Sports are a huge part of a young child’s life, starting with co-ed toddler soccer or tee ball. These sports make children happy and teach kids how to listen and develop their social skills. As these young players mature, however, so do the coaches, and the whole sport changes.

Nowadays it is becoming more and more normal for colleges to start offering scholarships to players as young as middle school. Middle school is known as the time in which you barely know yourself, yet these young athletes are being offered their future on a platter. This is boosts coaches' egos to the point that they think they are invincible, yet they are treating their players like robots.

Often, there are players who are treated terribly. Take, for example, youth football. There are kids who put their heart and soul into the sport but are constantly brought down. Coaches, who are supposed to be these kids' motivators, are ignoring their job to support all of their players. Positive reinforcement is a major part of sports for kids, and sometimes sports are their only escape from everything negative in their life. When coaches degrade them and treat them terribly like it is normal to do so, it harms their self-esteem and their outlook on life.

Coaches, please think: if these were your kids, would you want them treated like this? The answer is no. No kid deserves to go home crying due to how a coach or coaching staff treated them. No kid deserves to feel like he can’t accomplish his dreams because of what a coaching staff is telling them. Please

let kids believe in themselves, and please help them believe in themselves. You are making a difference in their lives; make it positive.