Stephen Curry Thinks Kids Should Stop Making This Vital Mistake in Youth Sports

There are a lot of debates about the issues with youth sports in America. It seems like there are growing issues in the youth sport space, and now we may be seeing the effects of those problems in professional sports. Athletes are having more and more injuries, and it could be because of the immense stress they put on their bodies during youth sports. 

Stephen Curry, who came up as the son of an NBA player and is now raising his own kids, spoke about how kids can develop basketball IQ and why it is a problem that kids are specializing in one sport so early in their lives. 

“The ability to develop a baseline for basketball IQ—what does that even mean? There’s an epidemic in that respect. I also feel like kids should be allowed to play multiple sports and just be kids for as long as they can before it turns into a business mentality. I think the culture around it has shifted in the wrong direction. I played multiple sports until I was 13, and then I figured out what I wanted to do and what I loved. What I gained from playing multiple sports—the physical skill sets, hand-eye coordination, different footwork, being around different people, and different demands on my body—has only helped me in basketball. I think a lot of people are trying to solve it, knowing we need as much homegrown talent as possible representing the highest levels of basketball.”

Specializing before getting to try out multiple sports isn’t the best way to create the best athletes. It causes kids to burn out and miss out on valuable skills that can help them in whatever sport they end up choosing. Playing sports for the fun of it and trying out many different kinds is something more kids need to be doing.