Family sport commitments in a professionalized landscape: An exploration of parental pressures and beliefs

Youth sport in the United States has become increasingly professionalized, heightening pressure on parents and caregivers to invest substantial time and financial resources in their child's sport participation. Despite widespread concern that pressures to specialize and optimistic beliefs about a child's athletic potential drive such investments, few empirical studies have examined these relationships. Guided by Eccles's expectancy-value model, this exploratory study examined whether perceived pressures to specialize and parental beliefs about a child's sport potential predict parental commitments to youth sport. Parents and caregivers (N = 1229) completed an online survey assessing perceived pressures to specialize (from children, parents, club coaches, school coaches, and society), beliefs about their child's sport potential and sport commitments (financial spending, days per week, and months per year). Three multiple regression models were fit to examine the independent contributions of pressures and perceived potential to each investment outcome. Findings suggest that perceived pressure from club coaches significantly predicted greater financial spending, while perceived pressure from school coaches predicted more days per week spent in sport. Contrary to theoretical expectations, parental belief in child potential did not predict greater financial investment. These results suggest that families' youth sport investments may be more structurally determined by sport system demands than shaped by parental beliefs alone. Scholars should consider contextual factors in future models of family decision-making. Additionally, coaches and youth sport organizations should offer education to help parents navigate decisions without undue pressure.