Once a rite of passage, playing school sports is becoming a thing of the past for many Minnesota kids. Today's athletics eat up too much time and money and, for many youths, they aren't even much fun anymore.

Like a marathon runner with a leg cramp, school athletics are hitting a wall.

A study by the Pioneer Press shows that the percentage of Minnesota boys and girls who participate in school-sponsored sports has dropped more than half in one generation.

For many youths, said dozens of parents, children, coaches and experts interviewed by the Pioneer Press, sports have become work — not fun.

They say participation is dropping because:

Sports are hyper-competitive. Today, children who don't correctly pick their high school sport at an early age can't catch up, and they quit. Intense pressure comes from parents, eager for their children to get college scholarships.

Sports consume soaring amounts of time. Some parents spend 40 hours a week — literally a full-time job — coaching, watching and driving their young athletes.

Sports are expensive — in a time of recession. Parents supporting a young hockey player can easily spend more than $4,000 a year. Sports are costly for schools, too, which are cutting sports programs as they struggle with budget deficits.

Sports are suffering from competition. Increasingly, kids are choosing to work, play video games or watch cable TV instead.

Bob Shaw

03/23/2009

Pioneer Press

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