A player drives for a layup at a practice for Level Up Long Island, an AAU basketball team. Photo by Ryan Toohill. Youth sports in the United States are in the midst of a drastic transformation, expanding beyond weekly neighborhood activities into an immense for-profit industry.   A landscape that used to be dominated by volunteer-coached community leagues has shifted into a more professionalized environment.  Children as young as seven are pushed to specialize in sports that

Players line up for a drill at a tryout for Long Island Elite Football. Photo by Ryan Toohill. As youth sports have become more specialized, the demands on athletes’ bodies and minds have increased as well.   Hours-long daily practices year-round and weekend travel tournaments are the norm in many sports now, leaving children to juggle these commitments with their schoolwork and social lives.   “Nowadays, if you're trying to play a sport at the highest level, it's really goin