At the U.S. Open championships in Flushing Meadows, New York last week, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) held an unusual youth press conference  . I say "unusual" because the main idea wasn't to promote the sport for young children. Yes, there was a youth tennis exhibition in which a group of fresh-faced kids from the area showed off their well developed skills. They used junior racquets and larger, low-pressure balls on a half-size tennis court-a way the organization supports as a means to help children have early success and stick with the game. But the event's real purpose was to help parents realize the importance of introducing kids to all kinds of athletic programs rather than focusing specially on one. _ may sound like something easy to do, but it's not. In today's achievement-oriented ( ) environment, children are being pushed to specialize in a single sport-whether it's tennis, hockey, soccer, or gymnastics - at ever-younger ages. Tom Farrey, executive director of the nonprofit Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program, says year-round sports programs are now offered down to age 5, too early an age for a child to limit himself or herself to a single activity. While parents naturally want the best for their child, they are being pressured by coaches to let him or her stick with one thing. The result: More kids under age 12 are suffering injuries or, worse, burnout. According to the Aspen Institute's report, Project Play, fewer kids today are staying involved with sports than five years ago, partly because of forced specialization. Today's children are already on track to live shorter, less healthy lives than their parents because of obesity and related diseases, and this trend is only worsening matters. Multi-sport participation, however, leads to better performance (because kids get a chance to develop different sets of skills ) and greater enjoyment of the game, says Farrey. The headlining athletes at the event repeated the idea that having kids do more than one sport is a plus (good for them). Fewer kids are staying involved with sports now than five years ago partly because they   _  .
become too fat to take part in sports have too much school work to complete get too many injuries when they do sports are pushed into specialized sport too hard