YOUTH SPORTS 1979, 1989, 1999, 2009, 2019 --> 2029
APRIL 29, 2019
In this dad's own lifetime youth sports have changed incredibly. In just the last 20 years, even the last 10 years, life has changed dramatically and all of it affects how and why we play and consume youth sports.
Think about the following....
TECHNOLOGY CHANGES
PC: 1997 Less than 37% households had a computer
Internet Access: In 1997 only 18% households had internet access
Cell Phone: Late 1990s cell phones are now common
YouTube: Founded February 2005
iPhone: Released Summer 2007
...And the race is on.
The 1980s and 1990s had sports expansion with ESPN broadcasting sports 24/7 and even ESPN2 being launched in 1993. Sports Illustrated For Kids hits the stands in 1989 and Sports Illustrated For Women is out in 1999 and it just kept going right into the 2000s and 2010s.
All of this technology has ratcheted up our ability to watch more sports, schedule youth sports faster, purchase more gear, recruit further and more, more college opportunities for men and women and more. What the youth sports experience and parental expectations were in 1990...2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 radically changed along the way. It's unbelievable.
WHO WOULD HAVE BELIEVED ALL OF THIS WOULD HAPPEN EVERYONE WOULD BE WATCHING ON TV! AN AVERAGE YOUTH SPORTS PARENT WOULD PROBABLY NOT SEE ALL OF THIS COMING
- 1988 Gretzky traded to LA
- 1990: The U.S. Men's Soccer Team would make a World Cup, only their second ever since 1950
- 1991: There would be a Women's World Cup of Soccer that becomes a massive event
- 1991: NHL expands to the Sunbelt again (San Jose), 1992 (Tampa), 1993 (Florida & Anaheim), 1998 (Nashville), 1999 (Atlanta)
- 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998 Chicago Bulls and Jordan win NBA
- 1993: LA Kings lose to Montreal in Stanley Cup Finals
- 1994: New York Rangers win Stanley Cup
- 1994: The U.S. would host an unbelievable Men's Soccer World Cup with massive attendance
- 1996: Major League Soccer would be born and would continue its rise
- 1996-97: WNBA Begins play
- 1997: Tiger Woods blasts onto the scene and wins Masters
- 1999: Women's Ice Hockey would be in the Olympics and be a catalyst for North American growth at NCAA and grassroots levels
- 2002: US Men's Soccer Team would make it to the round of 8 at World Cup
THE 1990s MEDIA BLOWS UP WITH AMAZING CONTENT OF ALL KINDS
With media and technology blowing up while some of the best sports every was being played, it not only ratcheted up our eyes as fans, but it ignited the dreams of millions of boys AND girls in ALL sorts of sports. The possibilities seemed limitless. Even the things that had been tried and tried again like pro soccer, women's pro basketball and hockey in the South, which had all crashed and burned before had the ability to reach eyes and "made it" and are still "making it".
1990s - 2008 COLLEGE TEAMS & SCHOLARSHIP BOOM
During the 1990s scholarships increase for men and even more so for women so that schools could be kept in compliance with Title IX. At the same time the cost of college is ratcheting up, a college athletic scholarship is a great way to keep that in check. Meanwhile, universities are adding women's crew teams, lacrosse teams and hockey teams and others. As the teams are being added so rapidly, the competition for spots between 1990 - 2008 (depending upon sport), is not nearly what is now.
A look at women's NCAA DI Ice Hockey (Most growth between 1996 - 2005)
In this dad's own lifetime youth sports have changed incredibly. In just the last 20 years, even the last 10 years, life has changed dramatically and all of it affects how and why we play and consume youth sports.
Think about the following....
TECHNOLOGY CHANGES
PC: 1997 Less than 37% households had a computer
Internet Access: In 1997 only 18% households had internet access
Cell Phone: Late 1990s cell phones are now common
YouTube: Founded February 2005
iPhone: Released Summer 2007
...And the race is on.
The 1980s and 1990s had sports expansion with ESPN broadcasting sports 24/7 and even ESPN2 being launched in 1993. Sports Illustrated For Kids hits the stands in 1989 and Sports Illustrated For Women is out in 1999 and it just kept going right into the 2000s and 2010s.
All of this technology has ratcheted up our ability to watch more sports, schedule youth sports faster, purchase more gear, recruit further and more, more college opportunities for men and women and more. What the youth sports experience and parental expectations were in 1990...2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 radically changed along the way. It's unbelievable.
WHO WOULD HAVE BELIEVED ALL OF THIS WOULD HAPPEN EVERYONE WOULD BE WATCHING ON TV! AN AVERAGE YOUTH SPORTS PARENT WOULD PROBABLY NOT SEE ALL OF THIS COMING
- 1988 Gretzky traded to LA
- 1990: The U.S. Men's Soccer Team would make a World Cup, only their second ever since 1950
- 1991: There would be a Women's World Cup of Soccer that becomes a massive event
- 1991: NHL expands to the Sunbelt again (San Jose), 1992 (Tampa), 1993 (Florida & Anaheim), 1998 (Nashville), 1999 (Atlanta)
- 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998 Chicago Bulls and Jordan win NBA
- 1993: LA Kings lose to Montreal in Stanley Cup Finals
- 1994: New York Rangers win Stanley Cup
- 1994: The U.S. would host an unbelievable Men's Soccer World Cup with massive attendance
- 1996: Major League Soccer would be born and would continue its rise
- 1996-97: WNBA Begins play
- 1997: Tiger Woods blasts onto the scene and wins Masters
- 1999: Women's Ice Hockey would be in the Olympics and be a catalyst for North American growth at NCAA and grassroots levels
- 2002: US Men's Soccer Team would make it to the round of 8 at World Cup
THE 1990s MEDIA BLOWS UP WITH AMAZING CONTENT OF ALL KINDS
With media and technology blowing up while some of the best sports every was being played, it not only ratcheted up our eyes as fans, but it ignited the dreams of millions of boys AND girls in ALL sorts of sports. The possibilities seemed limitless. Even the things that had been tried and tried again like pro soccer, women's pro basketball and hockey in the South, which had all crashed and burned before had the ability to reach eyes and "made it" and are still "making it".
1990s - 2008 COLLEGE TEAMS & SCHOLARSHIP BOOM
During the 1990s scholarships increase for men and even more so for women so that schools could be kept in compliance with Title IX. At the same time the cost of college is ratcheting up, a college athletic scholarship is a great way to keep that in check. Meanwhile, universities are adding women's crew teams, lacrosse teams and hockey teams and others. As the teams are being added so rapidly, the competition for spots between 1990 - 2008 (depending upon sport), is not nearly what is now.
A look at women's NCAA DI Ice Hockey (Most growth between 1996 - 2005)
| NCAA DI WOMEN'S HOCKEY | FIRST PLAYED | JOINED DI |
| Merrimack College | 1956 | 2013 |
| Brown University | 1967 | 2000 |
| Cornell University | 1972 | 2000 |
| Providence College | 1974 | 2000 |
| Rochester Institute of Technology | 1975 | 2012 |
| Dartmouth College | 1977 | 2000 |
| Harvard University | 1977 | 2000 |
| University of New Hampshire | 1977 | 2000 |
| Yale University | 1977 | 2000 |
| St. Lawrence University | 1978 | 2000 |
| Princeton University | 1979 | 2000 |
| Northeastern University | 1980 | 2000 |
| Boston College | 1994 | 2000 |
| Pennsylvania State University | 1996 | 2012 |
| Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | 1996 | 2005 |
| Sacred Heart University | 1996 | 2003 |
| Colgate University | 1997 | 2001 |
| University of Maine | 1997 | 2000 |
| University of Minnesota | 1997 | 2000 |
|
Bemidji State University
|
1998 | 2000 |
| Minnesota State University, Mankato | 1998 | 2000 |
| St. Cloud State University | 1998 | 2000 |
| University of Vermont | 1998 | 2000 |
| College of the Holy Cross | 1999 | 2017 |
| Mercyhurst University | 1999 | 2000 |
| University of Minnesota Duluth | 1999 | 2000 |
| Ohio State University | 1999 | 2000 |
| Union College | 1999 | 2003 |
| University of Wisconsin | 1999 | 2000 |
| University of Connecticut | 2000 | 2000 |
| Quinnipiac University | 2001 | 2001 |
| Saint Michael's College | 2001 | 2017 |
| Clarkson University | 2003 | 2003 |
| Lindenwood University | 2003 | 2011 |
| Saint Anselm College | 2004 | 2017 |
| Boston University | 2005 | 2005 |
| Robert Morris University | 2005 | 2005 |
| Syracuse University | 2008 | 2008 |
| Franklin Pierce University | 2012 | 2017 |
| Post University | 2016 | 2017 |
| Long Island University[d] | 2019 | 2019 |
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