UNIT 7: SPORTS
My name‿ is Julia. My son‿ is nine‿ an(d) plays‿ in‿ a children's team,│ and‿ I have been taken‿ aback by how early the machinery of selection begins to operate.
Coaches speak‿ of talent‿ identification‿ at‿ eight,│ an(d) some parents behave‿ as│ though a professional career depends‿ on the judgement‿ of‿ a child│ who still needs help tying his laces. Specialisation‿ is‿ encouraged prematurely,│ despite the evidence linking‿ it to injury an(d) burnout,│ an(d) one father‿ at‿ our club has his son‿ in three sports‿ across five weekly sessions. That boy withdrew in March. The dropout rate rises sharply at fourteen,│ and‿ it‿ is not│ because‿ adolescents stop‿ enjoying movement;│ it‿ is│ because the activity has ceased to be theirs.
What‿ I wan(t) from youth sport‿ is‿ inclusion rather than‿ excellence. The children│ who will never compete‿ are precisely those│ who will benefit mos(t) from‿ a lifelong habit‿ of participation,│ an(d) they are the ones‿ a selection system discards. My daughterdau-der swims│ once‿ a week‿ an(d) will never‿ enter‿ a race. If she is still swimming‿ at fortyfor-dy,│ that will represent‿ a far betterbe-der return‿ on the investmen(t) than‿ a medal‿ at twelve│ an(d) nothing thereafter.