Take a step back and examine what constitutes youth sports these days. You’ll see a system designed and managed by adults for children with outcomes that adults value, including as a feeder system to high school athletics and beyond. Considered a big part of youth development, the big question (often unasked) is: Is it?
I recently strolled around the neighborhood where I grew up and my school. As I did, I was flooded with members of a quintessential childhood filled with lots of play. My life has been filled with golf, hockey, and tennis. As a result, I am drawn to the concept of man not as Homo sapiens, or wise people, but that of homo lundes, man the playful.
Yet, this love has been lost to me and probably many of you. The question is why and at what cost?
The idea of homo lundes was first promised in 1938 by Dutch historian and cultural theorist Johan Huzinga. The book proposes a simple but essential thesis: play is at the heart of the human experience. This includes our ability to translate culture and behavior to youth. The book concludes that play is an essential yet overlooked part of the world that deserves greater attention.
Since Huzinga, no one has made much of a case for play. In fact, in our society, play can be seen as a waste of time. It isn’t. Play is the ability to create impromptu games with rules and the need to self-regulate while (all the while) having fun. If not–and with all discretionary behavior–why bother?
Contrast that to what is often viewed as play, which is endless hours of supervised, structured practice under the watchful eyes of adults. That is now considered “normal,” but it also carries with it serious issues. Consider Jean-Paul Sartre’s contribution to Being and Nothingness (1943). Sartre urges us to find and act as our authentic selves, not relinquish our agency. Yet, that is precisely what kids are expected to do–comply, not “play.”
The outcome is akin to what Merve Emre highlights in her 2021 commentary about the repressive politics of emotional intelligence in corporate settings. Sports organizations control children by forcing them into a system they value and for outcomes they prefer.
Courtesy Atlanta Parent
It is time to acknowledge that the current system of youth sports (adult-designed and—dominated as it is) is inherently flawed. For whatever good it may do, it is also harmful, denying children opportunities to design and participate in games they create and with outcomes they prefer.
