Why can't we just have a discussion on what's best?

Over the last seven years, I've used this space to share my opinions on a myriad of topics.  For the past five years, most of my blogs have focused on youth sports.  Things get heated very quickly when an opinion challenges the status quo.  People become territorial and are easily offended.  The moment it's taken personal, rationale is thrown out the window and emotions control the discourse.

In the youth sports realm, healthy debate and discussion are becoming more and more out of bounds.  Sports science is often replaced with personal preferences.  People avoid facts and statistics when it doesn't fit into their narrative.  Experts are ignored because groups of parents assemble and have a much louder voice and stronger presence.

Why can't we just have a discussion on what's best?

We've nearly lost our ability to debate with the determination of finding a solution.  Our government certainly hasn't set a good example.  It's become an expectation for politicians to adhere to their side without hearing the other side.  Politics, in general, have never been as polarizing in this country as they are today.

Debate was one of the single most important dynamics to the way of life for our Founding Fathers.  It's what originally made America great.  Prominent personalities published their debates in journals and newspapers and we still read them today.  We study the intricacies of their thought process in "The Federalist Papers" and other important documents that seem irrelevant today.  Our Founding Fathers didn't agree on everything - they actually didn't agree on much - and their debates were very public.  They were extraordinary in their ability to critically think about how their existence would impact the future.

Today, it seems as if we're predisposed to "take our ball and go home" if someone challenges us with a difficult question.  Sometimes answering is way above our pay grade, so we resort to shifting the blame and accusing the one asking the question of something unrelated to the question.  We don't read the entire article because we make up our mind before hearing what they have to say.  We don't engage in civil discourse because we're constantly offended and more interested in defending our decisions or positions than having conversations on what is best and what we'll leave behind for the next generation.

I wonder how the Founding Fathers would engage in conversations today.  Facebook seems to have as much street cred as the Center for Disease Control.  Many prefer reading the news from Huffington Post or The Blaze because it tells them what they want to hear (if you read the angle that fits your political preferences).  We have no interest in another way of thinking.

In sports, we seem to be trapped in a crazy cycle with an abundance of opportunity, but very little option.  Every week I read an article that outlines big concerns with the current system, yet youth organizations plow forward thinking only of this week or, if we're lucky, this year.  Why can't we get the 15 years down the road conversations?  What is the path?  What is the plan?  Who is taking them there?

Why can't we have those discussions without being negatively received?  Why don't sports experts, doctors, scientists, etc. who dedicate their entire life and well-being to research and data regarding participation in sports have more to say about what is healthy in sports than a carpenter, mechanic, salesman, etc. who moonlights as a youth coach?

The youth sports scene is out-of-control.  One cannot rationally say otherwise.  Of course, there are several great things in youth sports and your son or daughter might be full of smiles.  That doesn't change that, collectively and generally, it's a broken system.

It's necessary that we allow for important, meaningful and worthwhile conversations about what is taking place.  That's the starting place to making productive changes that lead to the best experiences.

St. Francis of Assisi said, "start by doing what's necessary, then what's possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible."