The Cost of High Stakes On Little League Games - Essay Example

The parents who constantly push their children to excel can not seem to understand that not all children are meant to be over-achievers or future sports superstars. That is why they constantly shout at their kids to do better during the game and get loud, foul-mouthed, and dangerously aggressive towards the Little League officials during certain games. Although I do not have children of my own to use as the basis of comparison for this paper, I will have to say that I have attended quite a number of Little League games where my nephews were participants, and I would have to agree with Nevius in this case; the violence in the stands and on the field that is caused by the parents made me want to yank my nephews off the court more than a few times.

Little League is no longer a fun weekend activity for kids these days. Instead, it has transformed into a pressure cooker for the children whose parents expect them to be the next big name in sports and the star jock of their college or university. Parents put so much pressure on their children to succeed in Little League due to their future interests in the child's welfare that I would not wish a Little League membership on the child of my worst enemy. Little League now has high stake costs because the parents have blown the Little League success of their children out of proportion.

The high stakes cost of the Little League games is not limited to the amount of time that the child spends training, attending sports clinics, or even the cost of professional coaching that the parents insist that their children must have in order to succeed in Little League. Rather, the high stakes of these games come at the price of the lives of the participants. The coaches are often getting the brunt of the ire of the parents. It is these people, the hired hand, whose lives are placed on the line because of a parent's uncontrollable temper.

Which is why some kids, such as Jesse Cayas, give up the mainstream Little League sports altogether. He explains: “A lot of parents would get into fights (arguments) sometimes. They'd yell at each other.” (qtd. in Kroichick). The situation as described by Cayas is one that is replicated at thousands of Little League parks across the country. The parents are either yelling at the kids to improve their game, or they are at the throats of the coaches, umpires, or referees for making what they perceive to be bad calls during the game.

Parents, who are expected to be the epitome of proper behavior in public and dignified calm in the face of defeat, turn into wild animals who attack those whom they feel have prevented their child or children from achieving victory. Our country has developed an unhealthy habit of turning any game into an all out sports war. From the early beginnings of the NBA games on television, these days, parents and the public do not think of the humiliation and embarrassment that children feel when every Little League game that can gain air time, even on local television stations only, becomes such a big deal for all concerned.

Having the Little League of Baseball series aired does not do any of the playing teams a favor either as the children are forced to play out their eventual loss or win over television. These types of events place undue stress on the children and the parents (Stenzler, “Little League World Series: Children are Thrust into the Media Glare”). Exactly when did embarrassing the child on local or national television become a part of the enjoyment