Unlike me, my son is half-Samoan. So, even though he’s not yet three, I’ve already begun fantasizing about the Super Bowl MVP. So far, my son is a lot more interested in cooking than football. The upside to this is that my main injury-related concern for him is that he’ll end up with spatula-elbow.
I am only (half) joking when it comes to the NFL stuff, but there is no doubt that sports is a very serious endeavor for very young kids. Do we push our kids too hard when it comes to youth sports? Mark Hymen, father of a kid who was injured and author of Until It Hurts: America’s Obsession with Youth Sports and How It Harms Our Kids, thinks we do.
He is not at all anti-sports when it comes to kids, but Hymen points to some key elements of youth sports that have changed over the years and that make injuries more common and more serious.
- Kids today often start playing organized sports at a much younger age.
- Kids are specializing earlier. Lots of kids focus on one sport and then play on club teams or have private training during what used to be the off season.
Are kids today therefore better at their sports? For sure. But they are also more likely to be injured. Here’s a recent interview with Mark Hymen and his son on NPR.
