Growing up in the late 80's and 90's and playing youth sports, I was not exposed to any type of regimented strength and conditioning. I seem to remember the typical youth as a multi-sport athlete that did not "focus" on one particular sport. Most kids did not seek nor receive personal training. We all just loved being on a team and competing with one another. However, as schools continued to grow there has been a direct correlation to competition increasing as well. Players and coaches alike started seeking ways to separate themselves from the competition. In the case of the athlete it was all about strength and skill. Soon the mantra became; Bigger, Faster, Stronger (BFS). Larger schools started adding an emphasis on weight lifting programs and players began looking at personal training options. There is no shortage of this evidence in existence today. Many schools have strength and conditioning coaches on staff and players spend their off season in the weight room bulking up. Even the business world has jumped in with personal (one on one) training options. In Indianapolis alone there is the St. Vincent Sports Performance Center, Champions Basketball Academy and a slew of personal trainers just to name a few. This has no doubt led to a more physically imposing athlete. One that can jump high, sprint faster and hit harder.
All of this has been an outcrop of competition in athletics. Who doesn't want their son or daughter to be able to compete for the Varsity level spot, or that potential college scholarship? If the competition is doing it, why shouldn't you? While there is no doubt today's athlete is more physically imposing, stronger and faster, we must consider the harm this may be causing. Is this concept of bigger, faster, stronger simply straining the human body too much? Is the pure amount of stress from playing almost any sport you can think of year round leading to a quick breakdown in athletes? I cannot remember one of my teammates tearing an ACL, tearing a rotator cuff* or suffering such severe concussions that they were unable to complete tasks in the classroom. I know education and awareness have caught up over the last decade or so, but it still seems this issue of pushing kids to get bigger, faster and stronger, may be causing more harm than good.
*I have personally heard of junior high and high school baseball players "opting" for Tommy John surgery so they can get more zip on their fastball.
You hit the nail on the head... I believe that once the IHSAA adopted a year-round (basically) calendar for any and all sports is where you can trace the beginning of some of these issues. To be an elite athlete has become almost elitist... You're right - if the competition is doing it - you had better be doing it, too... if you want to be good! So, you are forced to play year-round with the best coaches ($$) on the best teams ($$) and in the best travel leagues ($$)!!! As a result, the average kid from lower income families simply can't afford this kind of training. In the end - the majority of those kids that could afford it are left with shattered dreams because they have abused their bodies by the time they reached adulthood.
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