Very spot on post! This is my take for what it is worth. All lower level athletics should be about skill development and creating a love for the game and teaching players to compete with sportsmanship. You never know when a kid will get a growth spurt and suddenly that kid blossoms into a great player. I have seen it happen plenty of times. As far as varsity athletics go, certainly the win-loss record matters.

In my opinion, sport specialization is hurting kids in the long run. Playing a sport year round is not conducive to athletic development (strength/speed, agility). It certainly leads to a higher level of skill development at an earlier age but often leads to overuse injuries. For example, AAU basketball starts (at least where I am) before the high school championship game is played. So kids on a team that have a deep playoff run go right from their season into AAU. Then comes summer league, followed by fall league. No wonder they complain about sore, stiff knees all the time. It isn’t surprising when stress fractures occur in the foot/lower leg or ligament damage in the knee. They put incredible demands on the body without allowing for strength development and recovery.
Unfortunately that horse is out of the barn and specialization is here to stay. And for the 2 or 3 sport athlete that never has much on an off-season, at least they are using different skills and movement patterns throughout the year.

I hate to see how things are trending for high school athletics. These were the things that athletics taught me 1. how to work together and be part of a team 2. how to dedicate myself and work hard to reach a goal 3. how to compete (much in life is still a competition). All these things have helped me later on in life.