2. 2
Table of Contents
Abstract...........................................................................................................................................3
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................4
History......................................................................................................................................4
Negative Effects of Todays Values on Youth Sports...................................................................6
Other Parents Views on Youth Sports .........................................................................................7
Kids Views on Todays Youth Sports .......................................................................................9
What is the Cause of Parents and Coaches
Behavior……………………………………………………………..10
San Fransico Parents Versus
FIFA…………………………………………………………………11
Conclusion…………………………………………………………..,12
Works Cited………………………………………………………… 13
Appendix A………………………………………………………….16
Appendix B…………………………………………………………..17
Appendix C………………………………………………………… 19
Appendix D…………………………………………………………20
Appendix E…………………………………………………………..21
Appendix F…………………………………………………………..22
Appendix G…………………………………………………………..25
3. 3
Abstract: Youth competitive sports year after year continue to gain more and more popularity.
Every summer it seems that the little league World Series gets more exposure on ESPN and
social media. Parents and Coaches are getting more involved. They are increasing the amount of
money they invest in youth sports as well as time and distance to travel. The expectations are
higher of what coaches and parents demand out of the kids’ performances and the competition is
getting tougher. Sports are good for kids to get involved in but the increasing pressure to
perform from parents and coaches is starting to have some of a negative impact. More kids are
suffering injuries and getting burn out before they even reach high school.
4. 4
Introduction
In the United States, 21.5 million kids play team sports between the ages of six through
seventeen years old. That’s more than the population of Texas. Only 8 percent of these kids
will ever play on a sports team in college. Less than 2 percent of all college athletes will go on
to play a sport professionally. In fact, overall the average American has a .00565 percent of ever
becoming a professional athlete. When youth sports first started out it was for the good of the
kids. It was to get the kids involved in physical activity, have them be around their peers and
make new friends, have some local community fun, and keep them out of trouble. Recently, that
does not seem to be the case anymore. Even for a single sport, youth sports have become a year
round event, with increased traveling, politics on which kid plays, an overemphasis on winning,
and parents having unrealistic expectations for their kids’ performance. Youth sports were
meant to benefit your child’s health, but the ever growing amount of parents and coaches
expecting too much out of their kid at such a young age, has done anything but the opposite.
They seem to not realize the .00565% chance of their child being able to play professionally.
They all act like their child is going to be the next professional multimillion superstars.
History of Youth Sports
Youth sports have been around for more than a century and a half now. The first youth
sports leagues began in the state of Massachusetts in 1852 when they passed a law for the first
mandatory schooling to start. Now that children had more free time after school, they needed
something to keep them busy during their free time. This is where competitive sports leagues
came into play. Sports were seen as important in teaching the “American” values of cooperation,
hard work, and respect for authority. According to historian Robert Halpern, progressive
5. 5
reformers thought athletic activities could prepare children for the “new industrial society that
was emerging,” which would require them to be physical laborers
(http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/09/when-did-competitive-sports-take-over-
american-childhood/279868). Ironically enough, when competitive sports league first started up
in the mid 1800’s, the sports were played by mostly the poorer children with non-adult
supervision. The middle to upper class children partook in dancing and piano lessons in homes
under adult supervision. When the great depression hit in the 1920’s, all this started to change as
cities and schools were no longer able to financially support youth sports leagues and youth
sports leagues were starting to fade out. After World War 2, youth sports started to rise again.
This time children of all statuses, whether it was upper, middle, and poor were participating in
them. When the 1960’s rolled around, more colleges and universities where adding sports to
their institutions and handing out scholarships to the better athletes around the country to play for
them. Around this time, more and more parents were encouraging and demanding their kids go
to college as they saw the benefits a college education had on ones future. With the beginning of
more scholarships, more parents were also getting their children involved more in youth sports.
They now saw sports as a possible way they could get out of paying college tuition if their child
was fortunate enough to an athletic scholarship. This trend continued with the success of the
professional sports leagues. Sports now were becoming a way to live a life of the rich and
famous. Not only were parents encouraging sports for colleges but the youth themselves wanted
to participate more and more in sports, hoping one day they could be like their favorite sports
hero. As professional and collegiate sports have kept increasing in both popularity and revenue
to where they stand today, so has the number of participants in youth sports. With what the core
values were meant to be for youth sports when they first started, which was hard work,
6. 6
cooperation, have fun, and respect for authority you would think the increased participants in
youth sports would be a good thing. Unfortunately, that has not always been the case.
Somewhere over the past century and half some of these values have been lost and we are
starting to see some og its negative effects in youth sports.
Negative Effects of Today’s Value on Youth Sports
In America, money talks, so with the millions of dollars professional athletes are making
there is no wonder why more children and children’s parents are having dreams of their kids
playing professionally. With the expense of college you cannot argue why parents hope their kid
will be good enough to earn an athletic scholarship. The problem is the extra pressure that is now
been added on the child. Youth sports have no longer become go have fun with your friends,
learn the benefits of hard work, executing team work, and respecting your authority. Youth
sports have become win at all cost, my child has to outperform yours, and parents arguing with
the coach over why their child does not play more, clearly not abiding to the respect your
authority value.
This type of behavior is not all good for the youth. Yes athletes are becoming more
skilled at a younger age, competition is getting tougher, and records are constantly being broken.
But at what cost? Recently studies have shown that injuries are increasing in youth sports
especially concussions. Nationally well-known orthopedic surgeon, Dr. James Andrews, who
has done surgeries for many professional Hall of Fame
athletes, such as Emmitt Smith, Bo Jackson, Michael
Jordan, and Brett Favre, said that he is seeing four times
as many overuse injuries in youth sports than five years
7. 7
ago and more kids are having surgery for chronic sports injuries
(http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/children/a/overusekids.htm). Experts attribute this increase
to the fact that more youth today are specializing in one sport at an early age and training year-
round (http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/children/a/overusekids.htm). The thought is that
training the kid at an early age, combining more reps and practice will make their child a better
player and put them above the competition, thus leading more parents to having the child
participate in one sport year round. As stated by Dr. James Andrews this has led to four times as
many overuse injuries than four years ago. The demanding expectations of the parents are
burning out the youth at a younger age. Not only is this, but the repetition of playing the same
sport over and over again is not always the best for the body. One benefit of playing a variety of
sports is it cross fits and cross trains your body, working your body out as a whole equally.
According to an article at (http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/9469252/hidden-demographics-
youth-sports-espn-magazine) the number one reason and the reason why 38% of youth quit a
sport is because they are not having fun and the third biggest reason and why 27% of youth quit
a sport is because of injury. Pressure to perform and overuse for training in one specific sport
year round are both causes for these statistics.
Other Parents Views on Today’s Youth Sports
Fortunately, there are plenty of other parents worried about the state of youth sports. As
stated recently in a ESPN article, ( Farrey, Tom. "ESPN POLL: MOST PARENTS HAVE
CONCERNS ABOUT STATE OF YOUTH SPORTS." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 13 Oct.
2014. Web. 16 Oct. 2014). More than 87 percent of parents
are worried about their child having a serious injury while
8. 8
playing. The injury they are most concerned about is a concussion. A quarter of parents admitted
to considering withdrawing their child from sports due to the concern over suffering a
horrendous head injury. About 67 percent of parents who took the ESPN survey think there is
too much emphasis on winning rather than having fun. Seven out of every ten parents have
issues with how time consuming youth sports teams have become. The increased time
consumption has been in large part because of the increasing number of private club teams and
multi season travel squads. 85 percent of dads feel the coaching is not good, but the article did
not mention what the reasons behind this were. Despite the amount of concern developing over
youth sports, only three out of ten parents in the survey thought these were major concerns, and
eight out of ten parents still let their kid participate in youth leagues. One very telling statistic in
this survey, which was constructed of a random sample of 1,511 Americans, was the overall
participation in youth sports has dropped from 44.5 percent of all kids in the U.S.A. between
age’s six to twelve in 2008, to 40 percent as recently as 2013. Besides the negative changes
some parents may see in youth sports, this decrease in percentage of participants may be affected
by the increase of costs for youth sports leagues. The ESPN study revealed that every three out
of four mothers were upset with the increase in financial responsibilities these youth leagues
were requiring in order to participate. In 2013, the average family has spent 2, 266 dollars a year
on kid’s sports participation.
With all the bad rep parents and coaches have been getting for youth sports, there is some
good. In another survey recently by ESPN which surveyed 340 parents with kids between the
ages of nine to thirteen across twenty-four different states in fifteen different sports, 53 percent
of respondents say youth sports have strengthened their marriages, with only 23 percent feeling
9. 9
that youth sports were putting a strain on their family. A whopping 84 percent believe that
athletic participation has actually improved their child's grades. ( Klemmons, Anna Katherine.
"Most Parents Aren't as Crazy as the Cliche ... but the Crazies Are Still out There." Parent
Confidential. ESPN, 26 June 2013. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.) Other telling statistics from this survey
was only 17 percent of parents believe they enjoy their child participating in a sport more than
their child does, one out of every three parents has witnessed a parental confrontation, 16 percent
witnessed a child play hurt when they should not have been playing, and 28 percent have
witnessed a child lie about their age in order to give their team an unfair advantage to win.
These percentages may not seem all that high but as one worried mother exclaimed in the ESPN
article, “I can't believe how many of these questions I am answering yes to, sports have been
wonderful for me and my family, but like once a year you'll see something that makes you think
all parents are nuts.” ( Klemmons, Anna Katherine. "Most Parents Aren't as Crazy as the Cliche
... but the Crazies Are Still out There." Parent Confidential. ESPN, 26 June 2013. Web. 14 Oct.
2014). The good news is the majority of parents actually behaves how you’re supposed to
behave but as that one mother pointed out, the growing number of parents acting crazy is
becoming quite alarming.
Kids View on Today’s Youth Sports
We know how the parents felt, but how exactly do the kids that are participating in the
sports feel? Well in a recent study at the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports at Michigan
State University, the Michigan State University study had some interesting things to say. “When
a national sample of youth, aged 10 to 18 years, was asked
why they participated in sports, "to win" was not among the
10. 10
top ten reasons for girls and was only seventh on the list for boys. Moreover, when these same
young people were asked what they would change about sports, "less emphasis on winning"
made the top ten on the list for both genders. Attitudes about the importance of winning change
with the athletes' ages. Younger athletes are more interested in the "fairness" of their games,
while older athletes become more concerned about winning. But even then, many young athletes
say that they would rather play on a losing team than "sit the bench" on a winning team.”( Clark,
Michael A. "Winning! How Important Is It in Youth Sports?" Institute for the Study of Youth
Sports, Michigan State University (2013): 1-3.Michigan State University. Web. 16 Oct. 2014.
http://www.dynamosc.com/docs/Winning.pdf).
Clearly athletes have a different view on winning, then the parents and coaches. This
should be a sign to both the parents and coaches. Maybe instead of focusing who is the best
player and being concerned with how many points their kid scored, the parents should be asking
questions such as “Did you try your hardest” and measuring the child’s success on how much
effort they gave that game. Parents and coaches should also take a step back and instead of
focusing on one games performance so much, they should evaluate the young athlete’s
performance over the course of the whole season and whether they progressed or not. Coming
down too harsh on a child for one bad game can bring them down and make matters worse for
future games. The best thing to do is to keep encouraging them and keep their confidence level
high.
11. 11
What is the Cause of Parents and Coaches Behavior
What is the reasoning for the behavior of the over passionate borderline nuts parents and
coaches? Where does the behavior stem from? These are many questions kids, other parents,
other coaches and researches have been trying to figure out. There is no exact reason but there
are multiple factors that play a part and different reasons for different situations. One
explanation is that some parents and coaches are trying to relive their childhood through their
children. Either the mom or dad was an athlete when they were younger and they never quite
accomplished their dreams of either playing sports in high school, college, or professionally so
they hope their kids can achieve what they were not able to. The phenomena of hoping their
child fulfill the dreams they never fulfilled often leads to them putting extra pressure for their
child to perform even at the youngest of ages. Another reason is they feel they are competing
against other parents by how their child performs in the sport compared to other parent’s
children. Either way most of the reason parents and coaches act the way they do is due to selfish
reasons.
San Francisco Parents versus FIFA Lawsuit
A nice sized group of parents in the San Francisco area filed a lawsuit against six national
and international soccer organizations. The suit claims these organizations including FIFA have
mismanaged concussion treatment at all levels of play. The parents are not seeking financial
damages, but they are optimistic to cause a change in the rules of soccer that it better protects
both children and professional players from serious injury. The parents believe these soccer
organizations have not done enough to identify and treat head injuries. The suit seeks an order
that would drastically change the way soccer would be played.. Currently, in professional soccer
12. 12
leagues, you are only allowed to substitute players three times per game. Under the planned new
rules, professional leagues would have to add temporary substitutions for when an injured player
could be examined for concussion symptoms. Parents also believe the rules should be changed in
youth leagues that a player can only head ball so many times during a game. This suit has some
good points on injury but it seems like some parents do not want to blame themselves for
encouraged competitiveness and rather blame other organizations within the sport.
Conclusion
As collegiate and professional sports become more popular, so do youth sports.
As youth sports have become more popular, unfortunately the injuries have become more
common. This is not due to the increased participation however, as it is due to the increased
pressure placed on children to perform from other parents and coaches. I think it is time the
coaches and parents toned it down and look back on history on what the real values for youth
sports are before we start seeing more negative effects and injuries in youth sport leagues.
13. 13
1.) Farrey, Tom. "ESPN POLL: MOST PARENTS HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT STATE
OF YOUTH SPORTS." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 13 Oct. 2014. Web. 16 Oct.
2014.
-This article on ESPN went into the increasing concerns parents are having over
youth sports. They are concerned with amount of time that is now dedicated to
youth sports, the pressure coaches and fellow parents are putting on the children,
and overemphasis on winning there is in youth sports today. This is a very useful
source. The article was filled with polls and facts that can be used for my research
paper. I plan to use this article to compare how some parents view other parents.
2.) Klemmons, Anna Katherine. "Most Parents Aren't as Crazy as the Cliche ... but the
Crazies Are Still out There." Parent Confidential. ESPN, 26 June 2013. Web. 14 Oct.
2014.
-This was another article done by ESPN. The article proved that actually
surprisingly a majority of parents still behave well in youth sports. The article also
provided a lot of positives there are in youth sports. This article can be very useful
for my research paper. It can help me compare some positives to the negatives I
may have.
3.) Dockterman, Eliana. "Parents Deeply Concerned About Injuries in Youth Sports, Survey
Finds." Time. Time, 13 Oct. 2014. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
-This article was online in Time magazine. The article went into the various
concerns parents have with the number of increasing injuries in youth sports. The
article went on to give some of the reasons that could be behind the ever
increasing injuries in youth sports. This article can be very useful to my research
paper. It is extremely up to date and can fit in well with the negative effects of
added pressure in youth sports.
4.) Blackford, Robert D. "Youth Sports Revolution From Over Zealous Parents and
Coaches." IYCA The International Youth Conditioning Association. IYCA, 22 Oct. 2013.
Web. 11 Oct. 2014.
-This article goes on to describe how both coaches and parents can be over
bearing when it comes to youth sports. It describes what might be the motives
behind the reason for this behavior. It explains how it affects the children. This is
a really good article. The one thing I like about this article that I really find useful
is it describes the revolution of how this certain behavior from parents and
coaches has come about. It gave a little history lesson.
5.) Kanters, Michael. "Parents and Youth Sports." ERIC 37.12 (2002): 20-
28.Http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ665441. ERIC, Dec. 2002. Web. 16 Oct. 2014.
14. 14
<http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ665441>. -This article just overall talked about the effects
parents can have on youth sports. It gave some tips on how a parent can be successful on
parenting their child while they are participating in youth sports. It also warned them of
some negatives. This article was not as useful as I would have liked. Could have used
more detail.
6.) Kanters, Michael. "Supported or Pressured? An Examination of Agreement Among
Parent's and Children on Parent's Role in Youth Sports."Journal of Sports Behavior 31.1
(2008): 64-80. Researchgate.net. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.
-This article went on to describe the fine line between pressuring and supporting
your child while they are participating in youth sports. It showed how some
parents may not actually know this difference and can be confusing their support
for pressure and vice versa. I found this article very useful. It shows that not all
parents pressure their child on purpose. They may act like this for various of
underlying reasons.
7.) Clark, Michael A. "Winning! How Important Is It in Youth Sports?" Institute for the
Study of Youth Sports, Michigan State University (2013): 1-3.Michigan State University.
Web. 16 Oct. 2014. <http://www.dynamosc.com/docs/Winning.pdf>.
-This article goes on to talk about how important is winning in youth sports and
how important parents and coaches can make it out to be. This article compares
coaches and parents expectations to what actual expectations should be. This
article was somewhat useful. I liked his comparisons. Overall it was very similar
and lacked stats and details unlike other articles.
8.) Farrey, Tom. 3. “Game On: How the Pressure to Win at All Costs Endangers Youth
Sports, And What Parents Can Do About It,”. N.p.: ESPN, 2008. Print.
-This book goes on to talk about all the negative impacts that doing whatever it
takes to win is having on youth sports. This article talks about the physical and
mental tool it can take on the children. The article also talks about the risks it may
cause the children for when they get older. This book was very useful. It gave
tons of valuable information and real life stories.
9.) Hyman, Mark. Until It Hurts: America's Obsession with Youth Sports and How It Harms
Our Kids. Boston: Beacon, 2009. Print.
-This book goes on to talk about how America has become obsessed with youth
sports and how it has become unhealthy. Some examples it used was the annual
little league world series and how it is broadcasted all over national television.
The book basically states that we are doing too much for most young kids to
handle. This book overall was very useful. Provided tons of facts on the harm it
has on kids.
15. 15
10.) Fish, Joel, and Susan Magee. 101 Ways to Be a Terrific Sports Parent: Making
Athletics a Positive Experience for Your Child. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003.
Print.
- This book gave all the ways to be a good parent when your child is
participating in youth sports. The book had some very sound advice. One
good point was no matter what happens make sure your kid is having fun.
This book was actually quite useful. It gave me a lot of tips I could use in my
research paper to inform readers the healthy way to parent their child when
participating in youth sports.
-
11.) Friedman, Hilary Levey. "When Did Competitive Sports Take Over American
Childhood?" The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 20 Sept. 2013. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/09/when-did-competitive-sports-
take-over-american-childhood/279868
-This article described when youth sports first started and gave the whole history
behind them up to 2013. It talked about the first states and cities that had youth
sports. It also talked about how youth sports were first geared toward the poorer
class. This article was very useful. I was able to incorporate its history into my
research paper.
12.) Quinn, Elizabeth. "Youth Sports and Overuse Injuries." About Health. About Health, 21
June 2014. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.
<http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/children/a/overusekids.htm>.
-This article talked about why there are more injuries in youth sports today than
compared to five years ago. It gave a statement by Dr. James Andrew who is a surgeon for
multiple professional sports leagues. It also gave the benefits of playing multiple sports. This
article was very beneficial. It helps to have a statement from such a highly respected surgeon
such as Dr. James Andrews in my article.
16. 16
Appendix A
Title: Are the unrealistic expectations parents have for their kids in youth sports today causing a
negative impact on their child’s health?
1.) Introduction
Thesis statement: Youth sports were meant to benefit your child’s health, but the ever
growing amount of parents expecting too much out of their kid at such a young age, has
done anything but the opposite.
1.) Main Idea # 1 – Effects on Childs Health
A. Injuries
B. Fatigue
C. Mental Health
2.) Main Idea #2 – Reasons Behind Parents Behavior
A. Living their dreams through their children
B. Peer pressure and competition among other parents
C. Unrealistic expectations for child
D. Belief that it will help their child get a scholarship or be able to play professionally
3.) Main Idea # 3 – Impact schools have on youth sports
A. Make sports year round
B. More emphasis on winning than before
C. Starting to have kids participate at younger ages
4.) Conclusion
Youth sports were meant to benefit your child’s health, but the ever growing amount of
parents expecting too much out of their kid at such a young age, has done anything but
the opposite.
17. 17
Appendix B
The topic I chose was parents and coaches and the effect they are having on youth sports.
I am a con when it comes to this topic. I feel the impact parents and coaches are having on youth
sports today is negative. There are more reported injuries today than five years ago and kids are
mentally becoming burnout.
I chose this topic because I have a younger sister that is nine years younger than me and
throughout my life I have assisted in coaching the various youth sports she participated in. It
always seized to amaze me how nasty the parents were to their children as young as seven and
eight years old if they did not perform up to their expectations. There were a good amount of
parents that acted that their child was going to be the next superstar and it bothered me to see
this.
I created my research on want I wanted to discover. The part that interests me the most
was the motives in why the parents act the way they do. Do they act the way they do because
they are trying to live their own child hood through their children, is it the motivation of money
in the future, or is it the competitive and pride side of being able to know their kid is the star
player on the team.
I have learned a lot from my research so far and found it is a combination of factors in
which parents and coaches act the way they do. There have been a lot of things I have learned so
far and feel as if I definitely could make a documentary on my topic. What inspired me to outline
the paper I did was I first wanted to let everyone know how big youth sports are in this country
and how many participant there is and how much money is put into it. Then I wanted to start and
give everyone a history lesson on youth sports and let everyone know what the original core
values for youth sports were. I then wanted to let people understand what has changed since then
18. 18
and why it is not always for the better. I wanted to finish the paper on a positive note and help
people on how parents and coaches should start acting.
19. 19
Appendix C
Date Objective
8/31/2014 I started brainstorming and researching my
topic
9/7/2014 I started outlining for my topics
9/14/2014 I will finish selecting topic, which is hopefully
approved by instructor.
9/21/2014 I will finish outlining.
9/28/2014 I will finish my thesis statement which will
hopefully be approved by my instructor.
10/5/2014 I will start researching the primary and
secondary sources.
10/12/2014 I will conduct and interview.
10/19/2014 I will analyze my interview.
10/26/2014 I will start writing my research paper.
11/2/2014 I will keep working on my research paper.
11/9/2014 I will finish writing my research paper.
11/16/2014 I will start proofreading my research paper
11/23/2014 I will have someone else proofread my paper.
11/30/2014 I will finish proofreading my paper
12/7/2014 I will submit and turn in my research paper
20. 20
Appendix D
1.) Efficacy- The power to produce an effect. (http://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary)
2.) Contradictory - a propositionsorelatedtoanotherthatif eitherof the two istrue the otheris
false andif eitherisfalse the othermustbe true.(http://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary)
3.) unabated-continuingatfull strengthorforce withoutbecomingweaker.
(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary)
4.) Deterring-tocause (someone)todecide nottodo something. (http://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary)
5.) Underpinning-thematerial andconstruction(asafoundation) usedforsupportof a structure.
(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary)
6.) Antecedents-awordorphrase thatis representedby anotherword(suchas a pronoun.
(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary)
7.) Sentiments-anattitude,thought,orjudgmentpromptedby feeling.(http://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary)
8.) Competence- asufficiencyof meansforthe necessitiesandconveniencesof life.
(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary)
9.) Phenomenon-something(suchasaninterestingfactorevent) thatcan be observedandstudied
and that typicallyisunusual ordifficulttounderstandorexplainfull.(http://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary)
10.)Mastery-knowledgeandskill thatallowsyoutodo,use,or understandsomethingverywell.
(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary)
21. 21
Appendix E
Research Article #1: The Good Father: Parental Expectations and Youth Sports by Jay Coakley
I found this article on google scholar. I found this article to be a little too short but it had some
good points about the effect fathers have on their children in youth sports. It had a slightly
negative tone to it as it was describing at how fathers can be the harshest on their children in
youth sports. The article was written educationally and sophisticatedly. I agreed with much of
what the author had to say. Some points I really liked was how the father usually has the most
sports skills and is a good role model and has the most influence on how the child will perform
throughout their sports career. Another thing I did not like about this article was it lacked
statistical value to back up certain points.
Research Article#2: Supported or Pressured? An Examination of Agreement Among Parent's and
Children on Parent's Role in Youth Sports by Jonathan Casper
I also found this article on google scholar. I found this article to be a little bit too long but it was
extremely beneficial. It had done tests, studies, and experiments and proved great statistical
value. The tone was neither positive nor negative. It had a very factual matter of fact tone to it.
The article was written very professionally. I can say I agreed or disagreed with the article but I
found some things very interesting and surprised me. One thing I found interesting was how even
though studies proved the father has the most effect on a child’s performance has in a sport, that
the mother has a greater influence on the child’s overall feelings towards the sport. This article
overall did a great job comparing the mother and fathers role and impact in youth sports as well
as the difference between parental support and pressure.
24. 24
|, Eddie Matz. "Travel Team confidential." ESPN.ESPN InternetVentures,12Aug.2011. Web.04
Oct. 2014.
"The Sport Journal." The Sport Journal. Sports Journal, 22 Nov. 2008. Web. 05 Oct.
2014.
25. 25
Appendix G
Introduction: Dr. James Rheuben Andrews is an American Orthopedic Surgeon who
specializes in shoulder, knee, and shoulder injuries. Andrews was born in Homer ,Louisiana in
1942 and ended up attending Louisiana State University where he ended up becoming the
Southeastern Conference champion in pole-vaulting. Dr. Andrews went on to attend a couplme
more universities to finish up his Masters and Doctorate Degrees and officially become a n
Orthopedic Surgeon.
Body/Abstract: If you never heard of Dr. Andrews you should happen to know he is one of the
most important surgeons in the professional sports industry. Dr. James Andrew was once in an
ESPN article written on the many successful professional athletes he has performed surgery on
and careers he has saved. Some of these athletes Dr. James Andrews has worked on include
Emmitt Smith, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Albert Pujols, Troy Aikman, Charles Barkley, Bo
Jackson, Brett Favre, and Roger Clemons. To understand how good Dr. Andrews is as a surgeon,
all of the players previously mentioned are inducted or eventually will be inducted into the Hall
Of Fame for their particular sport. Besides professional athletes D. James Andrews has also
worked on college, high school, and children participating in youth sports. He has done some
extended research on why there has recently been an increase in injuries in youth sports. Dr.
Andrews is very well respected in his field and known as “The alpha doc” at the center of a
sports-medicine network. This network goes way beyond doctors. In fact every athletic trainer,
physical therapist, strength-and-conditioning coach in the country almost seems to have ahold of
Dr. Andrews' cell phone number.
26. 26
Why did you choose this Person: I chose Dr. James Andrews because he is a sports surgeon
that besides working with professional athletes has also been involved in youth sports as well.
One of the articles I researched, he went on to talk about why he feels there is an increase in
sports injuries in youth sports and some of the surgeries he has performed on youth athletes.
Youth sports is currently something he is putting a lot of time into recently. He is well known
across the country for his excellent work.
Claim to Fame: Besides the many hall of fame caliber athletes Dr. James has worked on, he
currently serves as Medical Director and Orthopaedic Surgeon for Auburn University
Intercollegiate Athletics and Senior Orthopaedic Consultant at the University of Alabama.
Doctor Andrews also participates on the Medical and Safety Advisory Committee of USA
Baseball as well as the Board of Little League Baseball. When it comes to professional sports,
Andrews has become a Senior Consultant for the Washington Redskins and Orthopedic Medical
Director for the Tampa Bay Rays. Dr. James Andrews just recently became the Medical Director
of the LPGA also known as the Ladies Professional Golf Association.
27. 27
Historical Significance: Again besides saving many hall of fame careers, “Doctor Andrews was
inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and was named recipient of their Distinguished
Sportsman Award in 1992. In 1996, Doctor Andrews was inducted into the LSU Alumni Hall of
Distinction. He was featured as one of the LSU's 2007 Southeastern Conference Stories of
Character. In 2008, Doctor Andrews received the LSU Cox Communication Academic Center
for Student-Athletes Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award and was inducted into the State
of Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and was named recipient of the prestigious Dave Dixon
Louisiana Sports Leadership Award. Doctor Andrews is a 2009 recipient of the "Live the
Dream" award presented by the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce. Doctor Andrews
was presented the 2009 Distinguished American Award by the Auburn Chapter of the National
Football Foundation and College of Hall of Fame. In 2014 he was presented with the
Contribution to Amateur Athletics Award by the University of Georgia Hall of Fame Chapter.
Doctor Andrews was the recipient of the 2014 NCAA President's Gerald R. Ford Award that
honors an individual who has provided significant leadership in the role of advocate for
intercollegiate athletics and has done so on a continuous basis over the course of their career,
presented at the NCAA Annual Meeting. He was inducted as a member of the "Louisiana
Legends" and also named by the State of Louisiana as one of 200 most influential people in
Louisiana history since Statehood. Doctor Andrews was also awarded the "Mr. Sports Medicine"
award of the AOSSM at the annual meeting in 2014.” ("Andrews Sports Medicine And
Orthopaedic Center (Birmingham, Alabama - Jefferson County)." Andrews Sports Medicine And
Orthopaedic Center (Birmingham, Alabama - Jefferson County). Andrews Sports Medicine and
Orthopedic Center, n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.
http://www.andrewssportsmedicine.com/staff/bio.php?doc_id=39195)
28. 28
Conclusion: Throughout his life, Dr. James Andrews has won many awards, worked for many
professional organizations, collegiate organizations, started up his own organizations and health
centers, saved many athletes careers and recently took an interest to youth sports. It is safe to say
the history of sports would not be what it is today if it was not for Dr. James Andrews and many
people fail to recognize this. With Dr. James Andrews we now have the fantastic sports surgeons
we have today as he has taken a multitude of other surgeons underneath his wing during his time
and will only continue to do so. Only more great thing will continue to come from Dr. James
Andrews.
References:
1.) "Andrews Sports Medicine And Orthopaedic Center (Birmingham, Alabama - Jefferson
County)." Andrews Sports Medicine And Orthopaedic Center (Birmingham, Alabama -
Jefferson County). Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Center, n.d. Web. 17 Oct.
2014. http://www.andrewssportsmedicine.com/staff/bio.php?doc_id=39195
2.) "James Andrews (physician)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Oct. 2014. Web.
17 Oct. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Andrews_%28physician%29>.
3.) Junior, TD. "Tri-State Sports Guys Interview With Dr. James Andrews."TriState Sports
Guys RSS. Tri State Sports Guys RSS, 1 Nov. 2013. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.tristatesportsguys.com/tsg/tri-state-sports-guys-interview-dr-james-
andrews/>.
