Youth participation in sports is characterized by many benefits and challenges. On the one hand, young people improve their health, achieve emotional balance, and find a life-long purpose. On the other hand, not all youth make independent decisions, and additional funding and care are required, provoking debates and misunderstandings. To reduce concerns and enjoy the chosen area of interest, one should recognize the role of adults in supporting youth to play sports. Parents, coaches, and staff are the main adults who affect young people’s interests and determine their future in sports by offering financial assistance, organizing activities, and demonstrating enthusiasm in extra-curricular activities.
In McKeever’s and Cooky’s readings, there is much credible information about how adults affect youth to play sports or neglect their talents. Parents become a primary source of inspiration and support for children to develop their interest in sports. According to Cooky, sports opportunities depend on a number of factors like lack of transportation, poor funding for equipment and management, limited informative resources, small spaces in urban communities, and even social/gender/racial inequality (261). For example, Centerville and Fairview programs allow defining the roles of parents and coaches and their specific contributions. If an adult does not help a child reach the necessary place for sports activities or demonstrates no interest in sports, the girl will hardly be interested in something. Sometimes, parents believe that playing sports is not necessary for their children. As a result, youth remain unaware of how beneficial sports can be for social interactions, life improvement, and personal achievement. At Centerville and Fairview centers, coaches and staff also play a vital role in promoting sports among youth.
The questions of recruiting and marketing have to be properly solved. If not many banners and other data resources are available to youth, they fail to enable their interest in sports (Cooky 269). McKeever raises similar ideas, using the experience of People’s Park staff and underling the importance of keeping safe places for kids (228). The author’s childhood was problematic because of poor family support and maltreatment, which proves the impact of parents on sports choice as well. Sometimes, youth search for some inspiration and freedom to change their routine lives and find their answers in sports. Parents and coaches motivate, support, and educate young people by demonstrating their attitudes and opinions. If adults do not build cross-racial understanding in their communities, sports and mentorship programs could help (McKeever 235). Playing sports may be an outcome of care and thoughtful cooperation between children and adults as well as a way to substitute the darkness of emotional disturbance or parental neglect. In both cases, the role of adults is evident in supporting youth who want to play sports.
Works Cited
Cooky, Cheryl. ““Girls Just Aren’t Interested”: The Social Construction of Interest in Girls’ Sport.” Sociological Perspectives, vol. 52, no. 2, 2009, pp. 259-283.
McKeever, A. James. “11. Park “Rats” To Park “Daddies”: Community Heads Creating Future Mentors”. Child’s Play: Sport in Kids’ Worlds, edited by Michael A. Messner and Michela Musto, Rutgers University Press, 2016, pp. 221-236.