mately leads to better performance(APA 1996). Just think how enhanced this visualization can be if learned at an early age.Children who play sports not only up their self-esteem, but they become familiar with quasi-highpressure situations, which is something that we all have to deal with, at one point or another.Sports has a plethora of gifts to offer all of its particpants, but as mentioned before, not alllessons nor experiences that one garners while playing sports is all very good. Participation is at an all time high, with some estimates reaching heights as robust as fortymillion children(Dowell, Drummond, Grace, Harrington, Monroe, and Shannon 1999). But theproblem is not that players are multiplying like Gremlins in a swimming pool. Its how the sportsare being played. The days of simple organized sports- two games a week, practice one day aweek, and the field being two miles away from the farthest family- are gone. In its place, traveland tournament teams, who rarely play in the same city more than once, have things harried forthe typical working class family, not to mention exspensive. Club dues, clinics, camps, travel,and hotel can cost as much as $3,000. I remember when my parents, for a mere forty bucks,would sign me up to play baseball. For the forty dollars, I would get a Major League-lookinguniform, a fifteen game schedule, nice fields to play on, and more times than not, a nice trophywhen the season was over. But things are not simple anymore. Youth sports have not only risenin terms of participation, but in expectation, as well. According to Time magazine, some coachesbegin recruiting talented youngsters as young as eight. While this may sound good on the surface,these kids, in a way, lose some of their childhood. They spend every minute of free time, whetherit be after school, summer vacations, or weekends, at clinics, practices, and cutthroattournaments. For many of these kids, sports no longer becomes a wholesome hobby...
