that stat is hilarious and those parents need to be mocked.
i played competitive team sports from age 4 - 14. the earliest age to the age where i was finally allowed to choose what sports i would play. my answer: none.
i remember feeling surrounded by people who took the shit way too seriously and created pressure where i didn't want any. some coaches, but primarily other parents, their angry kids who were maturing into a-holes, and my own biological father who had some kind of fixation on how i had to be a significant college athlete.
i was clearly a book and computer dork, but the guy would not shut up about what school i should play for.
but damn do i remember parents screaming at each other, coaches, and referees over nothing. its some young kids, not the super bowl, not your fantasy league, and nobody is making book or taking action. i remember all us kids just looking at each other and feeling embarassed for whatever kid's parents were making a scene.
i was OK. i was team mvp when i was 13 in my little neighborhood league. i was a fixture for the key position and made plays. not because i was talented, but because id been doing the shit for 10 years and with enough training/practice, the tactical awareness is drilled into and installed into your head and the memory guides your movements.
i was so glad to get out. looking back i am so glad i did, because high school sports coaches at my school were drunks, losers, and rageaholic freaks that should have been on lists preventing them from working with kids. not all, but the majority. and goddamn, that wasn't even to the level of newsworthy scandal like what really goes on at the truly dysfunctional/winning programs with their blind eyes.
the culture is sick and its fucked that kids can't just play sports without it turning into what its become.