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

"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 TrueMore 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.  Read more