Playing sports should be good for Americas’s obesity problem, which we hear about on a daily basis. So why are some adults cutting kids from sports at such a young age? Every kid, no matter what their ability is, should have the opportunity to play and burn off a few calories.

It certainly would be nice if more parents took on the philosophy and attitude toward youth sports that the Gorham Recreation Department has. You don’t see them setting up youth programs that exclude or discourage kids from playing sports. When they set up a program it’s for all the kids, and the structure for playing time is designed for equal play or about as close as possible.

So when it comes to youth travel sports, why is it that some parents think it’s necessary to cut kids? I have yet to hear a good answer to this question. One of the many things this creates is an unfair advantage for the kids that make these teams and get to play more. The kids who are cut are supposedly inferior or not as good players. Call me crazy, but I have yet to see anyone get better by doing something less.

At the youth level, the primary focus of team sports should be on fun and development of all the kids, especially when it’s outside school and where resources are generally not a problem. It seems like common sense to me that if you have too many kids for one team, here’s an idea – you make two teams.

Depth will be eliminated at the high school level because kids were discouraged at the youth level. Varsity coaches at the high school level should be appalled by how some adults cut and eliminate kids at such a young age. Often, kids will get discouraged and turn to something less healthy, when it’s avoidable. Parents should do the right and fair thing and set these outside-of-school sports up for all the kids. There are just too many variables for anyone to predict who will become the outstanding players later on, as the kids grow and mature.

The parents who get involved in youth sports and believe some kids should be eliminated (not their kids), while other kids are chosen to further develop and improve their skills, are not bad people. They are misguided and “brainwashed” to believe this is the best way to form teams. Or is it more that they put too much emphasis on winning at too young an age?

Anytime there is an evaluation process outside of school to form a team where kids will be cut (i.e., eliminated), everyone involved in the evaluation should ask themselves, “Is this the best way?” The answer should be no.

There may come a time when kids will face rejection and not make a team, but it certainly shouldn’t come before their teenage years or by parents who don’t have enough common sense not to be a part of such an evaluation process.

Sometimes common sense is just not that common.

Bill Redmond

Gorham

892-7448

409-0724