My best sports memories growing up were with my friends in the driveway or backyard. My neighbor and I played outside all the time as a kid, I love the movie Sandlot because that was our life to some degree. On a typical day we would wake up play baseball in the backyard with a plastic bat and tennis ball, eat lunch, then go hang out at the pool. We didn't travel to a tournament on the weekend, we played when we wanted to. Kids are just fine playing in recreation leagues or other small leagues.
Today kids and parents are being forced by the societal norm to play organized sports way too much. Kids aren't playing pick up basketball anymore, they're not shooting baskets in the driveway and it's really depressing. My generation just missed out on this trend but I can see the effects on my friends that are still in high school. They are playing sports all the time, and to have any free time or a summer job, they have to choose their favorite/best sport and stick to that. I've talked to a lot of my friends that are still in high school and many are playing sports they tired of, or have just quit. The summer used to be a break, a chance for kids to make a little money, but now it's more sports.
When kids are playing 6 games a weekend they start going through the motions. They revert back to bad habits and create new ones. By playing so many games they lose the competitive edge they once had. Also, make sure it's something they really want to do. Too often I see kids playing just to play, it's a waste of money and time, get them involved in something they are interested in. Another thing that frustrates me is that parents think their kids needs to start playing sports as early as possible. My cousin has his 3 year old playing flag football.. 3 year old. Playing in backyard once a week will benefit your child way just running around. Hopefully parents will start to see that playing organized sports all the time isn't what's best for their kids.
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