Youth sports are ideally intended to introduce kids to a game and teach them its fundamentals. In the process the kids build character and have fun playing sports. This is basically the mission statement of almost every single youth sports league in the country. While it is obvious that some youth sports leagues do not really follow their mission statement, there is one case that is exceptionally bad in this regard.
A story done by “Outside The Lines,” a television program on ESPN that examines critical issues in sports outside the field of play, in May of 2011, first revealed an extensive gambling problem in several youth football leagues in Florida. The show used hidden cameras to capture video of men attending these youth football games exchanging money after games or even certain plays. Consequently, it was revealed that these men also payed players who played on the teams they bet on for accomplishments such as touchdown scored or games won. This gambling occurred openly, sometimes within mere feet and in full view of police officers. While this unauthorized gambling was obviously illegal, it also created an unsafe environment for the kids playing the game.
“Just to be straightforward, these guys, they’re drug dealers who are doing this gambling. They’re the only guys that have this type of money to bet on little kids,” said Al Harris, a former NFL cornerback, in an interview with ESPN. Harris played football as a child in the South Florida Youth Football League, one of the leagues affected by gambling. His son played in the league before entering high school.
What’s more, coaches in these leagues were often spotted exchanging bets on the sideline during games and riding their players about their performances by telling them how much money they had bet. With this, the problem had intensified.
After Outside The Lines came out with their story, league officials said that they would work to deter gambling. However, when Outside The Lines returned to South Florida in November of 2011, they found that the gambling had simply moved more underground and that the coaches were organizing these gambling rings and setting up point spreads. The leagues and the law enforcement immediately began to truly crack down on the issue. USA Today’s Rachal George reported that the investigations lasted 18 months and finally resulted in the late 2012 arrests on felony bookmaking charges of nine coaches involved in the gambling ring. However, this problem still exists in this league. ESPN’s Paula Lavigne reported in November of 2012 that organized gambling rings still exist in South Florida.
“Unfortunately, we only nicked it, and that’s the truth of it. [This gambling is] way more widespread than I ever would have imagined. It’s everywhere,” said Lt. Frank Ballante of the Broward (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office, which is the office investigating the gambling rings.
While these leagues in South Florida are beginning to head in the right direction in terms of eliminating gambling, this incident is just a symptom of the disease of regarding winning as a higher good than teaching kids fun, fundamentals and the love for the game that is spreading through youth and high school sports in America. While concussions and single-sport specialization in youth sports obviously need to be addressed, seemingly isolated incidents such as these reveal to true affliction upon youth sports in America; winning at any cost without the best interest of the athletes in mind.
