BOSTON – Massachusetts leads the nation in youth sports participation, but club sports and travel teams are putting a huge strain on families.
Private clubs also have a negative impact on sports in local towns, creating a financial and time burden on parents and children.
So should youth sports in Massachusetts be regulated?
“Build a small league”
“I think we need to rebuild local recreation departments and establish small local leagues,” Boston University professor John McCarthy told WBZ-TV. He oversees the coaching specialty in the school’s physical education, health, and coaching graduate programs.
McCarthy believes well-meaning parents have simply accepted an expensive system.
“It’s amazing how much time and money they spend on just one child, especially when they have multiple children, which is really difficult to manage,” he says.
The growing backlash can be seen and heard all over social media. TikTok videos posted by parents and psychologists are highly emotional. Some say club sports “ruin families, marriages, and children themselves.”
Lunenburg mother Karin Menard lost $3,600 when her twins’ soccer club suddenly disbanded.
“There was no one to call. There was no one to say, ‘Hey, I need help here,'” she told WBZ.
“It doesn’t apply to everyone.”
The other family members also really enjoyed it. Dave Samara of Shrewsbury is a devoted father who considers the time he spends with his children at hockey tournaments to be both precious and fleeting.
“What I do is not for everyone,” he said. “It was great. I went from Springfield to Maine this weekend. All sports are expensive right now, and it’s also economical. It’s like choosing what you want to do, even though it’s a burden on you.”It’s like choosing what you want to do with your children. ”
He wants to keep kids active at home “with the iPad.”
Many are beginning to worry that time, travel and expense are putting youth sports out of reach for more children in Massachusetts.
“It’s like a private club.”
“We want to ensure that young people have the ability to play sports at no cost,” said Steph Lewis, CEO of The Base, a nonprofit organization that provides free sports in Roxbury. We would like to provide this service to the public,” he said.
He believes youth club sports have become “predatory.”
“The youth sports population is decreasing and the costs are going up. It’s similar to a yacht club, it’s more like a private club. It’s a members club and that’s pretty much what it is,” Lewis told WBZ. .
Regulation of youth sports
Now the state is also starting to get involved.
“Massachusetts used to be a leader in getting kids into high school, college and professional hockey, and now we’ve lost that. I think that has to do with the changes in club hockey here in Massachusetts.” Barry Feingold is a former athlete who coaches his son in football, the senator said.
“If you look at college sports, it’s regulated by the NCAA. If you look at high school sports, you have the MIAA. Now we have the most vulnerable in society, our youth sports, but There’s nothing,” Feingold told WBZ.
He is proposing a bill that would create a new regulatory agency to oversee youth sports in Massachusetts, similar to how the MIAA governs high school athletics.
“Parents spend $1 billion a year and are stressed about their kids playing, and we want to get it right,” Feingold promises.
Some worry about growing state bureaucracy and the appearance of government overreach.
“I think they need to consider the fact that if you’re in high school, it’s easier to play three sports in high school than it is as a youth athlete,” Feingold said. “What does that say?”
“We want our kids to play as many sports as possible. There has to be some balance, but we want to keep that balance and make sure that everyone, poor kids, middle-class kids, wealthy kids… What’s the best way to make sure they can enjoy sports and be able to participate in sports?” Feingold told WBZ.
He plans to hold three listening sessions across the state in 2025 to gather feedback from parents, youth coaches and businesses before moving forward with the plan.
More from CBS News
Paula Eben
