TheVirginiaJournal_SpringSummer2024

A Shifting Youth Sports Landscape:Effects on Athletes with Disabilities John Scheevel , M.S., Health Education Teacher/Coach, Century Middle School, Lakeville, MN

Abstract Youth sports can provide many benefits to those who partake in them. This is especially true for children with disabilities, a growing population in the U.S., as they have an increased need not currently being met for physical activity and social development. However, the current shifting youth sports landscape which has become more professionalized has made participation in youth sports for individuals with disabilities more difficult. This article analyzes several key areas in which current youth sports trends are having especially negative impacts on athletes with disabilities, including the rising cost of sport participation, the increase in elitism in youth sports, and the lack of proper training for youth sports coaches. Introduction The benefit of youth sport has been well documented. It provides the opportunity for young athletes to participate in health-enhancing physical activity while also developing social and psychological development (Côté et al., 2007). One population for which these opportunities and benefits are especially important is young athletes with disabilities. Evidence from multiple studies has shown that children with disabilities are at greater risk of being obese than their non-disabled peers (Bandini et al., 2015; Rimmer et al., 2007). It has also been found that “youth with disabilities spend a similar amount of time in light-intensity physical activity, but less time in moderate and vigorous-intensity physical activity than their peers” (Jung et al., 2018, p. 394). Youth sport provides a prime opportunity for these young people to engage in moderate and vigorous physical activity to improve their health outcomes. Not only does it improve physical health outcomes, it also provides important social development for students with disabilities. Students with disabilities have been reported to participate in fewer social activities than their typically developing peers and have substantially and significantly fewer friends than those typically developing peers as well (Taheri et al., 2016). Provided the opportunity, sports can greatly impact the overall well-being of individuals with disabilities. At the same time that the need for youth sports opportunities for individuals with disabilities is growing, as there was a 9.5% increase in the prevalence of developmental disabilities in children in the years spanning from 2009-2017 and currently approximately 1 in 6 children in the U. S. have a developmental disability (Zablotsky et al., 2019), there has been a large shift in the youth sports landscape. Youth sport has become more professionalized, which has had ripple effects across the youth sports landscape and raised a variety of issues including the cost of play, elitism, and a lack of coaching preparation. This shift has had a damaging effect on overall youth sport participation, but especially for individuals with disabilities. This article

will discuss how the current issues of cost of play, elitism, and coaching preparation in youth sports specifically impact individuals with disabilities. The topics discussed are intended to generate awareness for those hoping to create a positive impact and change in the youth sports experiences provided to athletes with disabilities. Discussion Cost of Play One of the large shifts in youth sports in the last several years has been the increasing cost to play. According to the Aspen Institute (2019), “On average, families spend $693 per child for one sport each year” (p.2). Another study found that the percentage of annual family income spent on their child’s sport ranged from 3% to 12% (Baxter-Jones et al., 2003). While this may be an expense that families with the economic means can afford, this creates a major obstacle to participation for those of lower socioeconomic status. The percentage of children ages 6 to 12 who played a sport regularly from households with incomes under $25,000 is 21.6% compared to 42.7% for those children who come from households with incomes of $100,000+ (Aspen Institute, 2019). While the cost of sports is a problem for all young athletes hoping to participate in sports, it disproportionately affects children with a disability. “Children with a disability are often born into low-income families; however, it has also been reported that families who care for children [sic] with a disability often find themselves sliding towards poverty” (Anderson et al., 2007, p. 4). The cost of caring for a child with a disability carries with it the monetary burden in some cases “exceeding 5% to up to 12% of families’ incomes and with net costs of up to $8,000 a year” (Anderson et al., p. 14). The combination of the cost of raising a child with a disability, the likelihood of students with disabilities being from low-income households, and the rising cost of athletic participation create a significant barrier to participation for athletes with disabilities. Elitism In recent years, sports programs have become increasingly elitist and institutionalized (De Knop et al., 1996 as cited in Cô té et al., 2006; Jayanthi et al., 2013). This rise in elitism is a large factor in the previously discussed rising cost of participating in youth athletics. With the rise in elitism in youth sports has also come an increased focus on competition and winning. This increased focus on winning and competition becomes a large barrier to participation in sports for individuals with disabilities as this high-level competition and emphasis on winning make it much less desirable for coaches or sports directors to accommodate youth with disabilities (Moran et al., 2010). If coaches are not in support of or desiring to accommodate

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