More Than Just a Game - by Chris Bjork & William Hoynes (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"A compelling, clear-eyed look at the changing norms around youth sports, family, and what it means for us to spend meaningful time together."--Hua Hsu, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Stay True

More Than Just a Game presents original research, first-person stories, and a much-needed perspective regarding what has become a multibillion-dollar industry that involves forty-five million kids. Are the current practices good for young athletes and their families? What is gained and what is sacrificed when the goal is winning at all costs?

In this confusing environment, parents struggle to maintain a sense of equilibrium, wondering how to balance their child's athletic "career" with "normal" developmental goals and family life. Authors and researchers Bjork and Hoynes offer knowledge, support, and a meaningful way forward, as well as a way back to letting our kids play, grow, and thrive. They examine the most pressing issues in youth sports, including

• How taxing athletics can be developmentally for children.
  
• The financial impact the ever-popular travel teams have on families.
  
• Excessive time commitments and expectations.
  
• The conundrums and challenging decisions the families of young athletes' face.
• Inherent disadvantages of being a young athlete facing inequities.

They connect the patterns in the behavior of the adults they observed to broader trends in our society. They also provide parents with the information they need to understand the contemporary youth-sports industry--to see the bigger picture--and help them make conscious and more informed decisions for their children that are consistent with their core values.

Review Quotes

"An engagingly written, invaluable overview of the contemporary youth sports landscape and how it developed. More Than Just a Game offers an exceptional blend of insights from previous research, new original research findings, and assorted personal stories, observations, and analyses. It helps to illuminate what often appears to be a mystifying, arbitrary, expensive, and inefficient youth sports delivery system. It offers a fair assessment of the costs and benefits of how things are working and very well-informed suggestions for how to improve youth sports experiences. A major contribution!"--Chris Knoester, PhD, Professor of Sociology, The Ohio State University

"More Than Just a Game offers an insightful ethnography into the modern American youth sport 'society.' Through systematic interviews and observation, Chris Bjork and William Hoynes expose some of the deepest-held myths about youth sport participation and how these myths may be damaging kids and families. The book's underlying message should be taken seriously: parents should not betray their kids' childhood fun with misinformed dreams about college scholarships, by viewing youth sport success as evidence of good parenting, and by trying to keep up with those in their'mobile youth sport communities.' Kids, not parents, should drive youth sport participation (or nonparticipation)."--Rick Eckstein, PhD, Professor of Sociology, Villanova University, Author of How College Athletics Are Hurting Girls' Sports: The Pay-to-Play Pipeline, Coproducer and research director of the documentary series, Beyond Stigma: Mental Health in Women's College Sports

"More Than Just a Game goes into the dynamic aspects of youth sports that has become a culture of high specificity and high commitment. This is a common motif in American culture at large, with Bjork and Hoynes providing valuable insights as to how it has impacted the lives of so many young athletes and their families. If we want to change the culture at large, to reduce injuries and burdens while maximizing what is best for the kids, we must first become self-aware of the benefits and drawbacks. This book is the perfect way to pioneer that discussion."--Christian Hilts, PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS

"Like the authors, I'm both a parent of (former) youth and collegiate athletes and researcher of educational and economic inequality. More Than Just a Game illustrates how the youth sports industry has tapped into existing economic inequality--those with resources will pay seemingly unlimited amounts to get their kid ahead--further exacerbating inequality. The growth of private, pay-to-play youth sports and associated costs have accelerated over the past decade, as the authors illustrate. This book is an exceptional resource for parents of current and aspiring youth athletes to understand the broader context surrounding youth sports, the business of youth sports, and intersections between today's youth sports industry, schools, and colleges. It is an equally essential resource for those working in academic institutions, especially in selective postsecondary institutions at whatever level of the collegiate-athletics hierarchy."--Bruce D. Baker, EdD, Professor, Department of Teaching and Learning, University of Miami

"More Than Just a Game is a clear-eyed, highly readable analysis of contemporary youth sports, as well as an insightful account of what organized kids' athletics means to parents. Grounded in original research, the book avoids pat explanations for parents' behavior and always finds the nuance in their motivations and conduct. The authors are relentlessly fair, and their suggestions on how to navigate the ever-changing sports environment are essential. Parents, if you are confused about travel T-ball, year-round soccer for second graders, and why kids' games cost so much--read this book!"--Linda Flanagan, Freelance Writer, Former High School Coach, Author of Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids' Sports--and Why It Matters

"An essential read for any parents wondering where their weekends went--as well as whether such a thing as leisure exists anymore. A compelling, clear-eyed look at the changing norms around youth sports, family, and what it means for us to spend meaningful time together."--Hua Hsu, Author of Stay True: A Memoir

"You'll not find a better analysis of the child sports industry or guidebook for navigating your kids through youth sports than this perceptive, comprehensive, and very readable book by Bjork and Hoynes. Reflecting the transition from child-centered sandlots to adult-controlled firms and institutions, and from community-based teams/leagues to private clubs/leagues, More Than Just A Game examines sports commercialization, the travel ball craze and its inequities, youth-sports power struggles, the illusion of college sports, and their implications for beleaguered young athletes and their parents. Filled with insights and good advice for those involved in the next generation of youth sports."--Robert Elias, Author of Major League Rebels, The Empire Strikes Out, and Baseball and the American Dream

"An engagingly written, invaluable overview of the contemporary youth sports landscape and how it developed. More Than Just a Game offers an exceptional blend of insights from previous research, new original research findings, and assorted personal stories, observations, and analyses. It helps to illuminate what often appears to be a mystifying, arbitrary, expensive, and inefficient youth sports delivery system. It offers a fair assessment of the costs and benefits of how things are working and very well-informed suggestions for how to improve youth sports experiences. A major contribution!"-Chris Knoester, PhD, Professor of Sociology, The Ohio State University

"More Than Just a Game offers an insightful ethnography into the modern American youth sport 'society.' Through systematic interviews and observation, Chris Bjork and William Hoynes expose some of the deepest-held myths about youth sport participation and how these myths may be damaging kids and families. The book's underlying message should be taken seriously: parents should not betray their kids' childhood fun with misinformed dreams about college scholarships, by viewing youth sport success as evidence of good parenting, and by trying to keep up with those in their'mobile youth sport communities.' Kids, not parents, should drive youth sport participation (or nonparticipation)."--Rick Eckstein, PhD, Professor of Sociology, Villanova University, Author of How College Athletics Are Hurting Girls' Sports: The Pay-to-Play Pipeline, Coproducer and research director of the documentary series, Beyond Stigma: Mental Health in Women's College Sports

"More Than Just a Game goes into the dynamic aspects of youth sports that has become a culture of high specificity and high commitment. This is a common motif in American culture at large, with Bjork and Hoynes providing valuable insights as to how it has impacted the lives of so many young athletes and their families. If we want to change the culture at large, to reduce injuries and burdens while maximizing what is best for the kids, we must first become self-aware of the benefits and drawbacks. This book is the perfect way to pioneer that discussion."--Christian Hilts, PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS

"Like the authors, I'm both a parent of (former) youth and collegiate athletes and researcher of educational and economic inequality. More Than Just a Game illustrates how the youth sports industry has tapped into existing economic inequality--those with resources will pay seemingly unlimited amounts to get their kid ahead--further exacerbating inequality. The growth of private, pay-to-play youth sports and associated costs have accelerated over the past decade, as the authors illustrate. This book is an exceptional resource for parents of current and aspiring youth athletes to understand the broader context surrounding youth sports, the business of youth sports, and intersections between today's youth sports industry, schools, and colleges. It is an equally essential resource for those working in academic institutions, especially in selective postsecondary institutions at whatever level of the collegiate-athletics hierarchy."--Bruce D. Baker, EdD, Professor, Department of Teaching and Learning, University of Miami

"More Than Just a Game is a clear-eyed, highly readable analysis of contemporary youth sports, as well as an insightful account of what organized kids' athletics means to parents.

About the Author

Chris Bjork, PhD, is professor of education and coordinator of teacher education at Vassar College. A former classroom teacher, he is particularly interested in the impact that adults have on the learning experiences of students and athletes. His most recent book, High Stakes Schooling, examines the influence of standardized testing on learning in Japan and the U.S. He currently serves on the editorial boards of the British Journal of Sociology of Education, the International Journal of Sociology of Education, and Schools: Studies in Education. In the world of youth sports, he has served as a travel team soccer and Little League baseball coach.

William Hoynes, PhD, is professor of sociology on the Jane Baker Nord '42 Chair in Media Studies at Vassar College, where he has served as Dean of Faculty, Chair of the Sociology Department, and Director of both the American Studies Program and the Media Studies Program. Hoynes is a cultural sociologist whose research explores contemporary media and culture in the United States. Dr. Hoynes has written widely about the media industry in the United States and is the author of several award-winning books. He has been a board member of the Rhinebeck Little League for more than fifteen years and is a former board member of the Rhinebeck Soccer League. He has served as a travel team baseball and soccer coach and volunteer assistant high school basketball coach.