As a sports reporter at a community newspaper with an email address, I get plenty of requests from people to put their information into the paper. And I’m more than happy to publish pretty much everything I receive.

But the one thing that always sets off some alarms in my head is when I get tryout notices for “select” programs for kids as young as 8 years old. And it’s not just one particular sport either. There are “select” teams associated with everything these days.

I’ve never understood this. Why does a 10-year-old need to be playing “select” sports?

And “select,” in most cases, means that every kid who tries out, and is willing to pay the money, makes the team. So, please don’t believe that since your 10-year-old is “selected” to play on a “select” team, that they automatically have a Division I scholarship in the bag.

It seems like I’m in the minority on this subject. As parents, we have lost sight of what youth sports are supposed to be about. Youth sports are supposed to be about having fun and hanging out with buddies from the neighborhood.

“Select” sports do have their place in today’s youth athletics world. But their place comes in high school, particularly during an athlete’s junior or senior year. And I’m not talking all juniors and seniors who play a particular sport. I’m talking the best of the best, athletes who will be playing in college.

I feel confident saying that 99 percent of the professional and even Division-I full-ride college athletes were going to be elite, regardless of whether they played “select” sports in middle school.

Those types of athletes are just born with that “it factor” and are just better at sports than everybody else. They simply run faster, jump higher, throw farther and compete harder.

Depending on the sport, only a tiny few — 2 to 5 out of 1,000 high school athletes — ever achieve professional status.

Sure, there are great “select” programs for elementary and middle school athletes. They have great coaching staffs that teach kids how to play the game the right way, while focusing on their academics.

But there are also “select” programs out there looking for a money grab from naive parents by making false promises about getting their kid a college scholarship.

Here is a promise I can make: If your kid is good enough at a particular sport to get a scholarship to play in college, they will get one. I guarantee it. If they aren’t good enough, they won’t. Simple as that. And I’m not even going to charge you for that “select” advice.

The “select” phenomenon goes hand-and-hand with another relatively new trend of specializing in one sport as a pre-teen. I don’t know where the misconception started that if you don’t play a sport 12 months a year at 10 years old, you won’t excel later in life.

It’s just not true. In fact, it’s actually more dangerous on a child’s body to play the same sport year-round. This is coming from people a lot smarter than me.

The American Academy of Pediatrics’ Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness noted in a report back in 2000: “Those who participate in a variety of sports and specialize only after reaching the age of puberty tend to be more consistent performers, have fewer injuries, adhere to sports and play longer than those who specialize early.”

In a second report in 2007, the council said overuse injuries, overtraining and burnout among child and adolescent athletes were growing problems. Specifically, roughly half of all injuries in pediatric sports medicine were related to overuse, as opposed to traumas like a collision that leads to a broken arm. Overuse injuries tend to be more serious in young athletes than in adults because their growing bones can’t handle as much stress.

The academy recommends young athletes limit any one sports activity to a maximum of five days per week, while taking at least one day off from any organized physical activity. It also recommends they take two to three months off per year from a particular sport, giving them time for injuries to heal and the mind to refresh, and to work on strength and conditioning to reduce injury risk.

The goal of youth participation in sports, the council said, “should be to promote lifelong physical activity, recreation and skills of healthy competition.”

“Unfortunately,” the council went on, “too often the goal is skewed toward adult (parent/coach) goals either implicitly or explicitly. As more young athletes are becoming professionals at a younger age, there is more pressure to grab a piece of the ‘professional pie,’ to obtain a college scholarship or to make the Olympic team.”

In his book “Until It Hurts: America’s Obsession with Youth Sports and How It Harms Our Kids,” sports journalist Mark Hyman cites statistics that “every year more than 3.5 million children under 15 require medical treatment for sports injuries, nearly half of which are the result of simple overuse.”

In conclusion, don’t believe everything you hear from some coaches and parents around town. Just let your kids enjoy the life lessons and fun that come with playing organized sports. Don’t get caught up in looking to the future before your kid even steps on a high school campus.