Unintended Consequences

Jerry Norton

Description

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES is a look at the deplorable situation in youth sports through the 84-year old eyes of photojournalist, youth coach, referee and league administrator Jerry Norton. Norton makes the case that youth sports have become more about winning than playing and more about adult egos than kids' enjoyment and participation. According to Coach Jerry, the evidence is clear and the verdict is in. Adults--whether malicious or well-meaning--are deemed guilty of hijacking youth sports' most noble and worthy objective--fun. Win-at-all-cost coaches and demanding parents with unrealistic expectations are responsible for horrific acts of violence as well as untold incidents of child abuse that have become common-place in youth sports. The long-time youth sports activist offers constructive criticisms as well as solutions intended to make kids' sports fun again for all participants.

Sujets

• Sport psychology

Informations

• Publié par: First Edition Design Publishing
• Date de parution: 15 février 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781506901077
• Langue: English

Extrait

UNINTENDED
CONSEQUENCES



How Adults Took
The Fun Out of Youth Sports

By Jerry Norton
Unintended Consequences
Copyright ©2015 Jerry Norton

ISBN 978-1506-901-06-0 PRINT
ISBN 978-1506-901-07-7 EBOOK

LCCN 2015959176

December 2015

Published and Distributed by
First Edition Design Publishing, Inc.
P.O. Box 20217, Sarasota, FL 34276-3217
www.firsteditiondesignpublishing.com



ALL R I G H T S R E S E R V E D. No p a r t o f t h i s b oo k pub li ca t i o n m a y b e r e p r o du ce d, s t o r e d i n a r e t r i e v a l s y s t e m , o r t r a n s mit t e d i n a ny f o r m o r by a ny m e a ns ─ e l e c t r o n i c , m e c h a n i c a l , p h o t o - c o p y , r ec o r d i n g, or a ny o t h e r ─ e x ce pt b r i e f qu ot a t i o n i n r e v i e w s , w i t h o ut t h e p r i o r p e r mi ss i on o f t h e a u t h o r or publisher .
Dedication

While this book focuses primarily on what is wrong with youth sports, it is important to remember the thousands and thousands of caring youth coaches who deserve great praise and recognition for creating memorable experiences for countless young children. These men and women represent what is good about youth sports. This work is dedicated to these very special individuals.
Table of Contents

About The Author v
Introduction . 1
Chapter I - The Evolution of Youth Sports 6
The Evolution of Youth Sports From a Baseball Perspective . 6
The Sandlot Era . 7
The Little League/Baby Boom Era . 9
The Television Era . 11
The Mega-$ports Era . 13
What Makes Me an Authority . 15
Chapter II - Navigating the Minefield of Youth Sports 19
Violence in Sports---The Horror Stories . 19
The Seven Deadly Sins . 24
Chapter III - The Game . 39
Winning vs. Success . 53
Everyone Gets a Trophy? . 59
Playing Time. 66
Keeping Score. 67
Scoreboards . 68
Individual and Team Sports . 69
Chapter IV - The Coach . 71
The Coach Is at the Heart of the Matter . 71
The Three D’s of Coaching Little Kids . 74
Finding a Good Coach . 81
Finding a Good Program ... 85
The Coach's Behavior Makes a Big Difference . 86
Background Checks In Youth Sports Are Important, But Are They Enough? 89
Kids Need Positive Coaches and Positive Parents . 92
Unruly Parents . 97
Chapter V - Voices From The Sidelines 101
Voices from the Sidelines . 101
First Year in Football 102
What About Scouting? . 104
Peewee Football Woes . 106
Young Football Player, Not Playing . 108
Turned Off of Football 111
Why Is My Son Sitting? . 114
Problems with the "New" Baseball League . 116
Discipline vs. Humiliation in Baseball 120
Baseball - To Play or Not to Play? . 124
First Time Baseball Coach . 128
Blaming Parents . 132
What About the "All Play" Rule? . 135
How to Handle an Aggressive Coach . 142
What Do Youth Sports Do for Kids? . 146
Gender and Parental Attitudes . 149
Chapter VI - A Call To Action . 153
Isn't It Time We Did Something? . 153
An American Tragedy Continues . 154
Our Real Role Models . 156
Chapter VII - What Can We Do? 159
Changing the Kids Sports World One Small Step at A Time . 159
A Much Needed Alternative Youth Sports Model 161
Playing Just For the Fun of It 163
A Game Changer . 166
A Focus on Player Safety . 170
A Focus on Balanced Competition . 171
A Focus on Full Participation and Abundant Playing Time . 172
A Focus on Skill Development 172
A Focus on Fun . 173
A Focus on Player Encouragement, Recognition . 174
A Focus on Coaches as Mentors Not Competitors . 174
A Focus on Coach Training . 174
A Focus on Parental Involvement 175
A Focus on Age Appropriate Expectations and Instruction . 175
A Focus on Teaching Life Lessons . 176
The Fragility of the New Kids’ Fun Model 177
The JDL Dead Time Rule . 182
The JDL Concept Catches On . 182
Testimonials for the JDL Concept 183
Chapter VIII - The Brighter Side . 194
Youth Sports and Life Lessons . 194
50 Things I Learned the Hard Way Ó ... 195
Life Lessons From the Playing Field . 200
“Come Ready Or Never Start” . 202
Chris Creighton’s Message . 202
The Lessons . 203
Andy's Miracle . 203
(Reprinted courtesy of the Ponte Vedra Reco rder ) . 203
A Special Day, A Special Place For Special People . 210
It's Official-- Challenger League a Huge Success . 214
Chapter IX - The Final Message . 217
About The Author
Let me start by telling you a little bit about myself and my experience with kids and their sports. I am 84 years old, the father of three sons who grew up in the 1960’s and 70’s and who were typical of their generation. They belonged to the Cub Scouts, the Boy Scouts, took piano lessons and played the organized youth sport of the season. As an encouraging parent and eager volunteer, I took great pleasure in participating in their leisure activities, serving faithfully for years as their coach and scout leader.
I coached my boys’ baseball and football teams for nearly a decade until they moved on to high school. It was so enjoyable I continued to coach football, baseball and even girls’ softball and served as an officer in our church youth program long after my children were grown. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was starting a long trip down the bumpy road of organized youth sports.
My formative years as a child were spent playing sports--not organized sports mind you--the sandlot variety. Our activities were never organized in any sense of the word. We were just a bunch of kids in a field somewhere playing and having fun. Of course there wasn’t a parent within miles. Expensive equipment was practically non-existent then, except for the necessities like a football, a baseball wrapped with black friction tape, a wooden bat nailed together and wrapped in the same black tape, a racket or skates. I remember playing centerfield frequently in bare feet. I didn’t have baseball spikes.
None of us who played hockey had real shin guards. Instead, we wrapped copies of Life magazine around our legs and held them in place with rubber bands cut from old inner tubes. We made do or did without. Equipment just wasn’t very important back then. Playing was. So many of my childhood memories are centered on those Sand Lot sports.
My first job while in high school was as a lifeguard and youth sports counselor at the local beach club where I gave swimming lessons, saved drowning kids, coached softball and gave tennis lessons.
A short time later I married and was drafted for a two-year stint in the army signal corps during the hydrogen bomb tests of 1953-54 in the Marshall Islands. After my discharge, I played a bit of semi-pro football, coached a youth football team and completed my college degree in electrical engineering at Columbia University.
It finally was time to go to work as an aerospace engineer to support my family. Still I found time to coach kids--my own and others, and then later with Special Olympic athletes and youngsters confined to wheelchairs.
I retired happily after 40 years of testing sophisticated radar airplanes and was able to spend most of my leisure time as a youth coach and a sports photojournalist. In 1999 I wrote my first book, Mom Can I Play Football—An Introspective View of the Game For Parents and Coaches and created the Kids Sports Bulletin Board, a website providing counsel for sports parents, coaches and kids. A short time later, I founded Junior Development League Football Inc. and continue to serve as President.
I shamelessly admit to being the recipient of the Ponte Vedra, FL Rotary Club’s Local Hero Award as well as recognition by the Town of Huntington, NY and the city of Jacksonville Beach, FL for Service to Youth.
I’ve spent most of my life involved with kids and sports. It’s been a great life! It is my hope that all kids, and their parents, can experience the enjoyment sports participation offers the way my sons and I did.
Introduction

Welcome to the Troubled and
Challenging World of Youth Sports.

If you’re reading this book, the odds are you’re a parent of a young child about to venture into the youth sports world and, having heard stories of over the top coaches or outlandish parents, you’re hoping to find some sage, Solomon-like guidance.
Or maybe you’re a youth sports veteran frustrated by out of whack priorities in kids’ sports and are looking for help and support.
I sincerely hope you’re a parent or a coach committed to making children’s sports experiences enjoyable and fun.
Whoever you are and whatever your reasons for reading this book I welcome you and hope to serve your purpose. I also hope that, after understanding my premise and my objective in writing this book, you will take up my cause as well.
Depending upon one’s own personal experience, youth sport may be considered either a blessing or blight. The common persuasion is that youth sports can teach valuable life lessons, lessons that serve the competitor well and also benefit society—a persuasion I accept as hypothetically, although not necessarily, true.
On the other hand is there anyone who has not heard or read about the horrific acts of violence perpetrated on the athletic fields, gyms and rinks where children go to play?
No matter which side of the “good or bad” debate about organized youth sports you might chose to defend you would be correct. Youth sport is indeed a puzzlement.
A simple two-question riddle illustrates this perplexity:
“What is the number one reason kids play sports?”
“What is missing in youth sports today?”
Ironically, “fun” is the answer to both questions.
Sports can be a wonderful and beneficial experience for children in the right circumstance. In the wrong situation, the experience can be demeaning, abusive even emotionally or physically harmful. The right circumstance is defined by both the characteristics of the program and the attributes of the youth coach.
As the title of this book suggests, youth spor