"Organized sports have strayed from their core mission of providing healthy, safe, and character building recreation for our nation’s youth." - Dr Michael Kanters
Recently, NC State University Sport Management professor Michael Kanters travelled to Capitol Hill at the invitation of the National Hockey League to brief a Congressional Committee about the importance of sports participation for youth and the disturbing trend in organized sports away from their core mission of providing healthy, safe and character-building recreation for our nation’s youth.
According to Dr. Kanters, there is a well established correlation between sport participation and positive educational and social outcomes for youth- including higher grades, college completion and increased levels of confidence and self-esteem.
Kanters and other sport and recreation professionals are concerned, however, about a cultural shift in the structure and delivery of youth sports in America- a shift that is moving us away from seeing sport as an environment for positive experiences to one which “professionalizes” youth sports – where talent rules, bigger is better, children are pressured to practice more frequently and specialize at an early age, as opposed to a child-centric inclusive approach that gives our youth positive life experiences, physical activity, and the skills for a lifetime of active living and productive citizenship.
Watch the Congressional Briefing Video
Read Dr. Kanters Remarks