Why Kids Quit

Bad parent behavior during youth sports events can make the news in terrible ways.  Fortunately, these extreme examples do not represent the typical youth sports experience.  The typical expereience is that 70% of young kids enrolled in organized youth sports quit by age 13 and never play sports again.  If 70% of parents are not extreme, then why do so many kids quit?  When asked, kids' answers usually include some variation of "no fun" with "too much pressure" also a popular answer.   The basic compromise between kids and parents is often broken and kids turn to other, often low-parent involvement, activities for fun.  Being a good sports parent is more often not hitting another parent or not yelling at an official.   A kid's dissatisfaction with playing, the coach, teammates or the team often begins at home.  Many of the things that bother parents do not bother kids until parents make an issue of them.  Being a good sports parent means that a child wants to continue to play sports as long as possible.  Sometimes this means letting children identify and resolve their own issues with parental guidance but not intrusion.

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