Pssst, Don’t Tell Anyone

In my travels, I’ve come to believe one thing to be true. There are two types of parents. Those who care only about their kid and those who wish success to the entire team. Unfortunately, youth sports has morphed into something unrecognizable from my younger days. Everything is driven by the almighty dollar and parents care more about the status symbol of playing for a team or an organization instead focusing on the well being of their child and their development into a young man/woman with ethics and morales.

This isn’t something that has happened over night. I understand parents wanting the best for their kids, I really do. However, when that is done to the extent of keeping information quiet so other players aren’t aware of an opportunity, such as a camp, lessons by a special instructor or a team tryout, that’s inexcusable in my opinion.

This lends to another component of youth sports involving the relationships between parents which is what makes tip toeing around, withholding information others may find valuable, so hard to swallow. More times than not, given the amount of time parents spend together throughout a season, there are tight bonds that develop, or what seems to be tight. Then, you have the parents who do what was described earlier in this post, keeping information to themselves and that just tears down any friendships you thought existed and has you scratching your head about the individual in question. At the end of the day, it’s not another parents responsibility to be the information desk for all parents, however, when it’s done in an attempt to hopefully prevent others from gaining access to resources so their kid may benefit, that’s where i have an issue.

Oh well, it’s youth sports in 2019, i’m certain in 2029, 2039, 2049 and beyond, we’ll be faced with the same problems and most likely, even worse given the trend.