High Life : A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : Sports Signups on Rise--but So Are Dropouts

More teen-agers are signing up for organized sports today than in any previous generation, and that’s good news. The bad news is that they are dropping out of these sports programs in record numbers.

“Children start with a burst of enthusiasm, but by the time they’re 15, 75% of kids who have ever played a sport have dropped out of it,” says Vern Seefeldt, director of the Youth Sports Institute at Michigan State University.

In a study of public school students across the country, Seefeldt and his associates found the answer for the high dropout rate was simple: Playing sports just wasn’t a whole lot of fun anymore.

“Kids complained that coaches were too critical and the practices too long and boring,” Seefeldt said.

Doing a bit of homework before signing up for an athletic program can help eliminate disillusionment later:

* Investigate the philosophy of the league or sports organization before you sign up. Is the focus on competition and trophies? (Communities often have many organized sports teams. Some are recreational--anyone who signs up can play. These tend to be less competitive than the travel or tryout leagues, for which players are chosen.) Is that emphasis consistent with your beliefs?

“Children by nature want to play, but not all children want to compete,” says Fred Engh, president and founder of the National Youth Sports Coaches Assn.

* Tune in to your developmental level and consider only programs that are appropriate to it.

* Check out the reputation of the coach. In the best of all possible worlds, coaches would be certified, and in some cases, notably soccer, they are beginning to be. But until such requirements are standardized, talk to other teens in the league to find out what the coach is like.

Does he or she know every kid by name within the first practice or two? Talk to players like they’re kids or bark orders like they’re pros? Rotate players during a game so everyone gets to play with everyone else or send in the bad players only at the end of the inning or game? Above all, are people having fun?