Teen sports 7 ways to make sports positive and rewarding
BuffaloMagazine_Nov2016_OptingOut
1. Fitness you can
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KIDS AND
SPORTSWhy are so many
kids opting out?
The
FamilyISSUE
Special Advertising Section | November 2016
2. 18 | buffalo | November 2016
Cover Story
Optingout
Sports are healthy and
positive for development
— then why are so many
kids dropping out?
PhotobyDaveJarosz
3. 19
BY KEVIN SNOW
C
hances are you played a
sport while growing up. Not
just one sport — all of them.
As the seasons changed,
so did the games. You didn’t
always need a referee, and home-field
advantage was just a fancy way of referring
to your backyard.
Those days are gone, replaced in large
part by one-sport athletes on travel teams
that play and practice year-round.
The result, according to a recent poll
by the National Alliance for Youth Sports,
is that almost 70 percent of kids in the
United States stop playing organized
sports by the time they turn 13.
“It is certainly a different time; the
pressures have changed for kids,” explains
Dr. Greg Reeds, a sports psychologist and
professor at Canisius College. “There’s
an emphasis on making travel teams and
premier teams, and parents trying to live
out their own dreams through their kids,
even though the odds of making the pros
are something like one in 12,000. But I
suppose every parent thinks it’s their kid
that’s going to make it.”
It’s a significant change over the
course of a generation.
“The joy of kids’ sports used to be
the backyard, just playing and having fun
using spontaneity and creativity. Adults
today have airmailed in all adult values on
youth sport and it’s sapped the joy out of
what kids like to do so much. It’s the play-
ground mentality that I wish could return
for some of these kids,” said Reeds.
As kids enter their teenage years, there
are the additional unique pressures of
high school sports. Many kids have gone
from being the big fish in a small pond to
swimming with sharks. And with so much
emphasis being put on kids to specialize
in one sport, the pressures and politics of
making a high school team are more than
many kids are ready for — especially when
they are already navigating the minefields
of puberty, friendship and peer pressure.
Reeds says that’s often when they
walk away.
“It takes guts for these young kids
to try out for a team. They’re in ninth
grade and they want to show the coach
what they’ve got. They are given two
weeks of practice to prove themselves
on a JV or varsity team, where many
of the spots are already spoken for by
older kids. If they don’t make it, that
cycle of getting cut and not feeling
good about yourself begins. Once the
JV option is gone, sports at the high
school level can become pretty exclu-
sionary. Being cut early and having no
place to go is the sad part of sports.”
Other reasons for opting out
Being cut from a team isn’t the only
reason teenagers are walking away
from sports, however. With so many
kids now specializing in just one sport,
the commitment — both physical and
emotional — can become too much to
handle. Not to mention the constant pres-
sure of being expected to succeed at the
highest level by parents and coaches.
By age 12, up to 70 percent of kids are opting out of organized sports, despite opportunities on house leagues
and school teams.
PhotobyBillWippert
Once the JV option is gone, sports at the high school
level can become pretty exclusionary. Being cut early
and having no place to go is the sad part of sports.
— Dr. Greg Reeds, a sports psychologist and professor at Canisius College
Continued on next page
4. 20 | buffalo | November 2016
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The inevitable burnout from
doing just one sport for 12 months a
year can happen at any time.
“Kids do get more isolated in a
sport at the high school level nowa-
days,” says Lucian Forcucci, assistant
JV boys lacrosse coach at Orchard
Park High School. “Years ago, maybe
we’d have a softball girl that was just
a really good athlete, and she’d play
lacrosse as her second sport. Now, we
are seeing that girl focus solely on her
sport year-round.”
Enjoying the sport and growing
the game from a young age is why
Forcucci revived the Orchard Park
Girls Lacrosse summer program
two years ago with OP varsity coach
Kristen McGuiness.
For Forcucci, the focus is on fun.
“You want them to enjoy the
Opting out, continued from page 19
You only need to roam the bleachers at a soccer, football
or hockey game to realize that parents are often more
intense than the kids playing the game. Even with
visible signage at most venues promoting proper parent
etiquette, it often goes too far.
Take, for example, the local hockey referee that was
harassed twice by the same parent following a hockey
game at Holiday Twin Rinks last season. Angered by
an injury to his son during the game, the fuming father
greeted the referee with some choice words as he left
the ice. That was followed by a trip to the referee’s locker
room, where he burst in and challenged the officials to a
fight. It took a police presence to restore order.
“I feel awful for the young officials in the game,” says the referee, who must remain
anonymous per USA Hockey rules. “The behavior of parents and coaches has cost this game
some really talented people because they decide the harassment isn’t worth it.”
An Ohio youth soccer organization went as far as creating “Silent Sundays” more than 15
years ago. Frustrated by erratic parent behavior on the sidelines, the Ohio North Soccer
Association implemented a program where parents were encouraged to avoid cheering or
jeering during games to eliminate sideline distractions. The program drew immediate raves
from the players, and has since gained momentum in various states nationwide.
PARENTS BEHAVING BADLY
5. 21
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sport, and leave practice wanting
to come back,” Forcucci explained.
“At that level it shouldn’t be so
much about playing games or the
Xs and Os. We try to incorporate
as many creative games as we can
that emphasize the skills of lacrosse,
while making it fun for them.”
Counteracting
the pressure
Rudy Pompert has been around the
game of soccer most of his life, and
has seen firsthand how the long-term
goals of the parents don’t always
align with what their child really
wants to get out of the game.
While the kid is playing for
fun and healthy competition,
mom and dad are envisioning a
PhotobyBillWippert
Sacred Heart
faces off against
Mount St. Mary’s
in lacrosse, a sport
that Orchard Park
is currently focused
on growing from a
younger age.
Continued on next page
6. 22 | buffalo | November 2016
full ride to college and multi-million
dollar professional contracts.
“You see it a lot where the par-
ents are almost more obsessed with
their kids going to premier [leagues]
or being on these really competitive
teams,” says Pompert, the Delaware
Soccer Club’s Director of Soccer and
former head coach of Buffalo State’s
men’s soccer team. “But without any
pressure or anonymously asking the
kids if they want to play with a pre-
mier team or just with your friends,
I think a lot of kids would say they
just want to play with their friends.
“Do (parents) really ask the kid
what they want, and does the kid have
the freedom to answer that question
honestly without being fearful or paren-
tal pressure? Because at the end of
the day, you don’t want to disappoint
your parents who think you should
be playing for a premier team and a
college scholarship,” said Pompert.
Fortunately the kids who have been
“pushed out” of sports by parents, poli-
tics and coaches do still have options.
Numerous local leagues offer seasonal
Of course, sports also offer huge benefits,
especially to kids who may be otherwise
disenfranchised by family
income or disabilities.
Here are five sports
programs that show
there’s more to life
than the final score.
First Tee of WNY
(Thefirstteewesternny.org)
First Tee’s mission is
to encourage and inspire positive
values and healthy choices in the next
generation of Western New Yorkers
through the experience of golf. The
five-level program is for ages 7 and up,
and integrates life skills teaching within
the game of golf, including etiquette,
goal setting and conflict resolution.
SABAH (Sabahinc.org)
SABAH stands for the Skating Association
for the Blind and Handicapped, but the
organization provides a multitude of
athletic and fitness opportunities to help
enrich the lives of individuals with special
needs. The annual Celebration on Ice is
the group’s showcase event, involving
hundreds of participants every spring.
Miracle League (Miracleleaguewny.org)
Opened in 2012, the Miracle League field
in Grand Island is a magical place for
children with disabilities to play Miracle
League baseball, regardless of their
abilities. The Miracle League currently
serves over 200,000 children and young
adults with disabilities in the United
States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Australia.
Buffalo Sabres Sled Hockey
(Buffalosabressledhockey.org)
Buffalo Sabres Sled Hockey is a
competitive sled hockey organization
that promotes the athletic abilities
of physically challenged youth and
adults in Western New York. There
are currently four teams in the
organization, with games played at
Northtown Center in Amherst and
the Cornerstone Arena in Lockport.
Hasek’s Heroes (haseksheroes.org)
Launched in 2001 by Buffalo Sabres’ Hall
of Famer Dominik Hasek, the goal of
Hasek’s Heroes is to be a developmental
hockey program for economically
disadvantaged kids in Buffalo. Based
out of rinks at Riverside and Cazenovia
Park, the organization also includes
an off-ice component with academic
tutoring and mentoring programs.
Opting out, continued from page 21
PhotobyBillWippert
For many kids, the pressure to commit to a travel team or play a sport year-round starts early; experts
caution parents to allow their kids to go at their own pace.
THEF
AB FIVE
7. 23
BU-1253110
house team programs in their
respective sports that allow kids
to continue playing without the
added pressures of extra games,
practices and workouts, giv-
ing them the chance to just play
the sport because they love it.
Stephanie Wippert, 17, started
playing hockey with the Shamrocks
program at age six, and had moved
on to the Amherst girls’ 12U travel
team. But when she didn’t make
the travel team the following year,
she didn’t let it deter her.
An active participant in sev-
eral sports throughout her young
life, Stephanie opted to play in the
Amherst girls’ house program rath-
er than try out for another travel
team, or quit the game.
PhotobyBillWippert
Continued on page 25
Stephanie Wippert, 17, says house hockey is a great way for kids who’ve started later, or want to bring the stress level down
a notch, to participate in a sport.
9. 25
BU-1246616
Opting out, continued from page 23
She hasn’t looked back.
“Going into house hockey, I didn’t
know what the expectations were
going to be, but I knew it wasn’t as big
of a commitment as travel was,” said
Stephanie. “In travel if you missed one
practice due to a doctor’s appointment
or you had a lot of homework that night,
you could be missing learning new
plays. And by not knowing the new play
for the upcoming game, you could be
put onto a lower line than usual.
“House, on the other hand, is
always such a good time. Everyone
goes at their own pace. In house, you
can miss a practice or two and it’s not
a big deal. House hockey is definitely
something kids who want to play hockey
but may have started later, or want
to take the stress level down a notch
should do or at least think about.”
Without the year-round demands of
a travel team, Stephanie has also been
able to devote more time to the other
sports she loves as much as hockey.
Now in her senior year at Sacred Heart
Academy, Stephanie even played lacrosse
for the first time last year. She’s also
an avid golfer who’s played on her high
school team for four years.
Her father and hockey coach, Bill
Wippert, says he knows exactly what
his role as coach should be every time
he steps on the ice for practice or goes
behind the bench at a game.
“At the youth or house league level,
I will try to help the kids get better, but I
won’t be the coach that makes them quit. I
love the thought of them liking and playing
the game for years to come,” said Wippert.
Reeds agrees with Wippert’s coach-
ing ideals.
“Sport needs to have a different phi-
losophy and mentality. Intrinsically, it
should feel good and make you feel good
about yourself,” said Reeds. “We learn to
compete, we have great teammates, and
we’ll make memories that last a lifetime.”
Game on. n
Kevin Snow is a local freelance writer.
“At the youth or house league level, I will try to help the kids get
better, but I won’t be the coach that makes them quit. I love the
thought of them liking and playing the game for years to come,”
— Bill Wippert, Hockey Coach
