Sports are a great way for kids to learn life lessons, make friends and find something they love. In today’s youth athletics landscape, these aren’t the priorities.
Parents see their kids as investments and put them in sports solely for the purpose of going pro or getting a scholarship.
Here in Alberta, we have some of the best youth hockey in the country. We produce many NHL stars and take pride in it. Right up the road in Red Deer, there is a 14-year-old phenom in the making, Madden Daneault.
What catches my eye here is that his Elite Prospects page, where his stats are posted, has over 86,000 views. The views on Daneault’s page are almost double the number on Calgary Flames’ forward Tyson Gross’ page.
These young athletes compare themselves to an unreasonable standard. Daneault had 149 points in 34 games at the highest U15 level in the province, a league record. What these hockey players don’t understand is that at the age of 14, they have so much time to develop and find their strengths.
Seeing the pressure as a coach
As a coach in Calgary minor hockey at the U15AA level, I see the pressure kids put on themselves to succeed. Social media and scrutiny on young players like Daneult mean players often feel as if they’re failing, even as they
I see this play out in attitude around kids playing other sports outside the rink. There used to be an understanding that kids would play baseball or another spring and summer sport. This is despite research showing that, among NCAA Division I athletes, early sport specialization is rare.
Kids are not to blame for this. It is the parents who start the trend. Their comparison to these high-level players stems from the top, the parents.
I see small examples of this all the time. Many players believe that if their U15 stats aren’t at the top of the league, they are falling behind. This is far from true.
Sports development in Canada has fallen into the trap of pressuring kids to be winners, rather than letting them appreciate the game and identifying top athletes as they emerge from the rest.
Modelling Norway’s success
Many people watched the recent Olympics and marvelled at Norway’s success for such a small country. But according to coach and author Brad Stulberg, Norway takes a very different approach to youth sports and doesn’t even keep score until athletes are 13 years old.
“Try as many sports as you can before specializing as late as college,” said Stulberg.
Their goal is to develop a love of sport in kids. Meanwhile, in North America, kids are dropping out because it’s too intense.
The kids in Canada play sports for the chance to one day play in the NHL, and when they feel they might be falling behind, they spend too much time comparing themselves to unreasonable standards they won’t meet. The system in place has lost sight of what makes youth sports valuable.
Not every teen can be a record-setting prospect like Madden Denault.
But every player can learn skills, work hard, make friends and have fun.