The Most Expensive Game in Town: The Rising Cost of Youth Sports and the Toll on Today's Families - Hardcover

Hyman, Mark

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807001368 ISBN 13: 9780807001363

Publisher: Beacon Press, 2012

Synopsis

A look at how commercialization has transformed youth sports from fun into a heavily commercialized and profitable venture
 
Examining the youth sports economy from many sides—the major corporations, the small entrepreneurs, the coaches, the parents, and, of course, the kids—Hyman probes the reasons for rapid changes in what gets bought and sold in this lucrative marketplace. He reveals the effects on kids and profiles the individuals and communities bucking this destructive trend of commercialization.

About this title

About the Author:

Mark Hyman (@sportsparents) is the author of Until It Hurts: America's Obsession with Youth Sports and How It Harms Our Kids and co-author with Dr. Robert Cantu of Concussions and Our Kids: America's Leading Expert on How to Protect Young Athletes and Keep Sports Safe. He teaches in the sports management program at George Washington University.

Review:

"Hyman -- a recovering sports dad himself -- adopts a refreshingly nonjudgmental attitude toward the parents who started out pacing the sidelines and ended up walking off the deep end."-Gordon Marino, New York Times Book Review


"It is widely noted that youth sports have their problems, from the obsession with results to premature specialization. However, economics are at the heart of these problems, and what often gets left unsaid is clearly outlined in Mark Hyman's new book."-Doug Glanville, Time.com

"[Hyman] presents the numbers to prove that most folks who feel that clinics for eight-year-olds and private coaches for children too young to brush their own teeth are more likely to lead to burnout than to brilliant careers."-Bill Littlefield, National Public Radio's "Only A Game."

"This book, for me, is a Rosetta stone for understanding why youth sports have become so unbearable for so many."-Dave Zirin, The Nation

About this edition

• Publisher: Beacon Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0807001368
• ISBN 13: 9780807001363
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 176