Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Too gifted in sports?

Oops. Cross-posted with questions. But our points are similar. I certainly agree that kids' sports are out of control, and that the kids are the unwitting victims. And yet, there should be room for kids who want to accelerate in sports as in school. Shouldn't there?

BB

BaseballDad, age eligiblility rules are tough wherever they are instituted. The 16 year old rule in women's gymnastics is an attempt to protect young athletes from abusive practices trying to keep girls prepubescent. 80 pound kids without hips or breasts can move through the air more easily than a fully-developed woman. Unfortunately, the attempts to produce champions have resulted in all sorts of abuses. Whatever the rule, there are people trying to figure out how to get around it.

Not to bore Neato, but ... yes. And there are outlets for better athletes - travel teams, regional, state, national and international competitions. In fact, it's hard for an athlete to hone his or her skill without competition. Still, there are plenty of examples of athletes playing down to win. In fact, today I heard that the kids who compete in DS's taekwondo school play down a belt in competitions, except for nationals, where the rules are enforced. I couldn't help saying to his best friend's mom, "but that's unethical!" Her response: "everyone does it." That attitude is the problem with so much...

Questions: I don't say the issue is simple. I certainly know the arguments for the age limit in women's gymnastics. But the whole thing seems so arbitrary. There is no age limit for swimming, diving, track and field, and many other sports. Are the issues really so different? When Michael Phelphs swam in the Olympics in 2000 he had just turned 15 years old. His training regimen is, and has been for years, absolutely extraordinary. By some accounts he burns over 8000 calories per day in his work outs. Is that abusive? Perhaps. If so, then maybe the point is that it was wrong for Phelps too. But if not, why not? I just think the issues are difficult, and it's hard to be consistent here. I don't say I am. I just wonder how best to think about it.

BB

Interesting book: Little Girls in Pretty Boxes:

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Girls-...mp;s=books&qid=1219715621&sr=8-1

That is an interesting book; I've read it, too.

I think it is an important point that other athletes are training hard at a young age. Are they being pressured to do that or do they just have internal drive?

I think the 16 yr. minimum age limit for gymnastics is totally ineffective. First of all, wouldn't that increase abuses resulting from trying to stay prepubescent? If a girl is prepubescent, she doesn't have to abuse her body, right? But the older she is the more she has to struggle to stay girlish.

Secondly, it is inconsistent--don't young female divers have an advantage? It sure appeared that way, but I don't know of an age limit in that sport.

Thirdly, it is apparently unenforceable.

If we seriously think that these things are not appropriate for children to train for and perform at the Olympics, maybe they shouldn't be Olympic sports.

About playing down--I think entering a tae kwon do competition at a lower belt level is dishonest and contrary to the tenets of the sport. I have a black belt in TKD myself and I know that this is not practiced at our dojang. So "everyone" is not doing it.

However, I don't think that the boy in the article was playing down. He was in the right age group. We don't know the reasons that his parents didn't choose to have him participate in another league. Maybe it wasn't feasible for some reason.

Or maybe they just bought into the notion that social interaction should take place with kids of the same age. Isn't that what the schools keep telling us?

<tongue lodged firmly in cheek>

Hee, hee!

Never bored, Questions, just disgusted! This is almost the same discussion we've had concerning creator parents. Parents who blindly push their own obsessions onto their children so singlemindedly and maniacally, the children are severely harmed, abused, whatever term you want to use. Whether it's emotional or physical harm it's all the same. And the parent who says: well, that's what all the other parents are doing.........my goodness, a village of idiots.

Here is a case where a kid is too good at sport and is banned.

A youth baseball league has banned a 9-year-old, and disbanded his team, because he throws too hard

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/2008/08/jericho_scott_pitches_too_good_/


"Nine-year-old Jericho Scott is a good baseball player � too good, it turns out. The right-hander has a fastball that tops out at about 40 mph. He throws so hard that the Youth Baseball League of New Haven [Connecticut] told his coach that the boy could not pitch any more. When Jericho took the mound anyway last week, the opposing team forfeited the game, packed its gear and left, his coach said.

[...]

Jericho�s coach and parents say the boy is being unfairly targeted because he turned down an invitation to join the defending league champion, which is sponsored by an employer of one of the league�s administrators. Jericho instead joined a team sponsored by Will Power Fitness. The team was 8-0 and on its way to the playoffs when Jericho was banned from pitching.

�I think it�s discouraging when you�re telling a 9-year-old you�re too good at something,� said his mother, Nicole Scott. �The whole objective in life is to find something you�re good at and stick with it. I�d rather he spend all his time on the baseball field than idolizing someone standing on the street corner.�

League attorney Peter Noble says the only factor in banning Jericho from the mound is his pitches are just too fast. �He is a very skilled player, a very hard thrower,� Noble said. �There are a lot of beginners. This is not a high-powered league. This is a developmental league whose main purpose is to promote the sport.� Noble acknowledged that Jericho had not beaned any batters in the co-ed league of 8- to 10-year-olds, but say parents expressed safety concerns. �Facing that kind of speed� is frighteneing for beginning players, Noble said
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