By Cory Armstrong-Hoss / Herald Forum
Scene: The parent viewing area of a large industrial building in Snohomish County. Nearly 80 third- through sixth-grade girls, including the author’s 10-year-old daughter, are split up on six adjacent volleyball courts. The girls are following the instructions of a fit, inscrutable instructor in her early 20s, issuing commands via a headset microphone.
Dad 1: Isn’t this great? All these healthy kids, honing their skills, competing? And not spending their time on screens. Which one is yours?
Dad 2: CeCe? She’s the tall one with reddish hair on Court 3. This is her first session here.
To tell you the truth, I’m not sure about this place. My friend Louis called it “The Factory” and said his wife just sees dollar signs instead of girls when she sees how they pack them in. It’s just not how I’m used to thinking about youth sports.
Dad 1: Easy, man. Is there something wrong with them making some money while doing good? And are you forgetting about the state of girls today? I was just reading “The Anxious Generation,” and I learned that teen girls have fewer close friends than 10 years ago, and feel lonely more often. The author talks about the link between frequent social media use and depression and anxiety in girls. But look at all these kids, doing something healthy together, without phones. This is great.
Dad 2: We’re here, aren’t we? But just think: Could the parents of all volleyball players in Snohomish County afford this skills clinic? Drive their girls here by 4:15 p.m.? We both know that these aren’t the best volleyball players in our county. They’re the kids whose parents have the funds and flexible schedules to get them here.
See those third graders out there? They’re part of a growing trend in sports: early specialization. The number of kids who play multiple sports has been steadily declining. Just 10 years ago, most kids between 6 and 17 years old averaged two or more sports played. Today, that number has shrunk to 1.63, the lowest on record. You think that’s a good thing?
Dad 1: Look, I hear you, but life is specialization, whether it happens at 7 or 27. And, you’re missing the bigger picture. Girls who play sports are more likely to become resilient and develop a healthy self-esteem. And I was just reading about the connection between sports and leadership. Did you know that the longer a girl stays in sports as a kid, the more likely she is to hold leadership titles later in life?
You can wring your hands and moralize all you’d like, but if everyone gave their daughters opportunities like you’re giving CeCe, the world would have more strong, female leaders.
Dad 2: But that’s the thing: most daughters and sons are not getting this opportunity. In fact overall participation in regular physical activity like sports is declining. An Aspen Institute report found that physical activity among kids in the U.S. continues to decrease, and only about 1 in 4 kids gets an hour or more of exercise, like volleyball, each day.
Things look great in this gym, with 75 girls setting, bumping and spiking, but pan out a bit more and you’ll see that fewer American girls are as active today than just 10 years ago. Sure, a slice of middle- and upper-middle class kids are much more active, much more specialized, earlier, but what about the majority of girls?
Dad 1: The majority of girls aren’t my top priority. My daughter is. She’s not tall like your kid. If she wants to make her club team and have a chance of making one of the 12 spots on her high school JV squad as a freshman in a few years, she’s got to train in places like this.
Sounds like you’re pretty conflicted. What are you going to do?
Dad 2: I don’t know. I’m leaning toward taking a break from the sports money-making machine.
Scene: training session ends. Girls walk off the court to their parents.
CeCe: Hey Dad, did you see me do overhand serves? I got three across the net. Oh, and can we sign up for the next session? A few of the friends I played with today are doing it.
Dad 2: Sure kid. I bet we could make that work.
Cory Armstrong-Hoss lives in Everett with his wife and three kids. His kids have played a number of different sports. He’s a lifelong athlete, and he’s served as a coach, ref, and youth sports administrator. Find him at substack.com/@atahossforwords
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