Growing up, I always remember how much I wanted to be a professional athlete. Playing backyard sports with my brothers, starting neighborhood games, and going to ball games with my dad have always been great memories to look back on. I remember watching players such as David Beckham, Ronaldinho, Jermaine O'Neal and Tim Duncan and thinking, "I want to be like them." I grew up in a time when NBA-Stars Allen Iverson and Vince Carter were in their primes, when Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi started to make themselves known in the world's top soccer leagues, and when Sidney Crosby was making his National Hockey League debut. I never really knew how they became pros, but I figured that I could be too, if I was good at a sport and enjoyed playing it. Unfortunately, that did not work out for me, and I grew up wondering why. Throughout high school, I became more aware of the fact that you not only have to be very good at the sport, but also willing to focus much of your time as an adolescent on that particular sport. This awareness has led me to wonder if youth athletics are taken too seriously nowadays. 

Until the few years before I reached high school, sports were almost only for fun. However, as I got older, it became more important to win than to have fun. I was becoming more knowledgeable about what it would take to play a college sport, especially with the active Division I recruitment of my brother and myself, to play soccer. But what really sparked my interest on the subject was my observance of young athletes beginning to do drills, show emotion, and talk about sports on a much higher scale than I was able to at that age. I have often questioned my teammates, "Could you imagine how good we would be right now if we had that when we were their age?" But times change. I firmly believe that youth sports are tools for development of important character traits and lessons, so I question whether or not it is okay to treat youth athletics with such seriousness. As a lifelong sports fan, this is something that interests me. As a former athlete in the youth system and the NCAA recruitment process, I am qualified to write about the revisions made to U.S. Soccer rules.

 A recent article published by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) announced the revisions that U.S. Soccer has made as the governing body of the U.S. Youth program: a major change in the registration process, and a new mandate for the amount of players allowed on the field (pertaining to each age group). The article's central claim is represented by its title, New U.S. Soccer Coaching Initiatives Target Improvement in Youth Development Standards. USSF claims that these revisions were made to provide players with a better opportunity for improvement (U.S. Soccer, para. 3). With regards to the small-sided games (amount of players allowed on the field), they support the change saying "[we're trying to help] by putting [players] in an environment where they are constantly involved in the play" (U.S. Soccer, para. 4). Respecting the birth-year registration, though, they simply state that it will make it easier to understand the age groups while simultaneously aligning the U.S. calendar with the international calendar (U.S. Soccer, para. 4). This article outlines the changes that they made, but it does not go into detail about who will be affected by it. Although they were informative of the situation, as the people who made the revisions, they showed their bias by not explaining the whole situation.  

In response to this article, I came across a piece written by Bryan Drotar, who has been a part of the soccer community for a very long time. Drotar focused on the effects of the change in the registration deadline, which USSF believes would combat the relative age effect (RAE). RAE is used to describe a bias that shows more participation amongst older subjects in the given selection period, suggesting that older subjects have an advantage over younger subjets. Drotar states that USSF did not make a more level playing field, but instead shifted who is affected by the RAE (Drotar, para. 18). He goes on to identify two more major problems: 8th graders will not have a team to play for since the 9th graders will be playing at the high school level, and there will not be teams available for some high school seniors, depending on the timing of their birthday (Drotar, para. 31-32). I imagine that Bryan Drotar's interest in this topic and his motivation for writing this article had to do with the fact that he has been a scout for soccer, and this could mess up numerous players' recruitment process. Otherwise, he may just be another concerned member of the soccer community. In terms of the small-sided games mandate, he goes so far to say that it has problems of its own, "but is for others to write about" (Drotar, para. 9). Although taken on with a different perspective, John O'Sullivan addressed this mandate. 

Another long time member of the soccer community, O'Sullivan has a very positive outlook on this specific change. In fact, he calls the mandate fantastic and long overdue (O'Sullivan, para. 6). In a general sense, he tells the audience that there is plenty of evidence to support the benefits of small-sided games which can be seen by watching some of the most skillful areas of soccer - South American futsal culture and European academies. But more specifically, a study done by Manchester United F.C., one of the most successful franchises in soccer (O'Sullivan, para. 7). Manchester United found that by playing with less players, there were "135% more passes, 260% more Scoring Attempts, 500% more Goals Scored, 225% more 1v1 Encounters, [and] 280% more Dibbling Skills (tricks)" (O'Sullivan, para. 8). In addition to this study, O'Sullivan expresses the positive experience he has watching his young daughter's team play with these rules, and the positive experience he believes this change will create for U.S. Soccer (O'Sullivan, para. 13/17). Not only is John O'Sullivan a promoter of better development in athletics, but also of a better experience in youth athletics; he has a son and daughter who play soccer. 

While I continue to read articles that pertain to the recent changes by USSF, I have been able to view the situation from different perspectives. These new angles have allowed me to form a better opinion on the subject by providing me with new knowledge and discussing the benefits of each side of the argument. This research question is definitely arguable, because there are both pros and cons to each side of it. Drotar and O'Sullivan disagreed on the topic of the small-sided games mandate, but were more similar with their thoughts on the new registration deadline. Finally, this discussion is only one of many components to the question "Are Youth Athletics Taken Too Seriously?" Others include, but are not limited to, athletic burnout and parental influence. There are a number of factors in this research question, which is why I believe it will be good to work with. I will not only be focusing on soccer; these were simply the sources that sparked my interest in writing about the topic. If I were to revise it, the only thing I might do would be to narrow the question and focus in on a smaller component instead of the general picture. 

Reflection

Over the course of my research, my opinion on the issue of early specialization in sports and some of the negative components of elite youth sports has not changed. That being said, my research has enhanced my original stance on the subject by providing me with more supportive arguments, and most effectively by providing me with knowledge of solutions to these problems  --  solutions being what my argument lacked. 

Before I began my research, I already felt confident in my ability to write about this topic, but after a semester's worth of research, I feel far more qualified. Solutions are pertinent to a research paper (like any argument), and if I am able to find a flaw, I should be able to provide a solution. This research has given me this opportunity, and I am now content with my ability to provide an effective argument for this topic.

