Organized sports is not free unstructured play!
“School, politics, sports, and games train us to compete against others. True rewards - wealth, knowledge, love, fitness, and equanimity - come from ignoring others and improving ourselves.” - Naval
“A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.” ~ Ayn Rand
“Free play has little in common with the “play” we give children today. In organized activities, adults run the show. It’s only when the grown-ups aren’t around that the kids get to take over. Play is training for adulthood.” ~ Peter Gray
“If you truly want to succeed, stop competing and start contributing.” ~ Ken Coleman
“School failed me, and I failed the school. It bored me. The teachers behaved like Feldwebel (sergeants). I wanted to learn what I wanted to know, but they wanted me to learn for the exam. What I hated most was the competitive system there, and especially sports. Because of this, I wasn’t worth anything, and several times they suggested I leave. This was a Catholic School in Munich. I felt that my thirst for knowledge was being strangled by my teachers; grades were their only measurement. How can a teacher understand youth with such a system? From the age of twelve I began to suspect authority and distrust teachers.” ~ Albert Einstein [Einstein and the Poet: In Search of the Cosmic Man]
http://www.childsplaymagazine.com/1506/organized-sports-arent-play.htm
“After school, kids no longer come home with a latchkey and roam the neighborhood. Instead, they’re locked into organized, supervised activities. Youth sports are a $15 billion business that has grown by 55 percent since just 2010.”