Coach: Youth sports are still great, even as money and expectations irreversibly changed the game

In Parker, Colorado, a youth sports coach and parent reflects on the pressure-loaded industry youth athletics has become as his 10-year-old son, Jax, moves through multiple sports. While Jax’s wiffle ball play shows unfiltered joy—staying alone in the yard until dusk—his start of tackle football this fall brings a more serious, contract-like feeling about single plays and outcomes. The father says he has coached Jax in flag football, baseball, basketball, and wrestling, while also parenting 17-year-old Bella through recreational, club, and travel basketball. He argues the American ideal of letting every child play conflicts with rising costs and a widespread desire to win.