The Huffington Post – Kirk Mango
“With the constant media attention given to illegal PED use by elite and professional athletes, along with other cheating and poor, unethical, even abusive behavior by them as well as some coaches, parents and athletes at many levels of sport… you really have to wonder whether kids derive any benefits from participation in competitive sports. Furthermore, parents of athletic youth (considering the above scenarios) have to question the supposed life lessons so many, including myself, promote as part of this experience. Basically, are the time, energy and effort put into these competitive activities worth what one derives from them? Are the risks worth the reward? In other words: Are sports valuable for our children to play? I would answer all the above questions with an emphatic YES! Even in our current youth sports culture, the opportunity still exists for youth to gain valuable benefits from playing sports. These “advantages” — being many and varied — encompass three intrinsic categories involving aspects that both directly and indirectly impact each other.”(more)