Editor’s Note: This is part six of our seven-part series on sports and kids.
I recently turned to Bianca Edison, M.D., a sports medicine specialist with the Jackie and Gene Autry Orthopedic Center at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, for some insight on how to prevent our kids from experiencing sports burnout. In this seven-part series, we explore the pressures to excel that kids in L.A. face, how to recognize burn out, what to look for in a team and much more.
What does sports burnout look like in kids? And how can we best avoid it?
Burnout in youth sports has become a large concern of mine. Approximately 60 million youth aged 6 through 18 participate in organized sports but unfortunately, a staggering 70% of children drop out of organized sports by the age of 13. Fewer than 4 in 10 students play sports in public high schools, and only 23% achieve the recommended level of daily physical activity, which is currently decreased from 29% in 2011. A research study I led showed burnout in school was more common in high school than in 8th grade, a statistically significant finding. Also, almost 1 in 5 to 1 in 4 students had sport-related burnout.
Signs and symptoms of burnout can include a lack of motivation or initiative to go to practice, sadness when referring to their sport, repetitive back-to-back injuries, not wanting to talk with others about their practice or game.
I have had several instances during which I tell an athlete that they are all better during a follow up appointment, and we can start talking about a plan to return to their respective sport, and while the parent looks elated, the athlete slumps in disappointment.
Youth sports have become a multi-billion dollar industry that functions at staggering levels of competitive stress amidst a backdrop of the constituents, kids whose emotional and mental development is rapidly changing. With a focus on pay-to-play models, youth and young adult athletes are being commoditized, and a tremendous amount of pressure is put on them to practice and perform at exceptionally high levels that are rivaling our professionals.
These stresses threaten their health, safety, character and emotional well-being. If the dynamic and discourse of youth sports is shifted to focus on the process and the journey instead of the outcome (win), the pressure is lifted, resulting in happier and healthier kids who will seek help when they need it. Asking first if an athlete had fun or how the athlete thinks the game or practice went before asking if they won or if they were played first helps shift that paradigm.
