Below are the number of entrants for each event at the Junior Nationals for 2008. What do these figures mean for men's swimming long term? The number of boys in the sport trails girls quite siginficantly in many events. In relays where a team tends to show its depth, boys are out numbered by girls nearly 2:1
If things continue or get worse we've got problems ahead of us in 2 Olympics.
It's a good thing collegiate budgets aren't cutting mens swimming these days.... :-)
ncsassociation.homestead.com/PsychFINAL.htm
.............Women Men
1650/1000... 78.. 75
Med. Relay... 97.. 51
100 free... 264.. 140
100 ***... 179.. 102
200 back... 173.. 111
200 fly... 149.. 91
800 fr rly... 81.. 43
50 fly... 170.. 106
50 ***... 151.. 82
200 free... 252.. 159
400 IM... 183.. 106
400 free rly... 84.. 45
100 back... 194.. 152
500 free... 188.. 112
200 ***... 152.. 82
100 fly... 242.. 161
200 fr rly... 84.. 45
50 back... 135.. 115
200 IM... 268.. 169
50 free... 282.. 153
800/1500 fr... 98.. 67
400 med rly... 105.. 54
Parents
Former Member
I went to a lecture at my kids' school a couple weeks ago here in Honolulu. There were two lecturers. One was the school's water polo coach with oodles of state titles under his belt. The other was the UCLA tennis coach who flew out here to Honolulu for this lecture because his kids went to this school.
Both of these well respected coaches stated that the number one reason boys drop out of sports - and they said that 70% of boys that are in organized sports quit by the time they are 13 - but the #1 reason is that sports are no longer fun for the kids. And they said that the number one reason - far and away - that sports are no longer fun is that kids are forced at too young of an age to work hard at sports rather than to play and have fun until they are mature enough to tolerate the hard work. They made it clear, that in their opinion, video games were not the problem. They said that PARENTs make kids not have fun in sports by placing too much pressure on them to get better. To win. Fun isn't part of the equation for parents from the boys' vantage - and we all know it should be. Couple a driven parent forcing a kid to improve (and probably failing) with the monotony and discomfort of a 5,000 meter set at 0530 on a Tuesday morning before school when you are 13 years old, and all your non-swimming friends are still in bed, and it is no wonder that boys would rather play water polo or throw the shot put than swim.
I went to a lecture at my kids' school a couple weeks ago here in Honolulu. There were two lecturers. One was the school's water polo coach with oodles of state titles under his belt. The other was the UCLA tennis coach who flew out here to Honolulu for this lecture because his kids went to this school.
Both of these well respected coaches stated that the number one reason boys drop out of sports - and they said that 70% of boys that are in organized sports quit by the time they are 13 - but the #1 reason is that sports are no longer fun for the kids. And they said that the number one reason - far and away - that sports are no longer fun is that kids are forced at too young of an age to work hard at sports rather than to play and have fun until they are mature enough to tolerate the hard work. They made it clear, that in their opinion, video games were not the problem. They said that PARENTs make kids not have fun in sports by placing too much pressure on them to get better. To win. Fun isn't part of the equation for parents from the boys' vantage - and we all know it should be. Couple a driven parent forcing a kid to improve (and probably failing) with the monotony and discomfort of a 5,000 meter set at 0530 on a Tuesday morning before school when you are 13 years old, and all your non-swimming friends are still in bed, and it is no wonder that boys would rather play water polo or throw the shot put than swim.
