| Apparently ESPN long ago figured out the answer | | | | their first X Games in 1995, followed by their first |
| to a very intriguing question which has been | | | | Winter X Games in 1997. The history of its |
| baffling most adults over the age of 40 for the | | | | successful growth speaks for itself. ESPN just |
| past decade or so. That question is, since droves | | | | wrapped up their 14th Winter X Games which, |
| of children nationwide end up abandoning | | | | once again, set new records for viewership and |
| participation in youth sports after the age of 12 | | | | attendance. Over 43 million viewers tuned in to |
| (e.g., the National Alliance On Youth Sports has | | | | watch Shaun White and other Generation Y |
| reported that 70% of kids who participate in | | | | celebrities "Dew" their stuff, while a record |
| organized youth sports quit these activities | | | | number (over 84,000) of attendees got to soak |
| entirely by the time they reach the age of 13 | | | | in the (sub) culture in person at Aspen, Colorado. |
| years old), then where in the heck are they all | | | | To understand the wild success of the X Games |
| going, and how are they occupying all of this | | | | is to understand the dramatically different psyche |
| newly found free time? | | | | of a new generation of youth. And if we |
| Well, like most of us adult cynics, we might | | | | understand that, we will no longer scratch our |
| presume that the primary answer is that they've | | | | heads at the mass exodus from organized sports |
| all headed to the couch or bedroom to plop | | | | by our teenage kids. It all adds up. |
| themselves in front of video games or glue their | | | | For the past 10 years, while traditional sports |
| noses to Facebook and You Tube. And in large | | | | participation has stagnated, the fastest growing |
| part this is true. In fact, a recent study published | | | | sport in America has been....you guessed it, |
| by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that the | | | | skateboarding. And right behind that? |
| amount of time teens and adolescents devote to | | | | Snowboarding. So what's the appeal? Well the |
| "entertainment media" continued to rise | | | | probable answer is that extreme, or X sports |
| dramatically, with kids spending more than 7 1/2 | | | | represent the exact antithesis to the average |
| hours per day (per day??!) attached to | | | | kid's experience with a traditional organized sports |
| computers, phones, TV's and video consoles. But | | | | program; an experience which by many accounts |
| any parent of a child between ages 11 and 18 | | | | has not been a very positive one. Consider the |
| would not be surprised by that. And, for that | | | | contrast. Where traditional youth sports are |
| matter, most adults I know have also had their | | | | organized, highly structured and run by adults, the |
| own use of computers and cell phones increase | | | | X sports are disorganized, unstructured and have |
| rather substantially in the last 10 years (ya' | | | | virtually no adult involvement whatsoever. Where |
| think!?), although I saw no data from Kaiser on | | | | traditional sports emphasize a team's winning and |
| adult Blackberry addictions or Farmville fanaticism! | | | | celebrate the more highly skilled athlete with adult |
| So when early teens finally escape the clutches of | | | | praise, more coveted positions and larger shares |
| parents and coaches whose zealotry for sports | | | | of playing time, the X sports promote individuality, |
| can no longer hold these burgeoning young adults | | | | eliminate the stress and anxiety of individual |
| captive to their oppressive and controlling | | | | success and failure, and allow equal participation by |
| organizations (okay, that was a bit cynical), where | | | | every athlete regardless of skill (or whose dad |
| do these kids land? According to ESPN, "X" marks | | | | might be coaching). Best of all, X sports are "their" |
| the spot. | | | | sports, not "ours." They are sports created by |
| Xtreme Growth | | | | kids for the benefit of kids; for kids to have fun, |
| In the early 1990's executives at ESPN took note | | | | to play and to be free of the adult microscope |
| of an emerging trend among our adolescents and | | | | and judgment. With no parent standing on the |
| teenagers, especially the boys. At a rapidly | | | | sidelines ready to criticize the first time they fall |
| growing pace, the underground world of so-called | | | | off their board, X sports have put the concepts |
| "extreme" sports was beginning to catch on with | | | | of "fun" and "play" back in to the world of games. |
| the youth of America. More and more kids were | | | | No wonder why kids continue to flock there in |
| laying down their leather baseball gloves and | | | | record numbers. |
| picking up a skateboard, BMX trick bike or pair of | | | | In a society where organized sports have come |
| RollerBlades and taking to the streets, parks, | | | | to dominate our kids' recreational activity, |
| schoolyards and driveways. Around that same | | | | rendering "pick-up play" almost extinct, we can |
| time, ski resorts across America were enduring | | | | actually learn a lot from this extreme sports |
| an extreme "invasion" of their own from a new | | | | trend. If we are going to continue to funnel our |
| technology and a new breed of downhill dare | | | | kids' recreational activities through these |
| devils. The modern day snowboard had exploded | | | | organizations then we should insist that the |
| in popularity among young skiers in the early 90's, | | | | organizations utilize an approach that is consistent |
| and the pioneering generation of snowboarders | | | | with what kids really want out of sports (not |
| were looked upon with disdain by the older skiing | | | | what adults want out of them). Every survey I've |
| establishment who saw these young winter rebels | | | | ever seen on why kids play sports reveals the |
| as a rude, reckless bunch of marauders who | | | | same priority of motives: fun, friendship and the |
| were ruining the serenity of the ski slopes | | | | desire to "play." The goals of winning and |
| everywhere. Of course, this perception only | | | | advanced skill-building consistently fall to the |
| added to the appeal and fueled the growth of | | | | bottom of these lists. If we want to keep these |
| snowboarding. | | | | kids in the "game" then we need to align the |
| Recognizing a potential marketing bonanza among | | | | objectives of coaches, parents and youth sports |
| a youth movement who also represented a good | | | | organizations with those of the kids. If we don't, |
| chunk of purchasing power (just ask the makers | | | | then the mass immigration to X sports will |
| of Mountain Dew and Red Bull), ESPN rolled out | | | | certainly continue. And that's just fine with ESPN. |