As the parent of two athletes, a teacher, and a former youth athlete, I have seen a lot of kids get super involved in sports from a young age. While some organized sport is a good thing, I'm not a fan of the environment that makes it seem like a kid has to specialize and spend hours at a single sport from elementary school in order to be competitive. Thankfully, my kids are happy with where they are athletically, and in a very balanced way.
If you're also concerned, or just curious, you might be interested in the book I recently got to review, More than Just a Game How the Youth Sports Industry Is Changing the Way We Parent and What to Do About It. In the book, the authors explore family feelings about sports, including the struggles and celebrations, and how to navigate youth sports. Topics include time commitment, physical stress on growing bodies, mental health, and more. The book helps parent and caregivers make more informed decisions regarding their children's participation in sports.
You can learn more in this interview.
What inspired you to write this book?
Our motivation for writing this book was to provide information to parents who are struggling to make decisions that will help their children thrive—in sports and in life. Parents today are bombarded with messages that encourage them to do whatever it takes to make their kids look exceptional. This creates an enormous amount of pressure on parents. That pressure can lead them to abandon their values and goals related to parenting. We hope our book will help them regain a sense of balance as they raise their children.
Who is your target audience?
Even though we have both been writing books for more than 20 years, this project elicits more interest and enthusiasm than any other we have undertaken. Each conversation we have with sports parents reinforces our understanding of how hungry sports parents are for an honest account of the world they inhabit. We are excited about writing a book that provides just that.
We hope that this book will be helpful for those parents with children involved in sports, as well as parents of former youth athletes. Coaches, teachers, and administrators may find More than Just a Game resourceful. This book is also for any reader with a general interest in the evolution of youth sports and their impact on American society.
Chris B. Bjork, PhD, is professor of education and coordinator of teacher education at Vassar College. His most recent book, High Stakes Schooling, was published by the University of Chicago Press (2015). 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. As a faculty athletics representative at Vassar, Dr. Bjork attends Athletics Department meetings and workshops, interviews candidates for coaching positions, and weighs in on decisions about awards for athletes. 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 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 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.
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