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Recommended Reading

"Why Johnny Hates Sports" 
By Fred Engh

Despite daily and often tragic evidence to the contrary, there are responsible adults in every community across America who simply do not recognize or do not believe that there are serious problems with organized youth sports today. Perhaps they think the ugly  incident involving an abusive coach that appeared on the news is just an isolated event or that "it would never happen here."

Whatever the reason, few people seem to be concerned enough with the sorry state of affairs in organized youth sports to take steps to do something about the deplorable and deteriorating situation.

The problems referred to come in all shapes and forms. Coaches and parents physically, verbally and mentally abuse children. Parents brawl with coaches, other parents and game officials at children's events. Eight year-old kids talk trash just like their professional counterparts. Youngsters everywhere are being denied an opportunity to play because of a "win-at-any-cost" coach. Countless numbers of children are injured annually in sports related accidents that could have been prevented. These are but a few examples of the kind of problems that need to be dealt with.

Fortunately for our kids and for future generations of kids, someone has stepped forward and is, slowly but surely, making a difference. That someone is Fred Engh, President of the National Alliance For Youth Sports. Engh has dedicated his life to improving youth sports and was one of the first disciples for youth sport reform in the United States. Over the past thirty years, he has been a coach, athletic director and sports educator and, in 1981, he founded a national program dedicated to the training and certification of volunteer coaches that has now trained over one million coaches. This group evolved into the National Alliance For Youth Sports, a nonprofit organization that works to provide safe and fun sports for youth.

In his book, Why Johnny Hates Sports,  Engh explains why organized youth sports are failing our children and what we can do about it. As reflected by the title, millions of kids are dropping out of sports because the system they play in is flawed. The negative impact of parents, coaches and administrators are documented. More importantly, proven solutions for these problems are identified. Find out, for example, why on a youth baseball diamond - for safety purposes - there should be two bases at first, one in fair territory and one in foul territory.

This book is more than an expose of abuses, although it documents scores of them. It is a call to arms to parents in every community in America. Only parents can make the changes and implement the programs that are so necessary to put fun back into sports for all children.

"SportsMoms" Series
Our latest book review isn't the review of a single book. Instead, it is the review of a collection of several books by Laurel Phillips and Barbara Stahl. Three of the books are the SportsMom Manuals for Hockey, Soccer, Volley Ball and the fourth book is Parenting SportsMom Style.

The manuals, The Volley Ball Mom's Manual, The Soccer Mom's Manual and The Hockey Mom's Manual all deal with things moms should know about their child's sports experience, including;
 - the time, money and equipment it takes
 - which rules may trigger controversy
 - the behavior that's expected (yours) and
 - what's ahead as your child gets older

In addition to the important tips and advice provided, the manuals are fun to read and contain a sprinkling of humorous cartoons depicting situations mom of the sport face. The books all follow a common outline that ranges from background information on the sport and the sports essentials, to equipment required, conditioning,  the game format,  playing time, tournaments and finally the politics of the sport.

The Volley Ball Mom's Manual, for example, explains the importance of player's knee pads, their proper fit, the alternative shapes and construction, the price range plus how to clean and care for them.

If you're a mom with a child who is about to enter the world of youth sports, you should get yourself a good handbook such as the books in this series published by SportsMom. At $7.95 you can't go wrong. I suggest that some Dads might also benefit from reading these manuals.

Whatever sport your child is considering you should also check out the SportsMom book Parenting SportsMom Style; Real-Life Solutions for Surviving the Youth Sports Scene. This book can help you deal with the every day demands that  SportsMoms everywhere must face. It will help you to use your child's sports experience to shape his or her character, values and relationship with you and with others. Especially significant is the chapter entitled "What You Should Expect From Your Child (and What Your Child Should Expect From You)" which lists some of the more common complaints kids make, along with  the life lessons that can be learned from these problems and how parents might help their child learn from the experience.

As a coach, I found the advice given in chapter 8, "The Coach and You", right on the mark. Parents and coaches both can benefit from the guidance offered in this chapter regarding a coach's authority, the importance of good coach/parent communications, the issue of kid's playing time and how parents should handle disagreements with the coach.

These books by SportsMoms Laurel Phillips and Barbara Stahl can help make the world of kids' sports a far better and enjoyable place. I hope that the world will read and benefit from their words of wisdom.  You can order their books by visiting their web site at http://www.sportsmom.com.

"Beyond X's and O's" by Jack Hutslar, PhD
This is the text book for the NAYSI's online course for coaches, teachers, youth leaders and youth professionals. Its author, Dr. Hutslar, contends that youth sports today are patterned after "revenue sports" and that our youth coaches are improperly trained and influenced by television and media coverage, accounting for much of the problems in youth sports. The author makes the case that the revenue sport model is not appropriate for youth sports and stresses the need for a youth sport model with characteristics that include 100% participation, fun for the players, learning basic skills or fundamentals, safety and balance. Beyond the X's and O's provides the specifics of how to redesign youth sports programs consistent with the desired youth sport model, and how to train and educate our youth leaders and coaches to provide such programs. To improve the unfortunate state of affairs existing in youth sports today, the principles described in Beyond X's and O's need to be put into practice on our kids' athletic fields. This book should be essential reading for parents, coaches and league administrators everywhere. If you are involved with kids sports, read the book and take the NAYSI online training course to get certified. You can make a difference.