Worth Reading

The Pay-to-Play Childhood

A deep dive into the world of youth travel sports and how they have become a costly requirement as recreational programs decline. Five million children face early specialization, injuries, and intense pressure while families feel trapped in a profitable pay-to-play system.

Oof, I feel this one. Gone are the good old days of kids being able to play a different sport each season. The pressure to specialize at a young age and compete at a high level year-round is sucking the joy out of youth sports. This piece from New York magazine pulls a Lester Freamon and “follows the money” to reveal who is profiting from this craze.

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