Tucked away down a narrow gravel road in a small town in north central Florida lies a bumpy, manicured dirt BMX track, where a growing generation of young outdoor sports enthusiasts gather every Saturday night.
Instead of playing computer games, these young riders spend their time flying on their BMX bikes in the Sizzling Summer Series, a 10-week competition that spans from early May to late September.
The Sizzling Summer Series is now in its fifth year and brings in dozens of young riders and their families each weekend to the High Springs BMX track. This Saturday was no different.
Laura Pringle, a volunteer and the track’s coordinator, said the series was designed to keep kids riding during the slower summer season.
“We created the summer series as a way to continue to get the kids to come out. We're a year-round sport, and the summer is the slow season for us. It's very hot, so people just kind of say, ‘I'm not going to go to the track.’ Then when fall comes, they’re out of the habit, and we don’t see them again.”
What happens on Saturdays in High Springs plays into a larger national conversation about how youth are spending their time.
Across the country, youth participation in organized sports has been on the decline for well over a decade. Half of boys ages 6-17 were participating regularly in organized sports in 2013, as opposed to only 41% who were doing so in 2023, according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association.
Youth sports participation is an even greater issue in Florida, according to the 2022 National Survey of Children’s Health. Florida ranks among the 10 states with the lowest sports participation among youth of all ages, with a participation rate of only 48.7% for both boys and girls.
Meanwhile, youth screen time has been steadily increasing. According to data from the National Health Interview Survey conducted from July 2021 through December 2023, slightly more than 50% of teenagers had four hours or more of daily screen time. The study also revealed that screen time usage comes with harmful side effects.
Teens who had more than four hours of screen time were more likely to report adverse health outcomes. Only 40.1% of teenagers with under four hours of screen time reported that they were infrequently well-rested, as opposed to 59.9% of teenagers with over four hours of screen time who said the same.
Besides the physical effects, high levels of screen time have psychological effects on youth as well. Only 10% of teens with under four hours of daily screen time report having symptoms of depression, as opposed to 26% of teens with over four hours of daily screen time. The same goes for anxiety, with only 12% of teens with under four hours reporting symptoms versus 27% of teens with over four hours reporting symptoms.
With youth health on the line like this, the organizers at High Springs BMX are calling on the young people to put the screens down and pick the handlebars up.
Pringle believes that the series, and BMX in particular, has steadily grown since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We were one of the sports that were somewhat socially distanced, and everyone was wearing a helmet,” she said, “so we were able to open sooner than other sports, which helped break through the noise and the clutter of kids' activities. So that helped. We've been growing ever since then.”
Pringle estimates that on a typical weekend during the summer, between 45 to 60 racers participate. She added that the growing popularity over the summer has brought in families from all across central Florida and actually boosted tourism in the small town of High Springs, which has a population of just under 7,000.
Parents of the riders are also seeing BMX as a great way to counter the addictive nature of the iPad screen. Matt Stoy, 45, races mountain bikes and motorbikes, and said that his son Matthew, 13, generally uses the electronic devices less than his younger sibling. However, Stoy also said technology has been beneficial for his children post-pandemic.
“The thing that really changed our perspective with COVID, it's how they stay connected,” Stoy said.
He also noted that computer games such as Minecraft helped his kids stay in touch with both family and friends. He views technology as a positive when it comes to the safety of his children.
“I'm uncomfortable with them just being out there, but when he's got his phone, yeah, I know he can call me, I can call him. I can track his location,” he said.
For Tammy Sanders, whose 5-year-old grandson, Mark, began riding bikes at 18 months, the situation is a lot clearer.
“It's an easy fix for the parents; they don't have to put forth a lot of energy because they're occupied,” she said, in reference to electronic devices.
Mark is already a Florida state champion in his age group in BMX, at only 5 years old, Sanders said. But she added that many of Mark’s friends spend more time on iPads than he does.
“I don't know what impact that has had on them. I know that they're not involved in a lot of activities. When they're out, they are on iPads because they're definitely not as involved,” she said.
According to Mark’s father, Martin Cox, BMX just runs in the family. Both he and his wife ride BMX as well as motocross. Just as with Stoy and his son, it seems as though if the parents participate in similar activities, the child is a lot more prone to do so as well. It also helps the parents look past the potential danger of the extreme sport.
Although Mark uses devices far less than his peers, Cox is still worried about it.
“There's a lot that can happen, and they can get into technology really fast. It's scary, you know. You don't know what they're doing after a few minutes, it's gone. They're gone,” he said.
Regardless of their perspective on the dangers of technology or BMX as a sport, everyone views events like the Sizzling Summer Series as a great way to keep the children both active and social, as well as grounded beyond the iPads.
As the sun set over the track in this small town in north central Florida, it’s clear that BMX offers something that the screens cannot. Maybe it is the adrenaline the kids feel as they are flying through the air, or the smell of the dirt kicked up after every sharp turn.
For the parents and kids who still prioritize good, old outdoor fun, the Sizzling Summer Series at High Springs BMX is proof that such places still exist.