Why Do Parents Obsess Over Kids’ Athletics?

The school year has ended and with it its practice schedules and playoffs, but most sports can be year-round if you want them to be, and now the summer leagues begin, along with the clinics and the development camps. We are all familiar with the critiques of the turbocharging of youth sports over the past couple of decades. Critics argue that spending all this time and money on recreational sports that are getting more competitive and overheated is not necessarily good for children. Nevertheless, youth sports culture seems to barrel ahead on its trajectory toward more, faster, and stronger, partly thanks to billions of dollars in private-equity investment. It all must be ultimately worth it, right?