Appalled by young people’s fitness

But YOU are the one who called it Little League. If you don't care what it's called, why did you insist that it was Little League?

Nice one.

The thing is that it’s probably NOT actually Little League if it’s in the fall. Fall ball is a thing, but it isn’t associated with the Little League organization.

You may not care what the league is called. I don't either but if you call it Little League some of us will think that it can't be Little League at this time of year and might think that if it really is Little League something unusual is going on. If you'd described it correctly in the first place I suspect much less time would have been wasted here.

it is hard to get kids motivated in this computer era. My daughter (14 years) hates sport, and I may be a bit hard when i used to train her, but we force her to go to gym or track once or twice per week for run and strength work. Don't care that she hates sport, but just want her to look after health. she looks fit, primarily because we encourage good eating habits which she has embraced.

Baseball is not an athletic sport. Yes, it gets kids moving around, but still mostly standing around. Give them a soccer ball and the ones with initiative will relentlessly chase the ball, at least.

Do they still do the President's Challenge in schools? I posted a link to the standards years ago. I don't know if I still have them, but to be considered top fitness in the 70s/80s you had to be truly all-around fit. 11+ pullups, and 600 yards in 1:35, which is 1:43 600m pace. In all 6 events, mind, top 5% by population stats, to get the "Presidential Patch." Carter and Reagan weren't messing around with the honors.

I earned the Presidential Patch. Nobody bothered wearing the Merit or Achievement patches.

It amazes me how good Carter and Reagan look compared to 21st century presidents. Our country is lost, I tell you.

It would be interesting to see what % of US elite athletes did or didn't rate "presidential" in school.

Our Recruit Division Commander used to lament the same thing. He used to blame the damn video games. He said and I quote "it's the Japanese with their trojan horse Nintendo, they've been planing this since WW2!!". Anyway I hope you are whooping them into shape like he did to us.

true, maybe just get the balance right. I also sit on my ass watching heaps of tv and computer work, but find time to do plenty of exercise.

Actually, baseball, it is an extremely athletic sport, with very subtle skills that are extremely difficult to master. Even the top players are usually lacking in one or two areas. It is not, however, a sport that requires substantial aerobic fitness.

those requirements for elite status in the Presidents physical fitness test are amazing. I bet you would struggle to find one percent of the US population I could do that.

Can you IMAGINE the outrage at a President's Fitness Challenge? Not only is the president outright hated by 40% of the country no matter who is in office, telling parents their child is anything less than a physically perfect specimen is untenable. Looking at kids passing by I'd wager less than hold up their weight on a pullup bar, and half of that can maybe do a single pullup.

Kids don't want to be runners or cyclists or soccer players. They want to be football or basketball or baseball players. All of which require being 13ft tall and 400lbs.

You’re right - a collective understanding of anything, even fitness, is impossible. We are a nation of atomized individuals.

Oh, and kids don’t want to be athletes, they want to be influencers with 2 million subscribers and a smokin hot lifestyle, all captured on video for strangers to idolize.