Social Injustice with Youth SPorts

Josmer Vela  was a 12 year old soccer prodigy from Plano, Texas  accomplished with countless  awards and an obvious love of the game.  However,  In 2015 joining  an  elite travel  team along with the rest of his teammates became an impossibility.  A  sanitation worker, his father  Jose Vela had to  tell Josmer that their family â€Å"simply couldn’t pay thousands for him to travel  with the team every weekend†, ending his dream before he could even  have the opportunity to pursue it. Josmer, is just one of  a rising thousand  of kids in America who suffer from the impact of low family income  affecting  Ã‚  participation in youth sports.  Ã‚   Over the last twenty years, there has been a rise in elite youth sports programs  intended to boost competition  while requiring athletes to travel far to play for these teams.  Although a  Ã‚  great opportunity for athletes participating, this 17 Billion dollar industry has been requi ring amounts as large as  $10,000  to pay for things like equipment, travel, and health insurance  making it hard for low income families to support their child’s athletic pursuits.  In a study by ESPN, the  Ã‚  overall trend in the United States  showed an increase in   participation in youth sports programs from kids in families earning more than $100,000,  while   the participation of those in families earning less than that  continue  to  decrease.  Ã‚   Although  the rising cost of youth sports has  created  an  economic divide amongst the youth, this effect has also put a demoralizing  effect on the athletes.  At the 2000 Laureus World Sports Awards, Nelson Mandela said â€Å"Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. Sport can awaken hope where there was previously only despair.† As more children lose the chance to play sports, they lose their chance to appreciat e important life lessons that come from sports.  Ã‚   So the question remains, how do we provide the opportunity for youths from all backgrounds  to  be able to  participate in youth sports programs?  The answer lies in  the work done by  nonprofit organizations like LA84 and Laureus. They work to  provide as many programs across the nation and throughout the world with funds, athletes,  and coaches, so that youths from all ages could have the chance to play in some sort of sport. They hold fundraisers, collect donations, and  even offer coaching training programs so that youth sports teams could thrive in all types of communities. It’s programs like these and support from local community members that help build and  maintain youth sports. So go out to your local  youth sports team.  Donate money to the program or give away old equipment because you might not need it anymore, but some other child will.