A few questions for John Murphy and some comments!

In black: John Murphy
In bold: Herb Ziemer

   Going Back To The Future of Youth Sports

   By John Murphy, CYSA North Chairman

  I have spent a significant part of my life, but by no means all of it, involved in youth sports. I have played almost all of the sports that there are, and in my younger days I was even involved in creating a few out of thin air.

John, People involved in important activities and discussions should be careful with both their thinking and words! Which of these “almost all” sports have you not played?

List of activities recognized by the Sports Councils at January 2007
Aikido
American Football
Angling
Archery
Arm Wrestling
Artistic Skating (roller)
Association Football
Athletics
Australian Rules Football
Badminton
Ballooning
Ballroom Dancing
Baseball/Softball
Basketball
Baton Twirling
Biathlon
Bicycle Polo
Billiards and Snooker
Bobsleigh
Boccia
Bowls
Boxing
Camogie
Canoeing
Caving
Chinese Martial Arts
Clay Pigeon Shooting
Cricket
Croquet
Curling
Cycling
Dance Sport
Darts
Disability Sport
Diving
Dragon Boat Racing
Duathlon
Equestrian
Exercise and Fitness
Fencing
Fives
Folk Dancing
Flying
Futsal
Gaelic Football
Gliding
Golf
Gymnastics
Handball
Hang/Para Gliding
Harness Racing
Health and Beauty Exercise
Highland Games
Hockey
Horse Racing
Horse Riding
Hovering
Hurling
Ice Hockey
Ice Skating
Jet Skiing
Ju Jitsu
Judo
Karate
Keep Fit
Kendo
Knee Boarding
Korfball
Lacrosse
Lawn Tennis
Life Saving
Luge
Model Aircraft Flying
Modern Pentathlon
Motor Cycling
Motor Sports
Mountain Biking
Mountaineering
Movement, Dance, Exercise & Fitness
Netball
Octopush
Orienteering
Parachuting
Petanque
Polo
Polocross
Pool
Power Boating
Powerlifting
Puck Hockey (roller)
Quoits
Racketball
Rackets
Rafting (white/wild water)
Raquetball
Rambling
Real Tennis
Roller Hockey
Roller Skating
Rounders
Rowing
Rugby League
Rugby Union
Sailing
Sand/Land Yachting
Shooting
Show jumping
Skateboarding
Skiing
Skipping
Snooker
Snowboarding
Softball
Sombo
Speedway
Speed Skating (roller)
Squash
Skater/Street Hockey
Sub-Aqua
Surf Life Saving
Surfing
Swimming & Diving
Table Tennis
Taekwondo
Tang Soo Do
Tenpin Bowling
Trampolining
Triathlon
Tug of War
Unihoc
Volleyball
Wakeboarding
Water Polo
Water Skiing
Weightlifting
Wind Surfing
Wrestling
Yoga

   Of course, those were the days when kids would get together and just decide to shoot some hoops, hit a few balls or try to kick a ball around. When we weren’t inventing a new game, we usually modified an existing one to fit the “field” available to us, which was often the street or a parking lot, and we took advantage of the materials we had such as making a ball out of a wad of socks held together with rubber bands. At that stage in our lives we never once had an adult control, much less “supervise” our athletic undertakings, and no one ever paid a single cent to anyone to play any game, anywhere, ever. We did spend an incredible amount of time practicing on our own and we did become quite good — outstanding, in fact, for some of us — at a number of sports.

In the soccer world the last sentence often refers to “street soccer” – has this term ever been spoken or written by a CYSA official?

Time passed, and most of us became involved in more organized sports in school, including college, and some in organized sports outside of school. Basically, in those days you had to pay for your own uniform and equipment, but that was about it. We had coaches, some of whom were great, and we had regular league play, tournaments and championships, which could on occasion have a relatively small additional cost attached when we could not find enough parents to drive us all around. All the adults, with the exception of the coaches who worked for the schools, were volunteers. And all of the adults, without exception, were themselves very much into sports and athletics.

Unless you count P.E. as an organized sport in school, ”most of us” (more than 50%) have never been involved in “more organized sports”!

Most important, though, all of the adults sought to instill in the kids the benefits of youth sports — such as learning to work as a team, putting forth one’s best efforts, and respect for others — as a means of developing kids into mature, productive adults. In other words, they had perspective. In my entire “career” as a player, I never had or even met a coach who did not “lecture” the team and the players about keeping their grades up and being responsible in everything in their lives.

The above paragraph might be somewhat exaggerated (all, never) but often true in the past and often just as true today!

Time passed, and we all began to establish careers and families. Those old “lectures” from the coaches and other adults involved in youth sports began to pay off, as it now became obvious that while sports were a good adjunct, education was the key. Among our groups of “players” from days gone by are doctors, lawyers, engineers, social workers, an artist and even a physicist. Some of the players also did quite well in sports — very, very well in fact. But none of them ever made the mistake of betting it all on them being the one in million or more who makes it big in professional sports. As a result, none of them ended up missing the rich and varied opportunities that arise in the course of a life. And we all kept playing sports in one form or another.

The above paragraph is interesting and true, but seems to  suggest  there might be people who are “(making) the mistake of betting it all on them being the one in million or more who makes it big in professional sports”. Where are these people? In my 35 years involvement with youth sports, I have met a few unrealistic parents and more than a few young players that “dream(ed) of a bright soccer future”, but given the reality of American adult soccer those dreams were rather mundane.

Time passed, and my involvement in youth sports evolved into participating mostly by officiating baseball and especially soccer, and less as a player. It also evolved into more and more volunteering to manage and administer youth sports. I found myself now one of the adults trying to give as many kids — rich, poor, tall, short, fast, slow — the huge advantages to them as people that youth sports properly viewed can provide. I became one of the adults “lecturing” the kids to keep their grades up, stay away from alcohol and act responsibly in all facets of their lives.

John, thank you for doing that service.

While you did this,  I was for 30 years teaching 7th graders – 11 and 12 year olds – and while about half had played CYSA soccer while younger – the great majority of them had already stopped playing our healthy sport.

It was mostly that small percentage of “competitive players” who could be influenced because of their love of playing soccer; and yes, many of them played only soccer, although the school coaches were always trying to have them involved in “their” school sport.

Time again has passed and tragically there has crept into youth sports a small but disproportionately destructive element that has lost the perspective of viewing youth sports as being for kids to develop them as people and perverted it into kids as a commodity for the development of a sports machine that is really just a business. For some, sadly, youth sports went from a game for kids to a movement to “acquire” kids for “the” game. Competitive tryouts and play for eight-year-olds? High fees for trainers of prepubescent kids? Tryouts, league play, tournaments and all-consuming commitments and travel at the expense of, and in the place of, education? Youth sports marketed like consumer products with glittering but unrealistic and — ultimately for almost all, if not all, empty — promises of riches and fame? It is time for all involved to pause, to remember, and recommit to the perspective of youth sports as an endeavor for the kids.

Imputing “tragedy”,  “destructive”, “lost perspective”, “perverted” and “sports machine” into any discussion abut any topic will not win many debate points nor win friends and influence thinking people. Where is the tragedy and where is the destruction?
If any of this is true in Northern California (and given human behavior there are probably instances when these words would be appropriate) much of it happened during the almost 40 years monopoly of youth soccer by CYSA. 
This type of insulting and demeaning language towards those who want(ed) world type programs for the more motivated and passionate players displays a sense of “hubris” and “certainty of ideas” not conducive to the improvement that comes through thoughtful and civil discussions and exchanges of ideas.
Given that CYSA has created a program(s) so unlike what is being done successfully throughout the world, a sense of humility might be more appropriate.

As the above indicates, I have been involved in youth sports for many, many years. Sometimes I and the thousands who share my view of youth sports as a tool to develop kids into adults are told that we are not “progressives,” our day has passed and that we are not “with” the future of youth sports. Nice-sounding hyperbole and propaganda, but nothing more.

The closest I have heard of those types of ideas is that CYSA (American soccer in general, but changing) has not responded well to the needs of the more serious and passionate young soccer players.
CYSA has done very well in introducing hundreds of thousands of 6 and 7 year olds to a “recreational” sport for three to four months a year – with most leaving the sport within three or four years with little feeling or interest in the sport. 

Our view is the future of youth sports. Values of true moral and social worth persevere despite the attacks on them. Abraham Lincoln was right — you can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.

Being able to predict the future must be wonderful!