A new page, Leagues and Events>Youth, has been added to my Sports notebook for My Idea Outlet. The contents can be found below.
In many ways, the situations for youth differ from adults. In sports, there can be concerns for someone young being introduced to the sport facing against adults who have been dedicated to the sport for years. While it may not be too problematic for a young boy or girl learning to bowl in a lane next to an elite level bowler, it seems less than desirable to put a young newcomer to tennis on the same court as a seasoned veteran in his or her prime.
At younger ages, I think that it would be best to look into age groupings. Some sports might not need any. Other sports could benefit from a fairly substantial number of brackets. These kinds of decisions should be made for each sport individually.
Youth team sports should include teams of roughly even skill, although I don't feel a need to invest in the resources to maximize the equality. This should allow everyone regardless of ability to complete. The use of mixed genders could eliminate controversies over transgender and gender non-conforming individuals. It could also allow for more variety in sports since you could field a team once you reach enough children interested in playing rather than enough boys for a boys team or girls for a girls team.
Events should follow similar rules. In some cases, there could be age groups. These events could be mixed genders.
Like other leagues and events, recreation should be a priority. Development would also be important. Fluid rosters, open practices, and drop-in opportunities are all musts.
Youth sports should also ensure plenty of opportunities for intermediate activities. By intermediate activities, I am referring to opportunities to learn skills outside of game settings. This can include stickhandling practices for hockey, catching drills for football, running exercises that can be used to benefit multiple sports, time in a swimming pool, and so much more. These kinds of activities should be available to people of all ages, but youth sports should be more active in these areas.
Similar to the intermediate events, youth sports opportunities should include introductory programs. These can come in multiple forms such as classes and games with simplified rules. Again, these should be more common in youth sports rather than exclusive to youth sports.
While recreation should be the primary focus, I am open to providing special opportunities to the most advanced athletes. Such options could include youth all-stars teams, invitational events, and perhaps the option to go up by an age bracket.
I will look more into how these leagues and events can be structured in the future.
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