What is the point of youth sports? Well, depending on the time of year and part of the country you ask that question, you can sure get a wide range of answers.
Unfortunately, a large number of people will answer that question with "winning", or to make sure little JR plays every play every game.
But in reality the important thing is to teach kids how to play the game the right way, and be competitive, and want to continue to play year after year because the had so much FUN! In the U.
S.
right now there is an alarming trend of kids dropping out of sports between the ages of 10 and 13.
Why? Because of the emphasis on winning and the lack of equal playing time and participation for all kids, which is another way of saying that the kids aren't having fun playing games.
  These are games meant to teach our kids about such wholesome things as teamwork, respect, rules and such, that are suppose to be taught in the framework of fun games.
  But with parents and coaches that are so involved and so blinded by wanting to win or wanting their child to earn a sports scholarship as a ten year old, many of the kids are taking the easy way out and saying "no more".
The kids just want to play and have fun.
When it becomes work and no longer fun, the kids are out.
  And, the kids that drop out tend to be those with parents that might, for whatever reason, not spend as much time as one would hope with their children, and they end up spending more time in front of the television or playing video games, instead of being outside, playing games with other kids.
  Winning is not the most important thing to the kids, it's playing the games with their friends and having fun.
Can't we please remember this?