{"id":9063,"date":"2023-04-27T06:22:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-27T10:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/?p=9063"},"modified":"2025-07-08T06:59:49","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T10:59:49","slug":"the-downside-of-elite-teams-in-youth-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/the-downside-of-elite-teams-in-youth-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"The Downside of Elite Teams in Youth Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Elite and travel teams can hurt kids\u2019 confidence by setting up a dicey relationship among kids, parents and coaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s the view of Hal Phillips, a former sports parent and youth soccer coach, plus author of&nbsp;<em>Generation Zero: Founding Fathers, Hidden Histories and the Making of Soccer in America<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Elite and travel teams are basically set up to be \u201cpay to play.\u201d Kids feel pressured to excel because their parents are paying&#8211;often big bucks&#8211;for them to be on these teams.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, when they&#8217;re on these teams, kids may also feel pressured to get scholarships, he says. This can take the joy out of sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Listen_to_Learn_More\"><\/span>Listen to Learn More:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_83 ez-toc-wrap-center counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/the-downside-of-elite-teams-in-youth-sports\/#Listen_to_Learn_More\" >Listen to Learn More:<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/the-downside-of-elite-teams-in-youth-sports\/#Mental_Performance_Coaching_for_Youth_Athletes\" >Mental Performance Coaching for Youth Athletes<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Libsyn Player\" style=\"border: none\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/26657172\/height\/90\/theme\/custom\/thumbnail\/yes\/direction\/forward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/4188b5\/\" height=\"90\" width=\"100%\" scrolling=\"no\"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Mental_Performance_Coaching_for_Youth_Athletes\"><\/span>Mental Performance Coaching for Youth Athletes<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s difficult for sports parents<strong> <\/strong>to watch their kids under-perform in sports and <strong>lose self-esteem due to fear, doubt and tentativeness.<\/strong> It\u2019s hard to stand idle and watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The solutions are not obvious. However, you, as a parent, can learn how to respond to your athletes\u2019 fears, doubts, and frustrations. You can develop <strong>happy, successful kids who are \u201cmentally tough\u201d<\/strong> in sports \u2013 and life! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One-on-one sports psychology coaching is the fastest and most effective method to improve your athletes\u2019 mental game, boost their performance, and make lasting changes. And as a bonus, parents learn what to say to help young athletes feel confident and thrive in sports. Please call us at 888-742-7225 with your questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please contact us today at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sport-psychology-training-athletes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Peak Performance Sports<\/a> to learn more about individual mental coaching programs for serious young athletes on a mission to greatness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button aligncenter is-style-fill\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-medium-font-size has-custom-font-size wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peaksports.com\/sport-psychology-training-athletes\/\" style=\"border-radius:10px\">GET DETAILS<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Elite and travel teams can hurt kids\u2019 confidence by setting up a dicey relationship among kids, parents and coaches. That\u2019s the view of Hal Phillips, a former sports parent and youth soccer coach, plus author of&nbsp;Generation Zero: Founding Fathers, Hidden Histories and the Making of Soccer in America.&nbsp; Elite and &#8230; <a title=\"The Downside of Elite Teams in Youth Sports\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/the-downside-of-elite-teams-in-youth-sports\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about The Downside of Elite Teams in Youth Sports\">Read Sport Psychology Tip<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[39,280],"class_list":["post-9063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-youth-sports-podcast","tag-kids-sports-psychology","tag-youth-sports-confidence"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthsportspsychology.com\/youth_sports_psychology_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}