Youth Sports Nation

I am a lifelong sports participant and fan - as well as an unapologetic starry-eyed idealist and romantic.  Few things can reduce me to tears as quickly as the display of sacrifice, honor, integrity and humility on the field of play.

To this day I still well-up when I remember in my mind's eye the courage and stamina of the Olympic marathon runner in the '84 LA Olympics as she willed herself to the finish line within a body that was shutting down.  Or when I recall the emotion in the voice of Ben Crenshaw describing the sportsmanship and honesty of a young 10 year old junior golfer who lost a tournament as a result of a two stroke penalty - he called on himself.

Not many young athletes who compete will become professionals.  But all will have opportunities to display whether or not they discovered the life lessons that can only be learned on the field of play.

That's why the events of this past week in a womens' college softball tournament were so powerful.  Mallory Holtman and Liz Wallace of Central Washington carried Sara Tucholsky around the bases after her home run.  A knee injury prevented her from running them herself.

But the amazing thing is, Tucholsky played for the other team - Western Oregon.  That story needs to be told at the beginning of every season so coaches, parents as well as young boys and girls realize what it really means to excel on the playing field.

Some of our country's greatest leaders in business, education and government learned life  lessons as young people playing youth soccer, Pony League or junior golf.  Lessons that still serve them today. PCA is changing the national climate of youth sports so it will have the platform to impress upon our young people today the things that really matter when they take the field.

--Art Noyes, Houston, TX

Tom Farrey asks tough questions…and not just when interviewing Miguel Tejada for the episode of ESPN’s E:60 that aired last night.

Farrey, the two-time Master of Ceremonies for PCA’s National Youth Sports Awards also asks hard questions in his new book, Game On: The All-American Race to make Champions of our Children. 

Among them: How did we get to the point where youth sports performance is more important than participation at even the youngest age levels? And, most importantly, how do we correct that situation?

While we urge you to read Game On, scheduled for release May 6, feel free to consider those questions and leave your answers right here, right now, by clicking on the comments link below.

The physical and social benefits of youth sports participation have long been applauded.  Tragically, a win-at-all-cost mentality wipes away the majority of these positives.  Too often, we overlook how that mentality increases the risk of violence and injury.

In recent years, overuse injuries have quadrupled and half of all pediatric sports injuries are linked to burn out (Brenner, 2007*).  Young, developing bodies cannot withstand the demands of professional, year-round training and competition.

The impact is not only physical.  Depression is a common side effect of recovery due to physical restrictions, threats to athletic identity, lack of contact with teams and coaches, and injured athletes’ perceptions of themselves as failures. Recovering players also face anxiety that their absence will cost them their position or standing with the team. 

Injuries resulting from a win-at-all-cost mentality are clearly preventable.  To learn more about this issue, families, athletes, coaches, athletic trainers, and all those who are invested in the long-term participation of youth in sports are encouraged to attend the Second Annual National Concussion Summit this April 18^th in Marina del Rey, CA.

I will be a presenter at this event, which also features former NFL star Warren Moon and PCA National Advisory Board Member Leigh Steinberg. I look forward to helping as many people as possible overcome the win-at-all-cost mentality that threatens children’s physical and emotional well-being.

-- PCA Champion Casey Cooper, Ph.D., Sport Psychologist

Dr. Casey Cooper (www.drcaseycooper.com) is a California Licensed Psychologist, specializing in Sports Culture. She maintains a private practice in Mission Viejo and assists individual athletes, families, and teams.

* Brenner, Joel (2007).  Overuse Injuries, Overtraining, and Burnout in Child and Adolescent Athletes.  Pediatrics, 119, 1242-1245.

Early Spring here in our nation's capital brings us cherry blossoms, a new baseball stadium for the Nationals, and Opening Day for our youth baseball and softball leagues.

As sweet as that sounds, the process of drafting our youth baseball teams can create bitterness that lasts throughout the season -- and beyond.  In the worst cases, coaches end up bickering, treating children as trading cards. We also hear stories of coaches who try to manipulate the process by telling players to underperform during evaluations to secure their selection.

It's an imperfect process, but good coaches can improve it, creating balanced teams that result in even competition.  What is your perspective on drafts?  How are drafts conducted in your league?  Are there differences in the process among the age groups? What works or doesn't work? To let us know, click on the Comments link below.
-- PCA Champion Edgar Mercado, Vice President, Severn (MD) Baseball

We at Positive Coaching Alliance take an unusual approach to filling out our NCAA Basketball brackets. It's all about who Honors the Game. For example, I'm picking North Carolina because PCA National Advisory Board Members Dean Smith and Larry Brown helped build that program's excellence.

Emily Wyffels, who rallies PCA Champions to share their voices with Youth Sports Nation, is pulling for her alma mater, Cornell, which represents the keeping-sports-in-perspective Ivy League. Unfortunately for Emily, she is surrounded by fans of Cornell's first-round opponent, Stanford University, birthplace of Positive Coaching Alliance.

PCA Founder and Executive Director Jim Thompson may secretly pull for Stanford and Oregon, because he attended both schools.

In the women's tournament, however, we are all backing Stanford, thanks to these comments from PCA National Advisory Board Member Jennifer Azzi, who will present honors at the National Youth Sports Awards sponsored by Deloitte. 

Share your own NCAA tournament pick, explaining how your coach or team Honors the Game, by clicking on the Comments link below.