Sports - I know I can make a difference

I read yet another article about the rise in childhood obesity. I have been talking about this problem for years. During this time, I have come up with some ideas that could help. When it comes to diet, I don't have much to contribute. When it comes to physical activity, I have already been sharing ideas.

Before I go any further, I want to bring up a story that I encountered online that I don't even know how I found. It was years ago, so I might not remember everything correctly. It was supposed to be an inspiring story about a 7th grade girl being cut from her volleyball team. Instead of moping, she asked around for advice about how to make the team next year.

This story really bothered me. As early as 7th grade, we told a child that we wouldn't allow her to play a sport because we didn't think she was good enough. If someone like that wants to play, she should be allowed. This led me to think about our obesity crisis. If this is how we handle sports, is it surprising that we can have an obesity crisis?

We need to start prioritizing sports as a recreational rather than elitist pursuit. County-level parks and recreation is the logical lead, not schools. There are numerous advantages to shifting to parks and recreation including establishing a county-level pool of players that gets rid of problems with in-between interest levels. If school has enough for one team but not enough for two, they have to make cuts. This is not necessary for a county-wide pool of players. Parks and recreation can also use that pool of possible players to diversify offerings. Beyond all of that, parks and recreation can more efficiently share resources between youth and adult programs, creating benefits beyond just youth.

Not only do I want to move sports leagues to parks and recreation, but we should move away from the colossal failure known as physical education. Children's introduction to sports are completely controlled by teachers. Children have no say over their own physical activity. This can decrease their interest in physical activity. To make things worse, what do you think happens if the only reason people are physically active is due to force and you eliminate that force? When people are done with school, they are less likely to remain physically active.

Instead of physical education as we know it, we can embrace activities such as introductions to various sports and simplified variants for newcomers. I also want open practices, so people can learn to play without having to commit to formal games. Most importantly, children should have a say in which activities they participate. This is something that could potentially be done in schools, but I still prefer that parks and recreation takes the lead. A larger pool of potential athletes should allow diversification of opportunities.

Obesity isn't the only big issue with sports right now. What about the transgender issue? Even though it's not in the Constitution, I view freedom of thought to be more fundamental than freedom of speech. I do not want to deprive anyone of the right to live a physically healthy lifestyle just because their thoughts are different than mine. More importantly, I don't want the government to deprive anyone of a physically healthy lifestyle because they think differently than what the government wants them to think. Simply put, I don't want the government (parks and recreation) to harm the physical health of citizens for not letting the government control what they think.

The politically correct side of this issue is that people who believe they are one gender should not be forced to live their lives as a different gender. The politically incorrect side of this is that most things that are gendered are gendered for biological reasons. We should not tell anyone that they are not allowed to see gender in terms of biology. Seriously, does anyone honestly believe that sports are gendered because of gender identity?

Because these views are contradictory, there is no perfect answer. There are, however, things that can be done to reduce the problems. Keep in mind that I want to prioritize recreational pursuits. In a sport like golf, there is a fairly simple conclusion. Let's match people with others of similar skill levels. I see no practical reason to gender the sport.

Gendering sports is not just about playing with and against people who are at similar skill levels. There have been concerns raised about injuries. This complicates the situation, but we still have options. Could you imagine five-year-olds facing twenty-five-year-olds? This would be a similar problem that we see with gender. We have actually created multiple layers of division for a single purpose.

Without taking transgender athletes into consideration, we could create a league that includes males of one age range and females of another. This would eliminate one layer, allowing diversification of offerings. Going further, we could create a measure that adds transgender athletes into the mix while potentially adding other reasons for mismatches that can lead to injuries. I would much rather address these mismatches than focus on the underlying reasons.

I have already documented a lot of my ideas out of fear of losing them. I will provide a link. This is a broad sports project containing a lot of unrelated ideas. Because I make periodic updates, I will actually link to my list rather than the latest version. Also keep in mind that this is a brainstorming project. I didn't restrict the document to just my best ideas. Here it is:
https://1drv.ms/w/s!Ar3VXpGA-24ugbZXsMItAL-SE2FggA?e=bcAedN

There is no question whatsoever that I can make a difference in the sports world. Seeing how bad things are when I know I can make a difference has taken a toll on me. I am absolutely sick of sitting on the sidelines.

If I'm so desperate to make a difference, why don't I? In the modern world, ability and opportunity are not closely related. Credentialism is especially problematic. We don't see people for who they are and what they have to offer. Instead, we see them for what pieces of paper they have acquired.

Why don't I get that piece of paper? If you know me, you probably already have a good idea. If you don't know me, I guess I should summarize.

There are no credentials in existence that show my understanding of my personal views regarding sports. Any credentials in this area would be within context of a model that I hate. I'm reluctant to invest time, money, and effort into a model that needs to be replaced.

Credentials are about more than just time, money, and effort. Sone people don't fit this model. I happen to be in this group. I spent a year at a community college as part of a dual enrollment program. It was the exact same mind-numbing environment as high school, and I couldn't handle the mindlessness being demanded from me.

Returning to college would be downright unhealthy for someone like me. The push to abandon thought and conform to the status quo could hinder my ability to contribute. In the end, sacrificing ability in favor of opportunity would defeat the purpose of pursuing credentials. It would be even worse if the pursuit of credentials killed me, which is something that I can't rule out based on my history with the schooling process.