UNO Magazine: Good Sports

The following story appeared in the most recent issue of the UNO Magazine, which highlighted stories about familal bonds - both biological and by choice.

See more stories from the Summer 2020 issue of the UNO Magazine.

Read the full magazine online as a Flipbook or download a PDF.

UNO graduate Dave Bianchi, a detective with the Omaha Police Department, says youth sports not only taught two of his children important life lessons — and helped earn them college scholarships — but they also served as a sort of glue.

“We would consider ourselves a sports family,” Bianchi says. “It brings us together. And my son and daughter who are into sports, it has brought them closer together … because they have respect for each other as athletes.

“We are constantly talking about sports in our house, whatever season it is — football, lacrosse, track, volleyball. It has given us something to bond with.”

Bianchi’s daughter Morgen, 20, played youth, club and high school volleyball at Papillion-LaVista and Papillion-LaVista South high schools, and ran track at all three levels. She is currently at Northwest Missouri State on a track scholarship.

His 18-year-old son Joe played youth, club and high school football, and youth and club lacrosse, at Papillion-LaVista High School, where he just finished his senior year. Joe earned an athletic scholarship to play lacrosse at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas.

The Bianchis’ youngest child, 17-year-old Nic, dabbled in youth sports, but focused instead on starting his own candle-making business. “He’s planning on an academic scholarship,” Bianchi says.

Bianchi says his sports-playing children benefited greatly from being on athletic teams, learning important lessons on discipline, teamwork, working toward a goal and effectively budgeting their time. He saw his daughter, especially, become more confident in herself and her ability to achieve.

“I started to see that in her schoolwork,” Bianchi says. “She wants to be the best in the class. Not that she wants anyone else to do bad, but if there’s a chance to get 102%, she wants that 102%.”

Front and Center

Daniel Hawkins, an associate professor of sociology and anthropology at UNO whose research interests include family sociology and the sociology of sports, is critical of some aspects of organized youth sports. But, he says, these activities are primarily beneficial.

“I think there are a lot of good lessons to be learned in youth sports that are applicable to the rest of their lives,” Hawkins says. “There’s a reason why it exists. Kids love games, and they love sports.”

So, too, it seems, do the parents — who often adjust their lives around youth sports schedules. It’s part of a wider phenomenon, Hawkins says, wherein children are increasingly the center of family dynamics.

“There has been a general change in parenting styles over the past three decades,” Hawkins says. “Kids are at the center of families now. More than ever parents are organizing their lives around kids’ activities — whether they be sports or not. But sports are probably the activity that more kids are involved in than any other.”

As a sociologist, Hawkins is particularly interested in the social-class differences found in parental approaches to youth sports. While American families, overall, have become more child-centric, he says, middle- and upper-class parents are more likely to see youth sports as an investment that can pay off down the road in terms of college scholarships and other advantages. Working-class parents, he says, are more apt to have the attitude of “let kids be kids.”

“Some of that may be that working-class parents can’t afford all of these activities,” Hawkins says.

According to the Aspen Institute’s 2019 State of Play report, referencing data from the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, 38% of children ages 6 to 12 played a team or individual sport on a regular basis in 2018, down from 45% in 2008.

“It’s basically an issue of cost,” Hawkins says.

In 2018, 22% of children ages 6 to 12 in households with incomes under $25,000 played sports on a regular basis, compared to 43% of children from homes earning $100,000 or more, according to the Aspen Institute report. On average, it found, families spend $693 per child for one sport each year.

“It’s a huge financial commitment,” Bianchi says. “It’s very, very expensive. But when you get into club sports, you kind of get what you pay for, too. “

Specialization and Sportsmanship

Hawkins says another issue with youth sports is specialization in one particular sport. He says research has shown overly repetitive movements can be hard on growing bodies, and he suggests that youth shouldn’t specialize in a sport until at least high school.

Bianchi says he’s heard the same data, but in reality, coaches often don’t make multisport participation easy.

“You hear people talk about how they love multisport athletes,” he says. “In words they say that, but in action the track coach doesn’t care that you have a volleyball practice.”

Hawkins, the father of a 10- and 8-year-old who play soccer, says it can be exciting for parents to watch their children learn a sport and improve over time. He believes the headline-grabbing image of out-of-control parents getting into fights with referees, coaches and other parents at youth sports contests is overblown. But it does happen.

Bianchi remembers being at a lacrosse tournament, and watching a fight break out between parents from two opposing teams.

“It was shocking to watch,” he says. “It was on a field right next to us. It was like, ‘What’s going on?’ All the referees from the different games stopped their games and ran over — breaking up fights and kicking parents out."

According to the National Association of Sports Officials, nearly 64% of officials have had to eject parents from youth games for bad behavior, and 75% of all high school officials who quit says poor parent behavior was a primary reason. One youth soccer referee started a Facebook page to shame unruly parents, and the National Federation of State High School Associations started two video campaigns — “The Parent Seat” and “Beyond the Scoreboard” — focused on parent behavior.

While youth sports, of all types, do have their positives and negatives, Hawkins says there’s one rule of thumb parents should follow — on the ice, on the diamond, on the court, on the pitch, or on the field.

“Flat-out, if your kid’s not having fun, then get out.”