Yes and no. Sports with young kids typically don't get too intense outside of the occasional psycho coach or parent. American football in particular of course d

Yes and no. Sports with young kids typically don't get too intense outside of the occasional psycho coach or parent. American football in particular of course does have a nasty CTE/TBI hazard by nature—which IMHO should render it off-limits to minors. For collegiate sports—which is a meat grinder of hopes and dreams unto itself—most athletes figure out pretty quick whether they're making it in the big leagues or not. There's an expiry there just by virtue of the way the human body works. I suppose it's still possible to ruin your life trying, but least you come out of it with excellent physical fitness (brain injuries aside), and having not stared at a screen the entire time.