Some thoughts:
Aspen High School's schedule has been designed to give ski team kids the best set up to both ski and learn---the rest of the students get a slightly less optimal school schedule so the ski kids can get in most of their classes and lots of time on the hill.
In the past 25 years ONE Aspen High School grad (Alex Ferreria) has made a real living skiing. Pretty much every other student is trying to make a living from what they have learned and they could have learned more and better with a schedule focused on learning not on compromising with the ski team.
Check out Alex in this fun vid, while you maybe wonder about the schools priorities.
Or the ultimate example of youth sports gone wrong--ESPN televising 300 games of the little league world series. It pumps an estimated $30 million into the local Williamsport economy every summer, and God knows how much ESPN pays little league baseball (in 2014 they signed an 8 year $76M contract and they recently signed another running 8 years---the CEO of little league baseball gets paid about $500k per year and little league baseball has assets estimated at $80 million).
That isn't 11-12 year old back yard baseball, that is big business. And there is all the business around it, additional coaching clinics, equipment, travel (the $30 million to local Williamsport businesses per year for hosting the tournament etc).......money corrupts and that kinda money is going to corrupt what should be a game of elementary school kids playing not very good baseball.
This year COVID hit kids sports---one of the upsides was that I couldn't watch my daughter's hockey games---and in a surprise to no one the further away I am from my daughter's sport the more healthy my relationship with it is.
One of the downsides was no home games---the closest games were about 90 miles away, the furthest where in Phoenix and the 4 or so hour drive to Denver was a very regular occurrence (and the drive to Gunnison in a total whiteout made me question my sanity).
Many people complain that parents have lost perspective around their kids sports. Well, when you ask parents to drive 100s of miles every weekend, give up many hours every week (between driving to practice and competitions) and spend lots and lots of money between the program itself, equipment and all the extra's from hotel rooms to windshield wiper fluid-----and then you wonder why parents sometimes lose perspective. Oh come on. You can't expect a parent to give up pretty much every weekend for 4-6 months, spend tons of money and not expect (demand) their kid to give their full effort. Or get frustrated with the volunteer coaches who are kinda caught in the crossfire between parents being asked to give up too much, kids being asked to bring a professional work ethic, and the business of youth sport that compensates winning.
And lets be really clear about that---given the business that youth sport has become winning pays for many people involved with it. And trying to find sporting opportunities that haven't been corrupted by money and its partnership with winning is just about impossible.
I have no idea if there is anyway to put the genie back in its bottle. I have no answers, but I have been told the first step is admitting you have a problem and 'Houston we have a problem'.
