70Trigirl wrote:
Scottxs wrote:
I think its a generational thing. Gen-X are the sports nuts and they are getting older. The younger generations are not as sports crazy. You can see it in almost all sports. Viewership, participation, ticket sales, are all down with the younger generation.As a fellow Gen-Xer I agree with this and most of the other posts as well. Very interesting!
The world is a very different place today compared to when us Gen-Xers were getting into our sports (late 1980s, 1990s). As a young competitive cyclist, I don't remember being worried about global warming, climate change, mass extinctions of animals, global food and water shortages, and other current global problems (just to name a few). With social media today there's much more awareness of how badly things are in the world. It feels like younger people are more conscious and getting more involved in trying to solve many current problems. At least more so than my generation and the baby boomers.
I love the Ironman and I admit that I'm hooked. But let's face it - IM is the most selfish sport on the planet in regards to time and money spent. I do feel torn sometimes. Should I re-allocate my time and resources towards a less selfish cause like helping the homeless, volunteering for a youth group, starting an animal sanctuary, etc? Perhaps more millennials are trying prioritize their lives in a way to do more good in the world? Maybe I'm way off base?
I also agree that cost is another big factor for younger folks.
So when I see young people in the university gym where I work out staring at their phones instead of getting their weight session done in half the time, it's because they are reading about how to solve the current global problems? Maybe I shouldn't interrupt to ask if I can work in with him or her on the machine. :) I seriously doubt that fewer millennials are doing triathlon because they are too busy trying to solve the world's problems. I don't believe that social media has led to a more educated and aware populace than we were young. I do agree that they have other interests and tri is more expensive now than it was when I was in my 20s in the '80s. I did tris for more than a decade before I could afford to do my first IM.
Last edited by:
Mark Lemmon: Jul 9, 19 8:03