Has youth sports lost the plot?

Sun, 06 Sep 2026 11:32:01 -0400

To answer the question posed in this edition of the Morning Brew, the answer is a resounding “yes”. Did I have dreams of playing professional sports as a kid? Of course. I don’t know many boys that loved and were good at sports who wouldn’t have. But then I grew up and realized that’s all it was… a dream.

Dreams are good. They make us strive. They make us work. Sports are good for the same reasons. Plus they (sports and dreams actually) teach us that sometimes things don’t work out, but tomorrow will go on. Will we realize it at the time? No. Hell, I still remember losing what at the time was some monumentally important (in my head) game, and some parent saying something along the lines of “the sun will still rise tomorrow”. I wanted to punch them in the face.

But you know what… Now as an adult I realize they were right, and that IMO is where youth sports has “lost the plot”. Parents who feel slighted because they fell short, hiding behind “I just want what’s best for my kid” as an excuse. Parents who can’t get over that game they “should have” won/did better in.

Like all things, change starts with us. The parents. The people who are supposed to be the adults in the room. Encourage your kid to play sports. Support them and cheer them on. Teach them it’s ok to lose, or at least just let them wallow in it for a minute, and then, you know what, life will move on as it does. That’s ok. In fact that’s perfect.

Sports on MarkJacobsen.net

Has youth sports lost the plot?