Book Review by Jack Falt
The authors assure us that these abusive people are in the minority and that the world of sport has many benefits to offer young people: physical fitness, team building and interpersonal skills. Instead of kids being so involved in sports that their grads go down, the reverse is the more likely scenario. The dropout is more likely to have dropped out of sports or have never joined in the first place. The main reason both boys and girls participate in sports is to have fun. Winning was 10th on the list for girls and 8th for boys.
Having established the positive value of sports for youngsters, the next task is to evaluate the sports opportunities available in the schools and the community. Parents need to know what their children are getting into. They also have to support these activities by being involved, backing up the coaches and even offering leadership.
The family itself should be considered a team that supports one another in the business of daily living and helping one another get their needs met as part of a group. When children see their experience of being part of a sports team being reflected in their family life, they feel more secure to grow and develop. Family team meetings can be used to discuss family problems and also the problems that occur because of conflicts due to scheduling of the family resources: Which parents drives what kid to what sporting event? The family can discuss value conflicts that occur when a child is involved in sports and there are family functions to attend.
The emphasis of this book is on having as many children in the community participating in sports as possible rather than focussing on potential stars. It also looks at what the highly skilled young person faces and how he or she and the family can come to a decision about following on to higher levels of competition or even to professional levels.
This is a very thorough and readable discussion about anything that relates to children and sports. It would be very valuable for any parent to read and it is also a book you hope the coaches and support people for the various organizations would read as well.