Youth Sports

On September 19, 2013 the lecture in class focused on Youth Sports. 

 As an 8 year old boy from Union City, Indianapolis was preparing for an all-star game at practice he was hit in the head by baseball and later he died. This tragedy left a small community in stunned grief says Diana Penner and Jill Disis. In our notes we talked about the Major Problems in Youth Sport. We discussed important points such as

•       Overemphasis on winning
•          Pressure to achieve success by significant other
•          2 of 3 kid die/year from sport
•          3 million kids/year are taking to the emergency
•          Pressure to achieve success by significant other

I was stunned when I read this article. This makes me think of my 8 year old brother; in fact I have three brothers involved in sport. If I ever witnessed this tragedy I don’t know how I would react. Sport can be dangerous for any and every one especially youth. Since youth bones are not developed as much as adults they can get injured easier. Referring back to the notes in class it said about 2 of 3 kids die each year from sport sad to say Dylan Williams had to be one of these kids. Coakley made a great point; he said “It’s never too early for a child to engage in expressive physical activities in safe environments (Coakley pg.144)”. I totally agree with this statement. If you think about putting a young child into sports then make sure the environment is safe. Parents place their kids in sports at young ages in which the environment is not safe and they don’t even realize it. You can’t keep kids from being physically active but, you can keep them safe. Parents don’t even think of the precautions that can happen while playing sports.
 Coakley also states as discussed in class that “Additionally, when children begin playing sports early and specialize in one or two sports year around they’re more likely than other children to suffer overuse injuries and burnout (Coakley pg.144)”. As you can see sport not only injures adult athletes but, children are greatly affected by sport to. Children under 8 years old don’t even fully have the cognitive and social abilities to fully comprehend competitive relationships.  The Chicago Tribune, says “While cautioning that no comprehensive account of injuries exists, cited a limited study commissioned by USA Baseball. That review showed that from 1989 to 2010, 18 children younger than high school age died of baseball injuries”. As time goes on these numbers continue to rise. You should think about what sports you put a young child in, anything can happen during a sport and you don’t want to be a witness of any injury or death due to something a kid loves to do.If you want to learn ways on preventing a youth from injuries then I suggest watching this video by Lucile Packhard.

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1920 to Today

On September 10, 2013 the title of the Lecture was a look at the Past. We interviewed several topics but, one in particular I’d like to relate to is how the struggle continues around the world which is the 1920’s to today.  Information discussed in this topic includes:

·        Entertainment/ Commercialism

·        Violence

·        Professionalism

·        Gender Inequalities

·        Racism, racial discrimination

·        Class dynamics

All of these trends show how modern sport has been shaping since the 1920’s. Kelly Whitseild wrote an article on October 9^th 2013 in USA today stating that the father of an American gymnast says there were racial remarks out of line. 16 year-old Simone Biles was the first Black African American women to win an all-around title. Italian gymnast Carlotta Ferlito said in a video interview, "I told (teammate Vanessa Ferrari) that next time we should also paint our skin black so then we can win, too.” I feel as though this comment was not appropriate to say but, you do have people who have their own opinions and you can’t change that. Racism today is not nearly as bad as it was in the past. This episode kind of reminds me of how 2 African American athletes put their hands up to protest black discrimination. Even by doing this at the Olympic Games they were later killed, further on they were recognized as heroes. In the article about Simone Biles, Ferlito later wrote on twitter "I want to apologize with the Americans girls. I didn't want to sound rude or racist. I love Simone and I'm a huge fan of USA gymnastics." She added, "I've made a mistake, I'm not perfect … I didn't think about what I was saying. I'm just a human. I'm so so sorry." This statement shows me how racism today has change significantly from 1920’s to today. The fact that Ferlito apologized to Simone after she realized what she said was inappropriate shows how people have changed from the 1920’s until now. Coakley’s text states that “Sports usually have multiple meanings in social worlds, and these meanings change over time (Pg.78).” Ferlito wasn’t trying to be rude in what she was saying she just, said it in the wrong way. Since the game was held in Antwerp, Belgium whites weren’t expecting a young black girl to win so of course they were going to feel some type of way. Despite the dispute in Belgium when Simone arrived to her hometown the little girls praised her. I feel as though no matter how far in age we go the world will continuously struggle with violence, entertainment, nationalism most of all racism and racial discrimination .I believe this is a process of socialization in which the process of learning the culture of society is ongoing. In most cases this is not true though.

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Characterisitcs of Big Time Programs

On October 1, 2013 the title of the lecture was Intercollegiate Sports. Some of the things we touched base on in lecture were Characteristics of Big Time Programs and Research shows Spending Money on Big Time College Sports:

• There's usually emphasis on football and basketball because they have the highest revenue, in reality football gets paid more
•     Most teams lose millions on travel, equipment, scholarships, facilities, paying coaches,
•    Teams travel extensively as both teams and universities jump from state to state trying to generate more revenue.
•    Spending more money than actually making a profit.
• Spending money on "Big time"(Coakley pg.481) programs increase 4 times faster than academic budngets
• Also spending money increases the wealth gap bewtween athletic departments.

 An article provided October 16, 2013 by Memphis Tennesse Associated Press stated that the commissioner of the AAC (American Athletic Conference) says his league will negotiate if they want to give players stipends. By doing this the AAC thinks it will balance out the cost of attending college. I was shocked by this article because knowing that there’s already a significant amount of things teams have to pay, the AAC now wants to pay athletes also. Mike Aresco does not want to pay players. He is trying to avoid the employer-employee relationship. I feel like if the AAC does decide to pay athletes they need to think about other consequences they are already not benefiting from such as paying coaches, traveling, equipment, scholarships, facilities and hotel fees. All of this is very expensive; in fact teams are spending more money than actually receiving a profit.

As stated in the lecture less than 1 in 5 D1 schools make money. Coakleys text stated “The amount of money spent every year on intercollegiate sports varies from less than 250,000 at some small colleges or universities to over $100 million at Ohio State University and The University of Texas” (Page 480).Large universities can have up to 10 or more coaches by itself to where as a smaller university may have about 3 or four coaches. I’m on Aresco’s side, if you think about paying players your loosing massive money. Since football and basketball are emphasized more in the sport industry they have the highest revenue but, football generates more money. Also in lecturee we dicussed how research shows spending money on big time college sports increase 4 times faster than academic budgets. It also increase the wealth gap bewteen athletic departments. So before the AAC wants to start paying athletes they need to ask themselves " Is it worth it?"

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Sport generates spirit and unity but, also causes injuries

On September 26, 2013 we discussed relevant facts about Sports in High School and College. One major area we discussed were Arguments for and Against Sports such as....

Arguments for sport

• Distract attention for academics
• Increase passivity and injuries
• Create superficial and transitory spirit
• Waste resources
• Create pressure and distort status system

Arguments against sport

• Involve students in activities
• Build self esteem
• Enhance Fitness and lifetime participation
• Generate spirit and unity
• Promote support

As stated in the chapter "Most people in the United States don't question the existence of interscholastic sports in high schools and colleges"(Coakley pg.472) Pertaining to this blog I would like to relate the arguments for and against interscholastic sports with how a photographer captured painful images of Johnny Manziel, a Texas A&M football player trying to test his injury. Sports in High School and College can distract your attention from academics, create superficial and transitory spirit and also increase passivity and injuries. While at the same time is can benefit the athlete also by building self-esteem, generating spirit and unity and promoting support.

Recently on October 19 2013 USA Today Sports by Lakin Litman posted a article about Johnny Manziel injured his right shoulder in his attempt to score a touchdown pass. Instead he took a hit by the Auburn tigers. As he struggled on the sideline trying to throw the article said that he showed significant pain in his throwing shoulder. Despite his injury he generated great unity and team spirit by returning to the field and scoring a touchdown pass, making Texas A&M gain the lead 41-38. This was just one of the few times Manziel was injured. He also injured his knew during a game against Ole Miss. Once again his injury did not affect his love for the team actually a few plays later he returned to the game. My coach once told me “If you have a lot of passion for sport then you’ll make any effort to not only be the best but, sacrifice anything it takes to be better”.

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