Old school

Sports parenting

Why is the ‘net populated with feelgood websites designed to dilute youth sports into a homogenized, everybody-gets-a-trophy playpen?  I can think of two likely reasons.  First, because it’s politically safe to suggest that everyone should get to play, and that no one should get cut, and that kids shouldn’t practice a sport year round.  And second, because those of us who feel differently are bound to get painted with the same brush as some nut who kills a youth hockey coach or stalks a Little League ump after a game-ending call went against his son’s team.  I’ve searched high and low to find just one site that promotes a healthy respect for high-level athletic talent, commitment and competition. No luck, so far. But I did find these. I’ll add more as I come across them. Meantime, for your clicking enjoyment …

Short Take: Disappointingly light on content, and straddles the fence, a bit, philosophically. But promotes personal accountability enough to make it worth scanning.

Short Take: Exactly what you'd expect from a sports parenting website created to meet an academic requirement.

Short Take: Works a bit too hard to establish the link between sports and life lessons.  But if you get past that rhetoric, the site is chock full of practical, how-to advice.  Link it.

Short Take: I spent more than an hour browsing the various articles and videos, and came away wishing I had known about this organization when my own son was going through the recruiting process.  Link it.  You'll be glad you did.

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Webmaster is a guy named Don Campbell, who describes himself as a former college athlete and the father of three college athletes. Says he was also "a computer programmer, swimming instructor, college professor, and research scientist" and that he spent 10 years as member of a statewide scholarship selection committee.

The site serves partly as a vehicle to promote Campbell’s "Sports Scholarship Handbook," which I have not read but which looks interesting and useful -- based on the Table of Contents shown on the website.

Virtually all of the site’s content relates to college scholarships for student-athletes. There are stats, links to NCAA webpages and other helpful sites, and various bits of info about recruiting.

Short Take: Politically neutral and lots of good resources. Link it.

Brooke de Lench is the webmaster. She claims more than 17 years of experience "as an athlete, coach and sports mom for my active triplet sons." Also a former ad and marketing executive "with over five years of running a successful Internet company dedicated to making youth sports safer, saner, less stressful and more inclusive."

Just to reassure us all, she adds: "I am qualified to lead the efforts of our team in helping moms manage the complex world of parenting their athletic children."

I swapped emails with Brooke over the subject of Cutting Players from junior high school and middle school teams. We agreed to disagree. You can probably guess what side each of us came down on. You can also probably guess what side of the political fence Brooke’s sports views occupy.

Her site is packed with content, mostly by Brooke and a stable of guest writers, which includes some PhDs in Sports Psychology, as well as some MDs, a chiropractor and folks from a variety of other professions -- including an attorney.

Short Take: Good source of info on Nutrition, Injury Prevention and other clinical topics. But editorials on subjects like "Kids Just Wanna Have Fun" and "Making a Travel Soccer Program More Inclusive" are predictable in their efforts to devalue the interests of young athletes for whom competition actually is part of the fun.

NAYS bills itself as "America's leading advocate for positive and safe sports and activities for children." A non-profit group based in West Palm Beach, Fla., NAYS "offers programs and services for everyone involved in youth sports experiences, including professional administrators, volunteer administrators, volunteer coaches, officials, parents and young athletes." Its goal: "to make sports and activities safe and positive by providing programs and services that add value to youth sports."

The website promotes memberships to coaches and parents. It also promotes certification programs for school administrators.

Short Take: Little, if any, actual content on here. Unless you want to join or start a local chapter, don’t waste your time.

The "Articles" tab will take you to an extensive list of writings on all kinds of topics -- coaching, parenting female athletes, you name it. Nice list but, in general, fairly predictable Trophy-for-Trying philosophy.

There’s also a "Sports Store" tab that takes you to a list of books and videos on all kinds of sports-related topics. Other than a likely marketing arrangement with Mr. Palmer, these appear to have no connection to him or his "Getting Started" franchise.

Short Take: Perfect for parents of very young children whose Saturday morning, co-ed, intramural soccer game is played without a scoreboard and is followed by organic tofu snacks served by dads wearing dark knee-high dress socks and Birkenstock sandals.

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Short Take: Excellent, basic info for parents, athletes and coaches interested in facts (rather than hearsay) about recruiting and scholarships. Link it.