Lawmakers introduce legislation to help make youth sports more affordable

Is it A role of government to make youth sports affordable for everyone? I would say so . 

Most conservatives would say if your parents cant afford for you to play organized sports you are shit out of luck. 

Most conservatives would say if your parents cant afford for you to play organized sports you are shit out of luck. 

Exactly, all the local businesses supporting team are owned by liberals.

"Is it A role of government to make youth sports affordable for everyone? I would say so ." 

No....absolutely not. All those rich liberals can pony up and donate some of their riches to youth sports. 

It's not the function of the US government to provide for every want and need for every individual in the goal to achieve equity and equality of outcomes.

That ideology is crazy.

Most children's sports are played on public courts or fields or in school gyms so we're already subsidizing the greatest expense. They can raise the rest of the money the same way teams have done for fifty years fundraisers !

I have a nephew who spent well over 100,000 dollars on fees for his five kids to play on travel sports teams. And that does not include the expense of the parents and other siblings going to out of state tournaments to watch.  All five of them played high school sports on some of the best high schools (for athletics) in the Chicago area. One of them was a star player on a state championship volleyball team, and another made it to the state championship basketball game but lost. Two of the five got athletic scholarships to Div. 3 colleges, and ended up dropping out of sports at the end of their freshman year because they were tired of the absolute grind of it they had been doing for years. 

Is it worth it to revolve your family life around club sports for years on end, not to mention the expense?  It is a good question. 

Coaching these club teams is in a sense a racket. Coaches promise families their kids will be the next Tom Brady or Mike Trout, in order to justify the expensive fees which largely go into the coaches pockets. 

Travel sports are a whole different ballgame. Making sure kids have parks and basic equipment is one thing, subsidizing travel sports, with their professional coaches, would be a disaster.

Oh I agree with that. The fees are a couple hundred dollars or more just for local little leagues. 

But it now costs an average of $900 for one child to play one sport.

Unless ALL children are receiving the same money for their preferred extracurricular activities, then how is this even in the realm of fair taxation?

Gottheimer says that about 40% of children ages 6 to 12 play a team sport. He says this number needs to rise.

Why?  Not everyone is athletic or interested in athletics or needs to be.  Why not promote more science fairs, nature excursions, and other things that promote curiosity that might foster an interest in learning that would probably be far more beneficial to the child's emotional and physical well-being.

Why not promote more science fairs, nature excursions, and other things that promote curiosity that might foster an interest in learning that would probably be far more beneficial to the child's emotional and physical well-being.

And be much more able to get into a field of interest where they can excel throughout life, instead of a one in thousands chance of making some sport a career,. Not to mention the big chance of getting injured early and having nothing to fall back on.

And be much more able to get into a field of interest where they can excel throughout life, instead of a one in thousands chance of making some sport a career,. Not to mention the big chance of getting injured early and having nothing to fall back on.

I agree 100 percent.  

All of my 60+ years of life, I have witnessed parents and coaches pushing children to be the next great athletic all-star.  What they really wanted was a meal ticket.  This is child abuse.  The child has no way of knowing the harm this type of physical activity will cause throughout their life.  The mental harm of continually having to fight for a place on a team does not foster good relationships inside a school or community.  The mental harm of being judged a "loser" for not making the team or missing a catch, and so on and so forth, is not something that is discussed enough.  \

We need to see our children as individuals who have talents unique to their personality and physical abilities and HELP them develop those talents.  This is not a one size fits all issue.

Outstanding.

Could not have said it better myself.

Great comments.

I played organized sports through my Jr year of college.    I’m paying for it now at 63 but I wouldn’t change a thing.

I had a serious discussion of cause and effect with all my kids.    Pro and con.    As long as parents do that, I’m all for it.    Nothing worse though than parents trying to live their glory years through their kids.

That much I can agree with you on.

I had a serious discussion of cause and effect with all my kids.    Pro and con.    As long as parents do that, I’m all for it.    Nothing worse though than parents trying to live their glory years through their kids.

Kudos for being an informed and caring parent.  Some parents do not even know the repercussions of playing sports - nor do they care to know.  I could give personal examples, but there are plenty of examples to be found with a simple Google search.

There are parents who cuss and threaten their kids, the coaches, the refs and other parents over Little League games as if the fate of the world depended on the outcome of a kid's game.  Then there are the Bobby Knight style coaches.   We don't allow English teachers to cuss and yell at students for not knowing a noun from a verb.  Why is it acceptable for a coach to cuss, yell and even punish a kid for missing a catch?  

Timely example of the people who take games far too seriously.

Brutal brawl breaks out among 49ers fans during preseason game against the Broncos with one fan left bloodied and dazed after punches are traded | Daily Mail Online

Brutal brawl breaks out among 49ers fans during preseason game against the Broncos with one fan left bloodied and dazed after punches are traded

• San Francisco 49ers beat the Denver Broncos 21-20 in preseason on Saturday 

• Some 49ers supporters fought among themselves in the Levi's Stadium stands

Some good info about physical harm at the link below.

Kids’ Sports Injuries: What Parents Need to Know > News > Yale Medicine

Each year, more than 2.6 million children up to the age of 19 show up in emergency rooms with a sports- or recreation-related injury.

Today, close to one out of three childhood injuries happens while a child is playing sports. The most common injuries are sprains and strains, followed by fractures. While injuries can happen in any sport, they are especially common in competitive team sports such as football, basketball, soccer, ice hockey, baseball and softball, as well as in activities involving repetitive movements, such as cheerleading, dance and gymnastics.

“Kids’ sports are completely different than they used to be,” says David Frumberg, MD, a Yale Medicine orthopedic surgeon who treats children as well as adults. “When I was growing up, it was about getting fresh air and having fun. Now if a child plays soccer, he might play five days a week and on the weekends—and maybe year-round and on multiple teams. Parents need to be careful, because growing children still have growth plates in their bones that respond uniquely to stresses.”

Early specialization puts kids at a higher risk for getting hurt, especially for overuse injuries such as stress fractures and acute injuries such as ACL tears. “The problem is that when children do the same thing, like pitch a baseball—over and over again—and don’t play other sports, they continually stress the same body part,” says Dr. Frumberg. “We don’t believe that is natural. Five or 10 years ago, coaches didn’t realize this was such a problem. But now it’s a public health issue. Doctors, coaches and parents need to know about it so they can make better decisions—like establishing pitch limits to protect kids’ shoulders and elbows.”

Sixty-two percent of organized sports-related injuries happen during practice, not during a game or competition. Many children spend several hours a day in practice and attend training camps in the off-season. However, one study of more than 1,200 athletes ages 8 to 18 showed that kids who train extensively in just one sport were 70 percent more likely to experience overuse injuries (that sometimes require up to six months of recovery time). Kids did better if they followed this guideline: The number of hours per week spent in training for a single sport should be lower than the child’s age.

Sixty-two percent of organized sports-related injuries happen during practice, not during a game or competition. Many children spend several hours a day in practice and attend training camps in the off-season. However, one study of more than 1,200 athletes ages 8 to 18 showed that kids who train extensively in just one sport were 70 percent more likely to experience overuse injuries (that sometimes require up to six months of recovery time). Kids did better if they followed this guideline: The number of hours per week spent in training for a single sport should be lower than the child’s age.

In our area, travel leagues are pulling away participants from more affordable programs like Little League.  Once kids are past 12 or so, the Little League may not even have a team for them to play on, due to lack of interest.  The more serious kids are playing travel baseball (or whatever sport), which involves overnight trips, meals on the road, steep registration fees for tournaments, etc.  Some parents can't afford it.  Some can't do it because of work conflicts, or family responsibilities.  That leaves those parents' kids with no option to participate.

And travel leagues are a lot more competitive, with fewer safeguards for athletes.  I had to tell the coach to take my son out as a pitcher during a tournament one weekend.  I think he was up around 90 pitches that day, in the heat, and I could see that his fastball had pretty much lost its pep.  He wouldn't have been allowed to throw so many pitches, if he'd been playing Little League.  Our team was way ahead, anyway, so there was literally no reason to leave him in.  We were running up the score on the other team, and risking his arm in the process.

I don't know if that's something government can, or should, fix.