• Video shows football coach and MLK Recreation Center Director, Antonio Parker, and Professor at Jackson College, Jacklyn Burkhard, sharing their insight on burnout in youth sports.
• According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, about 70% percent of children drop out of organized sports by age 13.
• Parker and Burkhard both agree that children being involved in multiple sports helps prevent burnout.
• Both also say it’s important for kids to feel like they’re having fun when participating in sports, and to not put as much pressure on the athletes at a young age.

It’s no secret that children love to play. They love to play, until…they stop. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, about 70% percent of children drop out of organized sports by age 13. I stopped by the MLK Recreation Center to ask the Director and Jackson High School’s Head Football Coach, Antonio Parker, about burnout in young athletes. “I think we all get that burnout, where you’re constantly at a grind, grind, grind. Then, ‘I need a break for a second.’ A kid can’t compartmentalize that,” Parker explains.
Parker says that he can recognize burnout in an athlete, early on. When asked how to combat that, he responded, “You’ve got to get to the root of the problem, and that can be anything.” Working with kids every day, Parker says he checks three boxes:

• How are you doing at home?
• How are classes at school?
• Can we help you with anything?

“If you can check those three boxes every day, for the most part, you can build that rapport. You can build that bridge so that kid can walk across that bridge to trust you every day,” he explains.
Over at Jackson College, Jacklyn Burkhard has taught Sports Psychology for several semesters. I wanted her opinion on why, for some kids, the love of the game isn’t enough. Burkhard says, “An important thing about childhood is that kids need to play. Kids need to develop friends. They need to try different activities. Being able to do that in the middle of a sport is the best of both worlds.”

Burkhard continues, “The rule of thumb, basically, from a psychological perspective, is whatever the age the child is, that’s how many hours a week that they should be on this one particular (activity).” She and Parker both agree that playing multiple sports is best for young athletes. Parker says, “I would always advocate for kids to play multiple sports. Sports teach you so much about life.”

Olivia Pageau

Both say that in sports, it all comes down to one word: Fun. “Kids have to have fun. They have to have fun doing what they’re doing,” says Burkhard. “Let the kid have fun. Let them have a good experience,” says Parker.

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