to get into golf so we can play together
03:18and the opportunities in golf and all of those things.
03:21And so I'm kind of trying to keep an eye on it a little bit in the sense of, like, what does he really love?
03:26What are the things that kind of he gets excited about and how can I foster that?
03:30And then just let him play all of them for as long as he can.
03:33Listening to what kids themselves are saying and feeling about their activities is an important step.
03:38Dr. Pandya does see some light at the end of the tunnel as more parents see the data and adjust their own expectations.
03:45I do think we're seeing more and more people understand it and recognize it.
03:49Not just a matter of in that moment when you have that choice to click on the $5,000 payment for your club team.
03:55Are you going to be like, you know, is this really what's best for our family?
03:58The report from the American Academy of Pediatrics reinforces the idea that if you want your kid to continue in a sport,
04:05they should love it, maybe even more than you love watching them do it.
04:10For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis.
04:12If you have a story idea about youth sports or want to comment on this one,
04:16just leave me an email at cfrancis at san.com.
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