What Age Is Too Young For Kids In Professional Sports?

Highlight Tape

Upon viewing the four minute highlight clip embedded below, the prominent Manchester United Soccer club recruited 9 year old soccer player, Rhain Davis, to their youth academy. This signing is obviously raising eyebrows worldwide, however is an all too common occurrence. Manchester United commonly signs about 40 kids Davis' age each year.

Edge

Within the competitive sports realm, teams are consistently looking to get an edge anyway they can. Teams will seek that edge even at the expense of someone's childhood. Freddy Adu is noted as being the youngest athlete to enter pro sports after signing with DC United at the young age of 14 and Sidney Crosby entered the NHL when Crosby was 18 and quickly became the only teenager in North American Sports to capture a scoring title.

Commentary

The question of age for children in professional sports is a question that must be answered on a child by child basis. You cannot determine the physical, emotional and intellectual makeup of all children at a standard age. So long, as the physical toll of the sport does not endanger the child. For example a fifteen year old would be crushed physically in the National Football League.

The exploits of Freddie Adu, Michelle Wie, and Jennifer Capriati are exceptional. Most of the decisions made by these children were highly influenced by their parents, however many of us would have loved the opportunity to compete at the professional level at any age. Rhain Davis is a special child in a special position and we cannot look from the outside and determine what is best for this child. Hopefully he has great parents, because those are the people who need to help him determine his path.

We must not judge and determine the happiness of children in sport at any age. It's not for us to decide and we may take something special away from the child.