Dan Doyle - The Encyclopedia of Sports Parenting: Everything You Need to Guide Your Young Athlete

Praise for

Student athletes experience many personally defining moments on the playing field, as well as in the classroom. While only a few will go on to professional careers as athletes, most of us find the lessons from our athletic experiences are among the most important. Dan Doyle has done a remarkable job in developing his Encyclopedia of Sports Parentingand, in doing so, has done a remarkable service to us all. Dans vision for the kind of experience students should have through sport comes through with great clarity in this impressive compendium. And that vision is one that will lead to better experience and outcomes for our students, our schools, our communities and our nation.

Senator George J. Mitchell

Dan Doyles Encyclopedia of Sports Parenting is brilliant, and serves a real need in the athletics community. It is, by far, the most comprehensive book that I have seen on this important topic. Youth sports have changed dramatically over the years. Unfortunately, one of the worst trends has been the move to specialization and year-round training in one sport for young athletes. With this has come a dramatic increase in the involvement of parents in the athletic careers of their sons and daughters. Dan lays out very clearly the proper role that parents should play in their childrens careers. It is a must read, not only for parents, but also for athletes, coaches, and administrators.

Mark Murphy, former Athletic Director, Northwestern University;
former captain, Washington Redskins Super Bowl Championship Team;
President and CEO of the Green Bay Packers

The book contains more wisdom about parenting, not just sports parenting, than Ive ever seen in one place. It is the work of a lifetime of coaching, teaching, and writing, and could very well change for the better how the country thinks about youth sports. Dan Doyle is a clear writer and thinker, and the book is something every parent of a scholar/athletethats what Doyle wants them to beought to read.

Tom Condon,The Hartford Courant

Dan Doyles Encyclopedia of Sports Parenting is brillianta remarkable and long-needed gift, not only for moms and dads, but for any adult who has the great good fortune to nurture a child through sports. The writing style embraces clarity, wit, and style, and the message is a combination of philosophy and practicality, reality and compassion, honesty and honour. This voume is by far the most comprehensive gathering of advice for parents of youngsters who participate in sports that has ever been compiled.

Mary-Ann Tirone-Smith, acclaimed novelist

Dan Doyle has given parents a great gift. He has shared his enormous wisdom borne of his experiences as a parent, teacher, coach, and scholar to a subject that touches virtually every family in America. The clarity of his thinking is liberating to this parent who has struggled in his own roles of parent, teacher, and coach. Dans gift is much more than a book about parenting and athletics. It is a book about values, about being an effective parent, and helping our children become people of character. If parents across this great nation committed to his notion of honorable competition, we would be giving our children a great gift, one that would serve them well throughout their lives.

Dr. Lee Levison, Headmaster, Collegiate School, New York City

Wow! Encyclopedia of Sports Parenting is truly the bible for sports parents of athletes of all ages. The college recruiting section is by far the most in depth and best ever written on this subject. I plan to highly recommend this book to parents of my recruitsand parents in general. As a parent of two teenage boys as well as being a college coach for the past thirty years, I really appreciate that a long-awaited book has been written that will have a positive and profound impact on the sports culture.

Dave Hixon, Head Mens Basketball Coach, Amherst College

As a pediatrician, my role is to guide parents in promoting their childrens optimal growth and development.The Encyclopedia of Sports Parenting is an extraordinarily comprehensive resource that informs both parents and child health providers, alike. This remarkable text addresses virtually all aspects of youth sports through a unique combination of insightful observations, expert opinions, informative anecdotes, and research findings. Dan Doyle offers guidance on nurturing in our children such desirable qualities as integrity, a strong work ethic, mental toughness, self-discipline and self-control, self-reliance and self-esteem, teamwork, leadership, organizational skills, competitive self restraint, willpower, trust, and delayed gratification. These rich recommendations have profound implications that extend beyond sports and also serve as a superb handbook on effective parenting.

Paul H. Dworkin, MD,
Professor and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics,
University of Connecticut School of Medicine,
Physician-in-Chief, Connecticut Childrens Medical Center,
Hartford, Connecticut

DAN DOYLE

WITH

D EBORAH D OERMANN B URCH

S KYHORSE P UBLISHING

Copyright 2008, 2013 by Dan Doyle

Originally published by Hall of Fame Press in 2008.

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or info@skyhorsepublishing.com.

Skyhorse and Skyhorse Publishing are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation.

www.skyhorsepublishing.com

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

ISBN 978-1-62087-789-0

Printed in the United States of America

To my sports parents,
the late Marie Doyle and the late Daniel E. Doyle, Sr.,
and to my sports uncle, the late Matthew P. ORegan
with great love and gratitude.

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A L ETTER TO P ARENTS OF S PECIAL C HILDREN

T he initial version of The Encyclopedia of Sports Parenting was published in 2008. I was pleased with the reaction, especially the considerable feedback I received from sports parents and coaches throughout the United States. When Jake Elwell, my literary agent for my novel, An African Rebound, became aware of The Encyclopedia and the awards and reviews, he suggested that the book should be updated. Jake made arrangements with Skyhorse Publishing to re-release the updated version, which contains several new chapters, and an opening letter to parents of special children.

There are a number of other sports parenting issues that I am interested in exploring, and I plan to continue the process of updating the book every few years, particularly as new issues surface, which they always seem to do! Please keep an eye on www.encyclopediaofsportsparenting.com