| Does an entire book have to be written about how to let kids have fun and enjoy themselves when they play sports? |
| Is it that difficult these days to know how to coach, motivate, and work with children? Sure, times have changed a bit since we were growing up, but let's face factsaren't kids still, for the most part, just kids? |
| All good, legitimate questions. The kinds of questions I would have asked before I had children of my own. After all, we've all heard the horror stories involving organized youth sports leagues: the fights between coaches, the overbearing parents, the eruption of on-the-field arguments, kids rejecting sports for a variety of reasons. The average onlooker hears and reads about these incidents and just assumes that these incredible, outlandish acts of crazed coaches and parents are nothing more than aberrations or a statistical flukes. |
| But those of us who are immersed in organized youth sports know better. We know that while loud, disruptive episodes tend to be nothing more than the tip of the youth league iceberg, we also recognize that there are a lot of uneasy signals coming out of our kids' sports leagues in the 1990s. These worrisome signals are early warning signs that the leagues in which our kids play are either flat out of sync with our educational priorities or just not emphasizing fun enough. Either way, if you care about your kids' development in sports, it's time to get involved. |
| Out of these realities, the urge to write this book was born. A product of organized youth leagues myself, and having gone on to a highly enjoyable career as a professional athlete, college coach, and sports psychology consultant, I know firsthand that it's not easy to keep one's priorities fully in order when the competition heats up out on the playing field. |
| But that's precisely when the adult in us should take over, reminding us that we are dealing with kids here and what we're doing with organized youth leagues is for the kids' benefit, not our own. |
| As you go through this book, you will see lots of situations readily recognizable from your own experience. Ideally, some of the thoughts and suggestions here will help you and your family cope with the realities of competitive sports for young people. At the very least they will get you thinking about sports in your community, and whether or not those sports leagues are doing the best they can for your children. |
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