More Than Just a Game: How the Youth Sports Industry Is Changing the Way We Parent and What to Do about It - Paperback

by Chris Bjork (Author), William Hoynes (Author)

"A compelling, clear-eyed look at the changing norms around youth sports, family, and what it means for us to spend meaningful time together."-Hua Hsu, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Stay True

More Than Just a Game presents original research, first-person stories, and a much-needed perspective regarding what has become a multibillion-dollar industry that involves forty-five million kids. Are the current practices good for young athletes and their families? What is gained and what is sacrificed when the goal is winning at all costs?

In this confusing environment, parents struggle to maintain a sense of equilibrium, wondering how to balance their child's athletic "career" with "normal" developmental goals and family life. Authors and researchers Bjork and Hoynes offer knowledge, support, and a meaningful way forward, as well as a way back to letting our kids play, grow, and thrive. They examine the most pressing issues in youth sports, including

• How taxing athletics can be developmentally for children.
  
• The financial impact the ever-popular travel teams have on families.
  
• Excessive time commitments and expectations.
  
• The conundrums and challenging decisions the families of young athletes' face.
• Inherent disadvantages of being a young athlete facing inequities.

They connect the patterns in the behavior of the adults they observed to broader trends in our society. They also provide parents with the information they need to understand the contemporary youth-sports industry--to see the bigger picture--and help them make conscious and more informed decisions for their children that are consistent with their core values.

Author Biography

Chris Bjork, PhD, is professor of education and coordinator of teacher education at Vassar College. A former classroom teacher, he is particularly interested in the impact that adults have on the learning experiences of students and athletes. His most recent book, High Stakes Schooling, examines the influence of standardized testing on learning in Japan and the U.S. He currently serves on the editorial boards of the British Journal of Sociology of Education, the International Journal of Sociology of Education, and Schools: Studies in Education. In the world of youth sports, he has served as a travel team soccer and Little League baseball coach.

William Hoynes, PhD, is professor of sociology on the Jane Baker Nord '42 Chair in Media Studies at Vassar College, where he has served as Dean of Faculty, Chair of the Sociology Department, and Director of both the American Studies Program and the Media Studies Program. Hoynes is a cultural sociologist whose research explores contemporary media and culture in the United States. Dr. Hoynes has written widely about the media industry in the United States and is the author of several award-winning books. He has been a board member of the Rhinebeck Little League for more than fifteen years and is a former board member of the Rhinebeck Soccer League. He has served as a travel team baseball and soccer coach and volunteer assistant high school basketball coach.