Background Research
We searched Google for other information involving student commitment to sports in high school and found that the commitment level of students is on the rise according to one of our sources. http://www.nfhs.org/web/2006/09/participation_in_high_school_sports_increases_again_confirms_nf.aspx is the source that we found this information from. Another source, http://www.jjhuddle.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122483 shows that there are heated debates on weather quitting a sport is a good idea or a bad idea and if there should be a consequence for quitting. Other sources like http://www.sectiononewrestling.com/documents/why_kids_quit_sports.html talk about the reasons why the students quit sports while in school.
Many times kids want to quit for several key reasons:
1) They’re not having fun, in other words there may be too much standing around and not enough interaction and continuous activity. Remember, kids have short attention spans, if a practice involves too much down time kids lose interest very quickly
2) They’re not experiencing improvement. Would you stick to something if you never improved and were stuck in a situation where no one seemed to be able to help you? Imagine if you were placed in that situation at your job.
3) Too much pressure to perform. Remember, kids are often competing amongst and with their peer groups, their lifeline to a social network. Too many times errors are committed, negative comments are made by a coach, or a player misjudges a play, all leading to embarrassment and therefore ruining a child’s overall experience.
4) Don’t receive adequate playing time. At any level of sport before high school, especially in recreational leagues, every child should receive equal playing time, no matter their ability. Even if your child becomes involved in a travel team, there is no reason they should not receive substantial playing time. If they are good enough to make the team, and make the commitment to attend all practices, they should receive playing time.
5) More interested in playing video games and spending time on the computer. The culture has changed. we now have to deal with these distractions and encourage them to get outside to play.
www.thecenterforkidsfirst.org provided this information about athletes
quitting youth sports
The Facts About Youth Sports
The number of kids in organized youth sports
· 30-40 million kids playing organized sports each
Year in the US
· 2-4 Million coaches – less than 20% have
received any type of training
· 85% of these coaches are dads coaching their own children
· 6.5 million h.s. athletes in US
· Less than 20% of high school students are
involved in sports.
· Participation in non-school programs like clubs
have increased
· Participation in school programs has decreased
Kids state that they have been subjected to verbal and physical abuse in sports from their coaches and their teammates. Kids say that the social aspect of sports and the sports atmosphere lead them to quit more often then discontent for the activity itself.
Why they participate
1. To have fun
2. To improve their skills
3. To stay in shape
4. To do something they are good at
5. The excitement of the competition
6. To get exercise
7. To play as part of a team
8. The challenge of the competition
9. To learn new skills
10. To win
· Over 65% said they participate in sports to be with friends
*(This could make a stronger case for team spots being quit less) we see that from a young age the social aspect of sports is just as important as the activity itself
Why they Quit
1. They lost interest
2. They were not having fun
3. It required too much time
4. The coach played favorites
5. The coach was a poor teacher
6. They got tired of playing
7. Too much emphasis on winning
8. They wanted to participate in other non-sport activities
9. They needed more time to study
10. There was too much pressure
We saw numerous sites that provide good information about quitting sports but none showed the differences between team oriented sports and individual sports. We are interested to see if our study can provide good information on the differences.