Parenting Young Athletes the Ripken Way: Ensuring the Best Experience for Your Kids in Any Sport

The former Baltimore Orioles baseball star shares his concerns about how youth sports have become more competitive than fun, in a guide for parents and coaches that explains how to avoid counter-productive coaching practices.

Cal Ripken, Jr., played 21 seasons with the Baltimore Orioles and has broken numerous baseball records, including Lou Gehrig’s record for consecutive games played (Ripken played 2,632). He is one of only eight players in history to achieve 400 home runs and 3,000 hits. His previous books include The Only Way I Know (which was a New York Times bestseller and a #1 Washington Post bestseller) and Play Baseball the Ripken Way: The Complete Guide to Fundamentals (co-authored with his brother Bill Ripken), also a national bestseller. He lives in Maryland with his wife and their two children.
Co-Author Rick Wolff is Vice President, Executive Editor at Warner Books and the Chairman of the Center for Sports Parenting (www.sportsparenting.org). He is the author of several books about parenting young athletes, including Good Sports: The Concerned Parents’ Guide to Competitive Sports (Dell, 1992) and The Sports Parenting Edge (Running Press, 2003).