The crisis that never was..

As a girls youth soccer coach, I have seen my team grow over the last three years. I've seen them go from innocent 11 yr old girls to 14 yr old teenagers in their first year of high school. Besides all the obvious changes like more makeup, tighter clothing and more gossip about boys, I have also witnessed the departure from the team of a few girls. I want to say that is not an obvious change, but having seen it myself when I was 14, I can’t. At first glance, this phenomenon where girls suddenly have no time to play sports is slightly frightening. After thinking about what those reasons might be, I wonder if boys leave sports at the age of 14 as frequently as I’ve seen with girls. However, there is also the notion that maybe children who don’t want to play sports are better off leaving them early. As we’ve discussed in class, sport breeds character, but not necessarily only good character. Children than are forced to stay in sports are likely playing every game with resentment towards there parents for not letting them play. Maybe we don’t have to be as taken aback when our kids leave sports to pursue other endeavours. This would definitely reduce the amount of crazy hockey dads fighting in the stands.

Alicia L.

Kin 577