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In the email today:
🔍 Charting The ‘Intensification’ Of Youth Sports Parents
A slew of youth sports-related reports and surveys earlier this year made it clear families’ investments in their kids’ activities have increased considerably — and that a stunning number of parents believe their children are destined to play at the collegiate and professional levels.
There is now a scholarly paper focused on how the “intensification” of youth sports parenting has occurred over the last half-century or so.
Professors at Ohio State and Vassar College have published a study on youth sports parents.
Their conclusion: Parents today invest far more money, resources and time in their kids’ sports activities than parents in previous generations.
Close to 4K adults were surveyed; all respondents were 21 or older
The study surveyed adults born in the 1950s through the 1990s
The respondents were asked questions about how involved THEIR parents were when they played sports as kids
The questions focused on parent attendance at youth sporting events, whether they coached their kids and how much money they spent on the activities
The study found overall investment in youth sports grew with each generation, especially among families “immersed in sports culture” or those with highly educated parents. But the disparity between families based on socioeconomic status has widened considerably over the decades.
The authors pinpointed the 1980s as an acceleration point on the road to present day. They found youth sports parents’ behavior has largely mirrored the general intensification of parenting practices in society in that span. Single-sport specialization also began to emerge in the 80s.
James’ take:
None of the findings are surprising. But it is interesting to see the state of youth sports parenting quantified in a more scientific manner than general polling.
The methodology does seem a bit quirky to us, since it relies on adults’ memories of experiences they had as children. Most 11-year-olds are likely not intimately familiar with how much the travel soccer team costs in the moment, much less decades later.
It would be interesting to see how the spike in investment tracks with inflation over the decades. And what about a study into how much worse the behavior of youth sports parents has become over the years, and how directly it is attributed to the intensification phenomenon?
Speaking of which …
🤫 MLB, Umpires Team Up For National Campaign
Umps Cares Charities — the philanthropic arm of Major League umpires — and MLB Together have launched an initiative against physical and verbal abuse of youth sports officials.
The campaign includes a PSA — seen here — and a webpage encouraging fans to sign a social media-shareable pledge supporting better behavior at games.
Almost 70% of sports officials said a deterioration of sportsmanship was a major issue in a 2023 National Organization of Sports Officials survey
Over 40% said unruly youth sports parents were the biggest problem
Remember: A septuagenarian New Jersey youth baseball umpire just won a $650K civil judgment because a coach attacked him and broke his jaw.
James’ take:
This is a cascading issue for youth sports because it goes beyond parents being out of control, officials being abused and kids being in inappropriate environments.
There is a significant shortage of officials nationwide because of these issues.
Many who are still willing to officiate are understandably demanding more safeguards and support.
That reality often puts more financial stress on organizers.
And it all adds up to higher costs for families and — inevitably — fewer opportunities for youth athletes.
We’ve had several stories in recent weeks about registration fees spiking because off-duty police officers have to be hired to attend each game. Or long-running tournaments potentially ending because officials will no longer work them.
U.S. Soccer recently established a thorough sanctions schedule for referee abuse. I wonder if the sports that have large central bodies like that will have a leg up in making headway over sports like baseball with several different affiliations — Little League, Cal Ripken, etc.
At least 24 states now have specific laws about abusing youth sports officials, according to the National Organization of Sports Officials, with pending legislation in others.
🤝 Playfly Sports Acquires Paragon Marketing Group
Playfly — a firm specializing in sports industry revenue maximization — has bought Paragon, a sports marketing firm.
The youth sports angle: Paragon — formerly known as Halo Sports — has collaborated with ESPN on high school sports broadcasts for over 20 years. It also has several major youth sports properties in its portfolio, including the Chipotle Nationals for elite high school boys hoops and Nike’s EYBL Scholastic.
🏀 An Idea For American Hoops Development
Add Steve Kerr’s take to the recent parade along with LeBron James and others.
The Golden State Warriors coach believes every youth basketball players should start by playing soccer.
"If I were the czar of American basketball and I had to say, ‘All right, I’m in charge of youth basketball in America,’ I would make every player coming through the youth basketball program play [soccer] because it translates directly. The problem in basketball today -- the young players are coming up and they just try to beat everybody one-on-one with the dribble. They’re unbelievably gifted dribbling the ball, but they don’t understand the pass and the move. Which is what [soccer] would teach them.” -- Kerr on the Men in Blazers podcast
It is not a new concept — Kerr referenced Hall of Fame point guard Steve Nash, whose background playing soccer is well known — but still a notable one given all the recent discourse about the need to improve the American youth hoops developmental model, the possibility of European philosophies and systems being adopted and the potential of future NBA involvement.
It is highly unlikely every aspiring young basketball player would ever be forced to play soccer, of course.
But if the NBA does end up taking a bigger role in the future … Kerr is probably a guy whose opinions would be asked and considered.
🏢 Youth Sports Facilities News
New Orleans: The state of Louisiana will spend close to $2M — the bulk going toward facilities renovations — to launch youth sports and other programming on the University of New Orleans campus. The move is designed to open up more field access in the city.
Kalamazoo, Michigan: County officials are expected to approve the recommended site for a $40M indoor youth sports complex tomorrow. The project will be funded by a local hotel assessment with operations being covered by tournament revenue. The county board has to establish an authority to operate the facility and sell construction bonds once the site is approved. Officials believe the complex will open in 2027.
🔗 More Youth Sports Links
📋 Job Alert: Football Program Manager, IMG Academy
The high school football powerhouse is seeking a manager whose duties would include payroll management, communications and logistics and internal coordination. It is not a coaching position. The full job description can be found on LinkedIn.
If you’d like to list an open position here and reach 5,000+ youth sports professionals in a single email, email me.
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Good game.