What Role for Middle School Sports?

School Administrator, Nov, 1998 by C. KENNETH McEWIN, Thomas S. Dickinson

Safe and developmentally appropriate play may be difficult to achieve when schools move into the interscholstic arena

As school district leaders in Hillsborough County, Fla., Paradise Valley, Ariz., or any other community that recently has taken up the issue of middle-level sports can attest, many coaches and parents believe sports competition ought to be available to all students, no matter what their age or developmental stage.

These advocates passionately support comprehensive, highly competitive interscholastic sports programs for young adolescents while rationalizing and dismissing the problems typically associated with such programs for youngsters who are 10 to 14 years old.

On the other hand, proponents for modifying middle-level sports want to make them safer and more developmentally responsive to the needs and interests of young adolescents-even when that means eliminating competition among schools. This situation sets up a crucial and difficult decision for administrators and their governing boards.

Ongoing Debates

The proper role of interscholastic sports for young adolescents has been an intensely debated topic for several decades, and it remains as emotional an issue today as ever. During the past year, an organized parent group has been pressing a reluctant school board in Paradise Valley, a Phoenix suburb, to restore the middle school sports program it dropped two years ago in favor of intramural competition that includes instruction by high school coaches. In St. Johns County, Fla., the school board last year approved a limited interscholastic program for its five middle schools in a 3-2 vote. So far, the competition is restricted to basketball and volleyball because of the limited capital outlay for equipment.

Meanwhile, in Tampa, Fla., the board rejected a community task force proposal last year to revive interscholastic competition at middle schools but approved a more limited recommendation in May. The latter measure restores competitive play in soccer, volleyball, basketball and track but only if the annual cost of $186,000 could be raised privately. Thanks primarily to a single donor, the funding goal was met.

Widespread Competition

This is not a middle school issue. The real issue is what school-sponsored competitive interscholastic sports programs, if any, should be available to young adolescents no matter what the names or grade organizations of the schools they attend.

The interscholastic sports debate is associated routinely with middle schools, however, since the establishment of new middle schools often is accompanied by careful study of what programs and practices best serve young adolescents. This study reveals the serious dangers associated with interscholastic sports programs for 10- to 14-year-olds and builds an awareness of other problems common in middle-level interscholastic athletics.

With the exception of a relatively small number of districts, equal percentages of middle and junior high schools have maintained competitive sports programs for many years. Several national studies, including one we conducted in 1993, have revealed that approximately 80 to 90 percent of all middle schools have some interscholastic sports programs. The real question, then, is how can administrators at the school and district levels make their interscholastic athletics programs as safe and developmentally appropriate as possible?

Common Problems

A prerequisite to administering middle-level sports programs effectively is to be keenly aware of the problems associated with them. The five problems most frequently identified include: (1) the predisposition of young adolescents to physical injury, (2) the question of psychological readiness, (3) the high attrition rates, (4) the question of proper coaching and (5) issues of liability.

The most dangerous time for youth to participate in organized sports is between ages 10 and 14, the middle school years. As documented by the Consumer Product Safety Commission and other agencies, significant numbers of debilitating injuries and deaths occur every year for this age group.

Sports injuries sustained by children and young adolescents have increased substantially in recent years with the highest injury rates being for those playing football (an increase of 50,000 injuries in a four-year period).

Football, however, is not the only sport that poses risks for children and young adolescents. Soccer, considered by many to be a relatively "safe sport," is not as safe as once thought. For example, during 1993 alone, 38 percent (56,621) of soccer injuries occurred to young adolescents between the ages of 10 and 14 and three fatalities were reported for this age group as a result of playing soccer. During this same year, of the 460,000 baseball-related injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms, 28 percent (119,280) were to young adolescents between the ages of 10 to 14 year olds. Other sports such as wrestling, gymnastics, baseball and basketball are among those where the largest number of injuries to young adolescents occurs.