Study: parents egging on kids' sports injuries

When our children head out to play sports this summer, the pressure to win is so intense; a troubling new local survey reveals 59 percent of young athletes say they expect to get hurt as part of the game. What’s even more surprising – local kids polled say coaches, teammates and in some cases even their own parents have tried to make them play injured and even suggested they hurt another player. And 69 percent of young athletes who were hurt say they continued to play hurt, and half of them say they hid their injuries so they could play.

The just released local survey of children (boys and girls), ages 8 to 14 who play sports reveals:

63 percent say they have been hurt playing sports.

59 percent say it’s part of the game and they expect it.

64 percent say they’re afraid someone will hurt them while playing sports.

11 percent say they were offered gifts or money to hurt another player.

The survey was commissioned by the non-profit arm of i9 Sports, a youth sports league franchise.

The local survey also reveals:

81 percent of those who have been hurt say their teammates/friends have thought of them as tough, cool, a good player, or even a hero when they played hurt and “took one for the team.”

42 percent of those hurt say they were called foul names if they sat out while hurt – some by their own moms and dads! Names include “wuss,” “wimp,” “cry baby” or “mama’s boy.” Other names were given, but were too graphic to print.

29 percent say they are secretly glad when a player on the other team gets hurt.

So who’s influencing our young players to rough-it-up at all cost?

34 percent say their coaches’ priority is the win over safe play.

16 percent of the respondents said they or their teammates tried to hurt another player. When asked who gave them the idea, 57 percent said teammates, 23 percent said their mom or dad, and 11 percent said coaches.

Of the 37 percent of respondents who said someone made them or tried to make them play while hurt, 52 percent said it was a teammate, 41 percent said it was a coach, 35 percent said it was one of their parents.

“I’m concerned about the direction of youth sports," says Dr. Robert Cantu, renowned neurosurgeon, expert on youth sports safety and acclaimed author of the book, “Concussion and our Kids.”

“Over the past 20 years or so it’s all become so serious. Fun no longer seems to be the main object. Now it seems to be about grooming your child to be a star ... It can be taken to extremes.”

“Across the country, young players are all-too-frequent victims of a sports culture that’s turning its back on them,” says Mark Hyman, sports journalist and author of “Until It Hurts: America’s Obsession With Youth Sports.”

“With each passing season youth sports seem to stray further and further from their core mission of providing healthy, safe and character-building recreation for children.”

More than Band-Aid solutions:

i9 Sports, a national youth sports franchise that focuses on sportsmanship, team work, fair play and fun over winning, has created two solutions to help local parents, coaches and league operators identify youth sports safety issues:

i9 Sports 9 Steps to Safe Play – i9 Sports created this free, downloadable safety checklist so local parents can make sure their children’s teams follow best safety practices.

i9 Sports Youth Sports Safety Survey – i9 Sports created this free, downloadable survey so local coaches and/or parents can give children to identify sports safety issues on the field before they become a big problem.

“We want the i9 Sports 9 Steps to Safe Play and the i9 Sports Youth Safety Survey to trigger some eye-opening discussions about dangerous behavior on the field to ignite real change,” says Brian Sanders, president of i9 Sports.

“Parents and coaches may be surprised they have as much to learn about sports dangers as the children. We’re the adults here. The burden falls on us to direct the focus of youth sports leagues away from cut-throat winning and back to fun, safe play.”