Well, it wasn't exactly "scarring" but it was definitely something that made me resent sports a lot. I mean, I have always been kind of an anti-social person I suppose, so being forced to engage with a bunch of kids I didn't know, and in most cases didn't like, was definitely a negative experience. Plus, I am really not a fan of repetitive obligations. School was bad enough, and it was just such a drag that I had baseball practice or whatever that I HAD to go to after school. I was more of the type of kid who liked to climb trees and catch turtles and ride my bike and build tree forts and crap like that. Wearing a jock strap and a sweaty old set of football pads and going to practice was more like torture to me. All I wanted to do was get it over with so I could go back to having fun. There has been much research on the subject of "free play" vs "organized play". And there is value to both. So I probably should be grateful for the sports experience I had as a kid, because it did help me in some way I'm sure...
I think some kids just need to be given more options. A lot of parents just feel like sports are what their kids are supposed to do. I could only recommend that you stay receptive to what the kid might like to do instead. Maybe drawing classes or music or karate or anything else. But, if the kid genuinely enjoys the sports, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Especially in today's day and age where so many kids are overweight and sports to them is John Madden on the Xbox. Kids NEED activity. They don't NEED video games.
Bart