Nowadays, with people who focus on just breaking records or mindless stats, the focus on why people came up with sports in the first place is lost. A group of kids with no pads and no formal rules getting together to play sports in a neighborhood is less likely to end up with any serious injuries than in pro sports, especially when kids know they're going to see each other again on a regular basis, in case the kid with the chip on his/her shoulder is thinking about breaking some bones and taking another kid out for an extended time, or in case another kid is thinking about hiding out for an extended time over an overextended ankle or sore thumb.