Should the cost of sports get decreased to allow more participants?
Abstract
The number of youth who are participating in sports continues to reduce as time progresses. This trend has been prevalent for some time and it has attracted attention if many people. Researchers have studied the reasons behind this trend and discovered the key factor that is contributing to a reduction in several youths participating in sports is financial constraints. High sports registration fee and costs of participation in sports implemented by the organizers are crucial factors leading to a decline in participation of youth in sports. Statistics show that the numbers are falling gradually year after a year. Even the activity fees paid in schools is high and continue to be raised time after time. Parents reported this and claimed that it’s a major setback for their children as some parents are unable to pay the sports fee. As a result, many talents go to waste due to lack of participation in youth sports. Some people urge that the cost of youth sports should be decreased to allow more participants. This might work but it has its advantages and disadvantages. Following the decrease in participation fee for sports many youths will show up for the sports events. However, because of the decrease in prices of youth sports, the organizers will find it challenging to meet the needs of all involved parties in the sports events. Therefore, low-quality services will be generally offered. I agree that the cost of youth sports should be decreased to allow more participants. The theories of social capital and situated learning theory play a crucial role in the debate tied position.
Introduction
The decrease in the cost of youth participation in sports will raise the number of participants. In this essay reasons behind this social issue will be addressed. There has been a decreasing trend in several youths participating in sports when the participation fee was increased. Why what did this happen caused it? These are some of the questions that will strike you when you hear of this topic. However, there is a solution to this, decreasing the participation fee and also registration fee which is predicted to attracts large numbers again. This is a social issue that requires one to analyze the behaviours of human beings to clearly explain how the reduction in prices will attract more participants.
Should the cost of sports get decreased to allow more participants?
According to social learning theory, I think that youth sports organizers should incorporate low costs for youth participation in sports. This will allow more youths even from poor families to get a chance to show their sports talents (Witt & Dangi, 2018). The social learning theory deals with health behaviours associated with youths across the entire population. Lifestyle physical activity is a good example of this theory in a real-world example.
From the social learning theory point of view, a decrease in the cost of youth sport participation will attract more youths to the sports. The sports will help the youths develop physical and psychologically. When youths participate in sports they will have an opportunity to advance their talents. With regular exercises, the mouths can learn new aspects concerning sports (Post et al., 2018). They can also learn to be extra creative. For example, if it is football through training, the child can be able to differentiate when to dribble to pass the opponent and cases when what is needed is to shoot alone to score. Boosting in the creativity of the child will help him or her in other aspects such as studies and social life. Participation in sports also will enable the youth to develop physically. Through regular training and the actual sports competition, the youth will develop physically by growing their muscles and boosting their energy capacities.
Research shows that when the cost of sports participation is low more parents are willing to pay for their children and encourage them to participate in sports. However, when the cost is high fewer parents will only be willing to pay for their children (Lisinskiene et al., 2018). Some will feel that the cost is not worth the benefits that will be realized from the sports. Therefore, a large number of participants will be discouraged and they will quite thus decline the number of youths participating in sports.
According to social capital theory, the cost of youth sports should not be decreased to allow more participants. The theory deals will allocation of resources in sports. When more resources are allocated then the services that will be offered will be of high quality (Harris et al., 2017). But when the resources are decreased the services offered also decreases gradually. In this case, the resources may refer to the participation costs paid by the youths. If they pay more then the better the services that will be offered to them. These services include good stadiums, game kits and other playing items. Also, the foods offered during sports events. All these depend on the amount paid by the participants.
The cost of sports participation should not decrease because decrease will result in deterioration of the services offered during the sports. The decrease in quality of services offered with decrease the benefits that comes out of the sports activity. This will interfere with the main purpose of the sport (Seefeldt & Ewing, 1997). If it’s a football sport activity, the condition of balls supplied will not that be much pleasing. Other services like games kits supplied with also are not of the required quality. Less and less nutritious foods will also be offered to the players. Water supplied will also be limited. Following these constraints, the participants will find it challenging to offer their full potential. As a result, the overall performance of youths in sports will be decreased.
Research shows that sports activities that entail paying more participation cost are quality compared to those that are characterized by paying low costs. This is because the cost is directly related to services offered (Taks & Scheerder, 2006). Therefore, to encourage more participants and offer better services at the same time, youth sports organizers should balance the cost of participation with the needs of the participants. This will attract more participants at an average cost.
In conclusion, the number of youth who are participating in sports continues to reduce as time progresses. The key factor that is contributing to a reduction in several youths participating in sports is financial constraints. High sports registration fee and costs of participation in sports implemented by the organizers are crucial factors leading to a decline in participation of youth in sports. According to social learning theory, a decrease in these costs will attract more participants. However, according to social capital theory, decreasing the costs will decrease the quality of the services offered.
References
Harris, S., Nichols, G., & Taylor, M. (2017). Bowling even more alone: trends towards individual participation in sport. European sport management quarterly, 17(3), 290-311.
Lisinskiene, A., Guetterman, T., & Sukys, S. (2018). Understanding adolescent–parent interpersonal relationships in youth sports: A mixed-methods study. Sports, 6(2), 41.
Post, E. G., Green, N. E., Schaefer, D. A., Trigsted, S. M., Brooks, M. A., McGuine, T. A., … & Bell, D. R. (2018). Socioeconomic status of parents with children participating in youth club sports teams. Physical Therapy in Sport, 32, 126-132.
Seefeldt, V. D., & Ewing, M. E. (1997). Youth sports in America: An overview. President’s council on physical fitness and sports research digest.
Taks, M., & Scheerder, J. (2006). Youth sports participation styles and market segmentation profiles: evidence and applications. European Sport Management Quarterly, 6(2), 85-121.
Witt, P. A., & Dangi, T. B. (2018). Why children/youth drop out of sports. Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, 36(3).