The youth sports crisis : out-of-control adults, helpless kids / Steven J. Overman.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Introduction to youth sports -- What motivates youth sports participation? -- Do youth sports develop character? -- 2. Youth sports for adults -- The adult takeover of children's sports -- The youth sports coach, for better or worse -- The commercialization of youth sports -- 3. The child athlete's family -- The youth sports family -- The sports parent: soccer moms and dugout dads -- Are youth sports overpriced? -- Youth sports as college prep -- 4. The child athlete as miniature adult -- The hurried child athlete -- Toddler sports -- The child athlete as specialist -- The overscheduled child athlete -- Sports camps and academies -- 5. Youth sports may be hazardous to your child's physical health -- Unnecessary roughness: youth sports injuries -- Violence in youth sports -- Do youth sports promote unhealthy eating? -- Do youth sports promote fitness? -- 6. Youth sports may be hazardous to your child's emotional health -- The youth sports athlete under stress -- Youth sports and the shaping of masculinity -- Youth sports as child abuse -- Quitters never win: burnouts and dropouts -- 7. The toxic elements in youth sports -- Youth sports as drudgery -- Youth sports as child labor -- Winning is everything: competition out of control -- Youth sports as elitism -- 8. So you want your son to play football -- A portrait of youth football and its downside -- Youth football coaches: amateurs and abusers -- Bigger is better: overweight players no pain, no gain: a plague of injuries -- Does playing football promote bad behavior? -- Do you want your son to play football? -- 9. Concluding thoughts: reform or re-form.

Many American children spend more than 20 hours a week in organized sports, forgoing free time and unstructured recreational activities for the rigors of training and competition. This book offers a comprehensive critique of the youth sports movement, pitting the reality of adult-run sports programs against the needs and interests of children. It examines whether the tradeoff of "normal play time" for structured sports activities teaches discipline and leads to stronger character development, or if the pressures of the game, the physical strain of practicing, and the general overscheduling of children's lives have eroded the benefits associated with playing sports. -- from dust jacket.