I haven't wanted to write this piece because of its implications, but I have now received confirmation from a number of other observers. What I have been seeing in the last year or two on the soccer fields is that the boys and girls aged 9 to 14 are in noticeably poorer condition than their counterparts were several years ago. I see a 12-year-old boy run down the field to chase down a ball and then have to walk back, breathing heavily. I see a 14-year-old girl give up trying to catch an opposing player because she doesn't have the stamina to keep at it for 30 yards. I see a 9 year-old-boy asking to be subbed out after eight minutes of play.
I asked some of my fellow referees if they have noticed the same thing. All have. This week, a young man said that he has seen a marked deterioration in just the last few years. His explanation: "These kids sign up for the town soccer league, and they use it as their sole source of exercise. They and their parents think that showing up two or three times a week for 90 minutes will get them in shape or keep them in shape. They are sedentary for the rest of the week, especially now that everyone has iPhones and computers."
Another colleague said, "In my day, you were outside all the time playing with your friends, making up games of all sorts in your neighborhood. If you were part of organized sports, that was just a small segment of your physical activity. Also, you only signed up for an organized sport if you were passionate about that specific sport. It was not a parental expectation. You worked hard at getting in shape off the field during the rest of the week -- and you spent hours practicing your moves at home and in street play -- because you wanted to be noticed by the coach and get as much playing time as possible during your formal games."
I'm worried. Have we inadvertently contributed to this problem by focusing our children too much on organized sports? Do parents sign up their children less for the child's love of the game than as a kind of prescription for a weekly dose of exercise? In so doing, have they bought into the 3x90 minute regime? If children are this sedentary at such young ages, what will happen as they get older?
I asked some of my fellow referees if they have noticed the same thing. All have. This week, a young man said that he has seen a marked deterioration in just the last few years. His explanation: "These kids sign up for the town soccer league, and they use it as their sole source of exercise. They and their parents think that showing up two or three times a week for 90 minutes will get them in shape or keep them in shape. They are sedentary for the rest of the week, especially now that everyone has iPhones and computers."
Another colleague said, "In my day, you were outside all the time playing with your friends, making up games of all sorts in your neighborhood. If you were part of organized sports, that was just a small segment of your physical activity. Also, you only signed up for an organized sport if you were passionate about that specific sport. It was not a parental expectation. You worked hard at getting in shape off the field during the rest of the week -- and you spent hours practicing your moves at home and in street play -- because you wanted to be noticed by the coach and get as much playing time as possible during your formal games."
I'm worried. Have we inadvertently contributed to this problem by focusing our children too much on organized sports? Do parents sign up their children less for the child's love of the game than as a kind of prescription for a weekly dose of exercise? In so doing, have they bought into the 3x90 minute regime? If children are this sedentary at such young ages, what will happen as they get older?
