If your child is a pretty good athlete — or you think they are — odds are they (and you) are part of the “youth sports industrial complex.”
The phrase sounds satirical.
It isn’t.
As any parent with a young travel/elite player knows, the days of kids of varying ages meeting in the backyard, choosing teams, then playing on their own until dinnertime (all while making and enforcing their own rules), has gone the way of wooden bats and $20 soccer shoes.
Blast from the past.
Youth sports is a big business. And in a town like Westport — where personal hitting coaches, shooting coaches and fitness trainers are a dime a dozen (though exponentially more expensive) — there is an expectation that all that time and money will yield a substantial ROI.
Yet — besides rueful comments on the sidelines about yet another trip to yet another “showcase” tournament at yet another faraway place to play yet another game against a team from Wilton — how much do we really talk about this?
Next month, Westport youth sports parents will get a chance to do just that.
“06880” has partnered with Tommy Greenwald to present a special panel. “Fair Play and Foul Behavior: Issues Facing Youth Sports in Today’s World” is set for May 14 (7 p.m., Staples High School cafeteria).
Topics will include the achievement/pressure balance, referee abuse, sport specialization, cost, the “academy” syndrome, myths and realities of college recruiting, and more.
Training, competing — and competing for spots — begins at an early age.
Greenwald is a young adult author, specializing in youth sports. His latest book, “The Right Call” — a companion novel to his previous “Game Changer” —explores the growing pressures young athletes face, and the lengths some parents go to make sure their kid comes out on top. Greenwald will give away some copies of his book at the event.
The 1979 Staples High School state champion co-captain’s 3 sons were also Staples athletes and captains.
Panelists include:
- VJ Sarullo, Staples athletic director
- Dave Smith, father of 4 athletes who writes frequently on youth sports topics
- Caleb Smith, former Staples quarterback and lacrosse star, now playing football at the University of Connecticut
- Heather Talbott, PAL girls lacrosse co-president and basketball organizer; former lacrosse player at Lehigh University
- Mark Pressman, longtime football and softball official
- And of course Tommy Greenwald himself.
Moderator Dan Woog was the Staples boys soccer head coach for 19 years, and a youth coach for nearly 30 years before that. He is a co-founder of the Westport Soccer Association, and writes nationally on youth sports topics.
The event will include time for audience participation.