But coaches & teachers treat them as if they are because of how badly we’ve lost our way in the realm of true youth development.
“Many coaches don’t understand the natural lack of emotional maturity within our kids & how to help them grow between the ears.
They view & treat them as mini-adults instead of slowing down & recognizing the big picture.
It’s because calling themselves a ‘hard coach’ is easier.”
-Ray Zingler on X
They’re kids.
Literally kids.
And look how we treat them.
We put mass volumes of specialized sport on them.
We hammer the shit out of them with standardized test prep.
And then on top of it we crowd every waking second of their lives with extra.
Extra lessons. Extra instruction. Extra tournaments. Extra showcases. Extra.
I mean it’s about common knowledge that they don’t have the physiological capacity to support the abundance of physical demands placed upon them (despite ignoring this fact, and sticking to the, “it’ll probably be fine” narrative – ‘Merica.)
But have you thought about the emotional side?
Have you thought about how old they are?
Have you thought about how undeveloped and highly impressionable their brains are?
These aren’t “mini-adults”, these are kids.
And when we treat them like grown adults, who they aren’t, it creates a host of mental & emotional issues for them.
Again, I could hammer you with the physical injury statistics (that are continuing to soar at the time of this writing), but I’ll spare you.
Have you considered why our kids are on more mental health medication than ever before?
Do you know why rates of anxiety & depression are skyrocketing in our youth populations?
Do you know why they have identity issues?
Could it maybe, just maybe, be that we’ve applied immense volumes of unnecessary pressure to every facet of their lives?
From the school hall to the ballfield and then when they do get a second to breathe, they are absorbed as cogs in the machine that is social media, comparing themselves to everybody else, all the time.
I get it Jim, you can “see past it”.
And Sandra, I know you’re able to “let the pressure go”.
But they can’t.
They don’t have the developed frontal lobes that adults do, to “get it”.
It’s for this reason, it is the DUTY of (mature) adults to help the kids navigate this broken landscape.
Not make it worse on them.
Not to throw more on them, to make more money.
Fu*k that.
Coaches & Leaders need to focus on less “Billy Badass” and educate themselves on how to positively impact the hearts and minds of young people.
The tough guy narrative doesn’t help them.
