Young Sports Stars

Some psychologists warn of the dangers of parents pushing their children at a very early age to fulfill the parent’s dreams to become sports heroes. The constant pressure to practice can inhibit social and psychological development. Especially when the parents are also the coaches, a child may have trouble separating parenting from coaching. Parents need to be prepared to accept potential consequences of never having the child make decisions and have their entire life focused on the sport.

Women’s golf has historically produced some of the most celebrated teen stars. One of the more recent of those is Michele Wie. Her hero is Tiger Woods, who also entered the world of golf sports stardom as a teenager. Michele made golf history at age 13 when she was the youngest winner of a USGA tournament in 2003. By the time Michele was 16-years-old, she continued to make nine more records for being the first ever to reach goals that had never been done at such a young age.

After being catapulted to golf fame by making the cut at the U.S. Open when she was 13, Michele became a part of the dark side of having sports fame during the week of the tournament. The father of an older competitor yelled at and threatened the Wie family. The week was spent in fear, with the Wie family asking for security guards. The young and innocent Michele had to quickly learn the negative side of fame and glory. She has learned to overcome these obstacles, and has gone on to follow in the footsteps of her hero Tiger Woods.