65

Kinesiology Review, 2013, 2, 65-75 © 2013 The National Academy of Kinesiology

The author (NAK Fellow #483) is with the School of Recreation, Health, and Tourism, George Mason University, Manassas, VA.

A Worthwhile Effort? History of Organized Youth Sport in the United States

David K. Wiggins

This essay examines the evolution of highly organized youth sports in the United States. Through an exami- nation of both secondary and primary source material, an analysis is made of children’s participation in sport from the turn of the twentieth century to the present day. Particular attention is paid to the types of sports programs established for children as well as the various discussions involving the supposed benefits and negative aspects of youth sports. Included is information on Progressive Reformers, youth sport programs outside of educational institutions, and guidelines, reports, assessments, and scholarly evaluation of children and their involvement in sport.

Keywords: privatization, Muscular Christianity, children

Highly organized adult directed youth sport pro- grams began in the United States during the second half of the nineteenth century. Although children had participated in informal play activities, recreation, and sport before 1865, it was only in the post–Civil War period that children, particularly boys, had opportuni- ties to participate in highly organized sport directed by concerned adults representing various groups and associa- tions and organizations. No group was more important to the initial growth of highly organized adult-directed youth sport programs than evangelical Protestants known as Muscular Christians. In response to the rapid and not always positive changes in the United States wrought by such factors as increased industrialization, urbaniza- tion, and immigration, progressive-minded Muscular Christians organized a multitude of structured play activities, recreation, and sport programs in an effort to socialize children and teach them the values and moral principles necessary to lead healthy and productive lives in a rapidly changing world. Other reformers, including those representing schools and boys’ work groups, would eventually join forces with Muscular Christians to impart values and teach character development via purposeful play activities and highly organized sport.

By the 1920s an increasing number of highly orga- nized adult-directed youth sport programs were being founded by private agencies outside the confines of the educational domain and turn-of-the-century boys’ work groups. The leaders of these programs, while expressing concern for the participants and regularly rationalizing their teams and leagues on the grounds that they helped

curb juvenile delinquency, were typically private busi- nessmen rather than educational reformers who expressed an interest in competition and victories more than anything else. A reflection of the burgeoning consumer culture, which was transforming sport from a means to an end rather than an end in itself, these private adult directed youth sport programs incurred the wrath of many people, particularly professional health and physical educators who passed legislation and crafted position statements during the 1940s and 1950s condemning them for such things as overspecialization, overemphasis on win- ning, overtraining, commercialization, media exposure, physical and emotional injuries, overzealous parents, and inadequate coaching. Unfortunately, while making the problems in highly organized youth sport more visible to the American public, legislation and position state- ments did not slow the movement toward privatization, curtail the increased emphasis on the performance ethic, or lead to substantive improvement in sports programs for young children.

The legislation, position statements, and accompany- ing discussions regarding highly organized youth sport were mostly about white boys. Like the higher levels of sport, African American children struggled to become full participants in highly organized youth sport programs, participating on teams and leagues to a select degree in the north and on a segregated basis in the south. Only at the tail-end of the Civil Rights movement were African American boys allowed to compete against and alongside their white counterparts in highly organized youth sport. Girls of all races and ethnicities also found it especially difficult to find their way into highly organized youth sport programs. It was not until 1974, just two years after the passage of Title IX, that Little League Baseball was officially gender-integrated.

Official Publication of NAK and AKA www.KR-Journal.com

66 Wiggins

The desegregation of Little League Baseball during the early 1970s would coincide with yet another outpour- ing of interest in children’s sport on the part of academi- cians and professional educators. Taking place at about the same time as the disciplinary movement in kinesiol- ogy, the enormous interest in children’s sport by this point was decidedly different than that expressed in the 1940s and 1950s. It involved a great deal of research and the establishment of guidelines and large-scale legislative studies, creation of youth sport institutes and coaching programs, and critical assessment of highly organized youth sport by academicians and concerned citizens. The reality, however, is that many problems continue to exist in highly organized youth sport programs, and that many individuals, both within and outside the academic community, continue to ask if these programs are worth the effort (Wiggins, 1996, 2002).

Muscular Christianity and Sport Among Boys in the United States

Muscular Christianity, or Christian Manliness as it was sometimes called, was largely responsible for the emer- gence of highly organized adult-directed youth sport programs for boys in the late nineteenth century. A move- ment that began in mid-19th century England, Muscular Christianity was adopted by American Protestants who attempted to combat the debilitating effects of industri- alization by socializing youth, particularly immigrant youth, into American life through the promotion of sport and spiritual sacredness. Reform-minded American Protestants stressed a vigorous childhood that advocated the Greek ideal of the harmonious development of mind, body, and spirit while at once teaching character habits of self-control, candidness, and honesty (Baker, 2007; Lucas, 1968; Lewis, 1966; Overman, 2011; Putney, 2001; Rader, 1999).

Sports fiction served as the most popular vehicle for the transmission of Muscular Christianity to boys in the United States. The first and most famous of these books was, Thomas Hughes’s Tom Brown’s School Days (1857), but other important works of this genre were G.W. Bankes’s A Day of My Life or Everyday Experiences at Eton (1877); Bracebridge Heming’s Eton School Days (1864); and Robert Grant’s Jack Hall or The School Days of an American Boy (1887). Although boys’ sports fiction was the most popular method of transmitting Muscular Christianity, the YMCA was the most important institu- tion associated with the movement. The YMCA, particu- larly by the latter years of the nineteenth century, was attracting young boys to its program by offering courses in gymnastics and sponsoring highly competitive sport (Baker, 2007; Lewis, 1966; Lucas, 1968; Overman, 2011; Putney, 2001; Rader, 1999).

The individual in the YMCA who was most impor- tant in regards to promoting the value of play, games, and the character developing qualities of highly competitive sport was Luther Gulick. Born to missionary parents in

Honolulu in 1865, Gulick championed Muscular Chris- tianity through his various professional positions, which included serving as an instructor and superintendent of the physical training department at the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, organizer and first president of the Playground Association of America, and Director of Physical Education for the New York City Schools (Baker, 2007; Overman, 2011; Putney, 2001; Rader, 1999).

Gulick’s belief in Muscular Christianity was largely a result of the new evolutionary theory of play he had developed with G. Stanley Hall, the famous genetic psychologist from Clark University. Based on the belief that humans had developed the impulse to play during the evolution of the race, the two men determined that team sports in particular were crucial in providing opportuni- ties for moral and religious growth. Gulick incorporated this theory of play at the YMCA Training School by establishing a graduate diploma in physical education, organizing a highly competitive sport program for young men and adolescent boys, and offering a pioneering course on the psychology of play (Dorgan, 1934; Forbush, 1901, 1904; Gerber, 1971; Rader, 1999; Overman, 2011).

Gulick also contributed a great deal to the playground movement in the early twentieth century, along with such other progressive reform-minded adults as Henry Curtis, Joseph Lee, Jane Addams, and Clark Hether- ington. Resulting from increased urbanization and the associated problems that accompanied it, Gulick and his fellow reformers promoted the playground movement as a means to develop character among children, particularly immigrant children, while at once socializing them into an increasingly complex industrialized society in the United States. The interest in playgrounds is made evident by the fact that they increased in number from 41 to 504 between 1906–1917 (Cavallo, 1981; Goodman, 1979; Hardy, 1982; Rader, 1999).

Gulick complemented his work with playgrounds by helping establish the Public School Athletic League (PSAL) in New York City. Founded in 1903, the PSAL was an extraordinarily large sport program that was hailed just seven years after its founding as “The World’s Great- est Athletic Organization.” The PSAL, with the watch- words “duty”, “thoroughness”, “patriotism”, “honor”, and “obedience” guiding its sports program, offered three separate forms of competition: 1) athletic badge test (evaluating performances in several physical feats), 2) class athletics pitting different school classes in track and field contests, and 3) district and city championships in a number of sports (Jable, 1979).

Emergence of Privately Sponsored Youth Sport Programs

The 1920s and 1930s would see the emergence of a different type of highly organized youth sport program. While Gulick and other progressive reformers were pur- poseful about games and sport and believed they could

History of Youth Sports 67

help develop positive character traits, a number of private citizens with typically no connection to educational insti- tutions established highly competitive sport programs during the early decades of the twentieth century that were more focused on victories, championships, and what Jay Coakley refers to as the performance ethic (“a set of ideas and beliefs emphasizing that the quality of the sport experience can be measured in terms of improved skills, especially in relation to the skills of others”), than imparting values (Coakley, 2009, p. 129). Reflecting the rising consumer culture in the United States, which con- tributed to the changing role of sport and rise of athletic heroes of legendary proportions, these programs, which provided rationalizations for their existence on such things as curbing juvenile delinquency and preparing youth for their future work roles, were highly elite and commercialized affairs established for young children in a number of different sports in various sections of the country. For instance, in 1924 the Cincinnati Com- munity Service founded a junior baseball tournament for boys younger than 13. Receiving endorsement from Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, the tournament included some 84 teams. Three years later the city of Denver organized a tackle football program for boys under 12. In 1928, Los Angeles organized its Junior Pentathlon program and two years later Pop Warner Football was first played in Philadelphia and the Catholic Youth Organization started its junior tennis program with support from the Southern California Tennis Association. Lastly, in 1939 Little League Baseball was founded in Williamsport, Pennsylvania (Berryman, 1975; Carriere, 2005; Cloyd, 1952; Dyreson, 1989; Monroe, 1946; Paxton, 1949,).

Of the aforementioned youth sport programs, it was Little League Baseball that became most popular and most fully caught the imagination of the American public. Founded by Carl Stotz, a clerk for the Pure Oil Company in Williamsport, Little League Baseball took off very slowly, but after World War II the numbers of participants increased at a phenomenal rate. In 1949 the number of boys playing Little League Baseball was 11,800, by 1958 the number had reached 334,300, and in 1964 the total had risen to an impressive 1,066,600. The extraordinary growth in participants, as noted by historian Michael Carriera, largely took place in the “rapidly expanding suburbs of the Northeast, West and Southwest.” (Carriere, 2005, p.352) Crucial to note, however, is that by the early 1960s Little League Baseball existed in all fifty states and many countries around the world. Little League Baseball pushed for globalization before the term became a part of our common lexicon, establishing teams in such foreign countries as Japan, Korea, France, Germany, England, Mexico, Cuba, Canada, and Saudi Arabia. The Little League World Series has also become an important televi- sion event with ABC first broadcasting the championship game on a delayed basis in 1962. In 2012, ABC, ESPN, and ESPN 2 combined to present all 32 games of the Little League World Series. The prestige of this mega-event was made evident by the fact that it was covered by Baseball

Tonight’s Karl Ravech and former Major League players Terry Francona, Orel Hershiser, and Nomar Garciaparra (ESPN Media Zone, 2012).

The establishment of private youth sport programs was met with almost immediate criticism from profes- sional educators, particularly those from the fields of health, physical education, and recreation. National organizations, including such groups as the American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recre- ation and Society of State Directors of Physical Education and Health, passed resolutions and position statements condemning highly organized sport programs for chil- dren. These organizations were particularly critical of the specialization, overemphasis on winning, media expo- sure, inadequate coaching, overtraining, commercialism, overzealous parents, and physical as well as emotional damaging often characteristic of privatized youth sport programs (ACEP, 1984; NYSCA, n.d).

The resolutions and position statements by vari- ous professional organizations would contribute to the elimination of many interschool athletic competitions. They did not curtail, however, the founding of additional youth sport programs by a number of businesses, colleges, professional sport organizations, Olympic Committees, religious groups, and community service organizations (Berryman, 1975). The continuing support of highly organized youth sport programs by private organizations resulted from a variety of reasons. Although recogniz- ing some of the limitations of highly organized youth sport programs, parents saw these programs as being extraordinarily valuable for improving the fitness level and developing character and sportsmanship among their children. Parents also saw these programs as contribut- ing to the discipline of their children and helping them become more accustomed to suburban life as well as preparing them for their future work roles and profes- sional lives. There is little question, moreover, that some parents viewed these programs as the most effective training ground for grooming their children for college and professional athletic careers (Scott, 1953; Seymour, 1956; Skubic, 1955, 1956).

All of these factors must be put in the context of what was taking place on a national scale beginning in the 1950s. The poor health of Americans evident in the studies led by Hans Kraus, combined with the emphasis on military preparedness and Cold War politics, resulted in great interest in the fitness level of children and, in turn, both recreation and sport. The best example of this was the creation of the President’s Council on Youth Fitness by Dwight Eisenhower in 1956. The Council, which is now titled the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, realized its early impetus from John F. Kennedy who showed a real commitment to the nation’s fitness and sport more generally from the moment he took the oath of office. This commitment was made clear through his many public pronouncements, publication of two Sports Illustrated articles “The Soft American” and “The Vigor We Need”, implementa- tion of the “50-mile hike,” and appointment of famed

68 Wiggins

University of Oklahoma football coach Bud Wilkinson as the first physical fitness consultant to the President. Subsequent Presidents, with varying degrees of success, carried on the legacy of Kennedy, establishing among other things, the President’s Sport Board, National Youth Sports Program for Disadvantaged Youth, and Worldwide Day of Play on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. (John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, n.d.; President’s Council on Fitness, Sport, and Nutrition, n.d.; McElroy, 2008).

Race, Gender, and Youth Sport The resolutions and position statements by professional organizations during the middle decades of the twentieth century condemning highly organized youth sport did not mention the status of young African Americans and girls who desired to participate at this level of athletic compe- tition. Unfortunately, there were seemingly no protests lodged regarding the fact that highly organized youth sport during this period was largely for white boys only. Similar to what was taking place at the intercollegiate level of athletic competition, African American boys participated to a limited degree in highly organized youth sport in the north, but only on a racially segregated basis in the deep south. The long standing racial discrimination in that part of the United States forced African American boys to compete against themselves rather than against white boys (Miller, 2002; Miller & Wiggins, 2004; Wig- gins & Miller, 2003).

One of the most famous, and certainly one of the most poignant, examples of the racially discrimina- tory practices experienced by African American boys involved the 1955 Cannon Street YMCA Little League team from Charleston, South Carolina. In the same year as the tragic death of Black Chicago teenager Emmett Till in Mississippi and a year after the famous Brown vs. Board of Education decision prohibiting segregation in public schools, the Cannon Street YMCA Little League team suffered the pangs of racial discrimination when all the white teams in South Carolina and the southern region refused to play them on account of their color. As a result of the white team’s forfeitures, the National Little League office declared the Cannon Street YMCA Little League team both South Carolina State and Southern Region Champions.

The National Little League office did not, however, allow the Cannon Street YMCA Little League team to compete in Williamsport because of its policy prohibiting teams who had advanced by forfeiture from competing for the World Championship. As a consolation, the National Little League invited the Cannon Street YMCA Little League team to Williamsport as its guest, housing them in the Lycoming College dormitory with the other eight teams and permitting them to sit in the stands and watch the tournament. In what must have been a particularly frustrating experience, the National Little League office allowed the Cannon Street YMCA Little League team to warm up on the field, with fans in the Williamsport

stadium supposedly shouting “let them play, let them play, let them play” (Little League Online, 2005).

An outgrowth of the Cannon YMCA Little League affair was the creation of Little Boys Baseball (by 1958 named Dixie Youth Baseball) by white teams in South Carolina and the rest of the southern region. Almost immediately after forfeiting to the Cannon Street YMCA little League team, representatives from teams in South Carolina and other states in the deep south formed Dixie League Baseball with a constitution that prohibited games between Blacks and Whites. Dixie League Baseball, which is still in existence, did not become integrated until 1967, 20 years after Jackie Robinson broke the color bar- rier in Major League Baseball. Dixie League Baseball still has hundreds of teams and leagues with approximately 400,000 players representing 11 southern states (Black Athlete Sports Network, 2006).

Equally troublesome about highly organized youth sport was the lack of female participation. Always constrained by deep-seated stereotypical notions about their physical and emotional capabilities, girls found it difficult to gain access to highly organized youth sport programs. The women’s rights movement of the early 1970s, however, would provide the setting necessary for girls and their older counterparts to shatter gender barriers at all levels of competitive sport. The watershed event in regards to gender equality in highly organized youth sport was desegregation of Little League Baseball. In May 1973 Jenny Fuller, a ballplayer from California, contacted President Richard Nixon complaining that she was not allowed to play on her local Little League team because of her gender. The Office of Civil Rights responded to Fuller, but apparently nothing was ever done to satisfy her complaint. Fuller’s letter to the President occurred at about the same time that several lawsuits were brought by girls who were denied the opportunity to play with their local Little League teams. Perhaps the most noteworthy of these lawsuits was brought by Carolyn King against the Ypsilanti, Michigan Little League and the City of Ypsilanti. Although the local Ypsilanti Little League eventually agreed to allow King to participate, the National Little League responded in an unusual, yet not surprising fashion, by simply revoking the local Little League’s charter (Jennings, 1981).

Shortly after the Ypsilanti Little League had its char- ter revoked, Maria Pepe, a young player from Hoboken, New Jersey complained of her inability to participate on her local Little League team. This complaint led to an investigation in November 1973 by the Civil Rights Division on behalf of Pepe and several other girls who desired to participate in Little League baseball. Over six days of deliberations, the National Little League steadfastly defended its segregationist practices with its key witness Creighton Hale, an exercise physiolo- gist and vice-president of the league, arguing that girls were not fit for highly competitive sport because of their weaker bone structure and slower reaction time. The experts for the Civil Rights Division, which included psychiatrist Antonia Giancotti and pediatric-orthopedic

History of Youth Sports 69

surgeon Joseph Torg, countered by testifying that the bone strength of adolescent girls was greater than that of boys of similar age and that the mutual participation of girls and boys in sport contributed to positive mental health (Jennings, 1981).

The expert testimony provided by Giancotti and Torg greatly influenced the views of the Division’s hearing officer Sylvia Pressler who ultimately ruled that because Little League Baseball was provided public financial support and used public accommodations, “it was indeed subject to state and federal laws preventing discrimina- tion” (Jeninngs, 1981, p.85). The National Little League argued Pressler’s ruling, but to no avail as Congress amended the National Little League Charter in December 1974, permitting girls to participate. The decision by Congress did not result in immediate desegregation of leagues across the country, but gradually the persistent opposition to gender equality in highly organized youth sport would be overcome and an increasing number of girls would find their way into a variety of competitive sports programs sponsored by an array of national and international organizations (Figler & Whitaker, 1991).

Conferences, Legislative Studies, and Innovative Youth Sport

Programs The efforts to make highly organized youth sport programs more inclusive coincided with an increased interest in children’s sport on the part of professional educators and scholars from various disciplinary areas of study. Rapidly expanding youth sport programs, and the problems that accompanied them, caught the attention of professional educators and scholars who set about study- ing and disseminating information regarding the effects of sport participation on young children. One indication of this increased interest were the large volume of scholarly studies completed on various aspects of children’s sport beginning most noticeably in the early 1970s and continu- ing to the present day. Appearing as articles in refereed academic journals, chapters in edited books, and as entire monographs, these studies have covered everything from psychological issues, physiological development, concus- sions, instructional strategies, motivating young athletes, and philosophies of winning and losing (Coakley, 1992; Fine, 1987; Gould & Weiss, 1987; Guskiewicz & Valov- ich, 2011; Harris, 1984; Mihalik et al., 2010, 2011, Passer, 1983; Smoll, Magill, & Ash, 1988; Smoll & Smith, 1978; Weiss, Amorose, & Kipp, 2012; Weiss & Gould, 1986).

Complementing these scholarly studies were confer- ences sponsored by national organizations that included free papers, posters, and symposia on children’s participa- tion in competitive sport. Well known national organiza- tions such as the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (AAHPERD), National Association for Physical Education in Higher Education (NAPEHE), North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA), and North

American Society for Sport Sociology (NASSS) began to regularly include in their conferences opportunities to discuss the ramifications of children’s participation in sport. As one example, the 1989 NASPSPA Conference included a session on “Children in Sport and Physical Activity.” Topics in the session ranged from intrinsic motivation in young athletes to reasons for dropping out of highly organized youth sport (NASPSPA, 1989).

Perhaps even more noteworthy were those confer- ences and workshops focused exclusively on children’s involvement in sport. One of the first conferences of this type was held in 1973 at Queens University in Canada. Organized by physical educators John Albinson and George Andrew, the conference was titled “The Child in Sport and Physical Activity” and included presentations from such disciplinary areas as sports medicine, motor development, psychology of sport, exercise physiology, motor learning, and sport sociology (Albinson & Andrew, 1979). This conference was followed by a plethora of others on children’s sport participation, including a 1977 conference at the University of Washington titled “Contemporary Research on Youth Sport”; a 1985 symposium at Michigan State University titled “Effects of Competitive Sports on Children and Youth”; a 1985 workshop titled “Strength Training for the Prepubescent Athlete” held by the American Orthopedic Society for Sport Medicine (AOSSM) in Indianapolis, IN; a 1990 workshop titled “Intensive Training and Participation in Youth Sports” held by the AOSSM in Peoria, IL; a 2001 workshop at Wayne State University titled, “Sports Administration Youth Sports Conference”; and a 2006 conference at Loughborough University in England titled, “Researching Youth Sport: Diverse Perspectives” (Brown & Branta, 1988; Cahill, 1988; Cahill & Pearl, 1993; Smoll & Smith, 1978).

Another indication of the increased interest in highly organized youth sports was the creation of guidelines and completion of large-scale legislative studies. In 1976 AAHPERD established the National Association for Sport and Physical Education Sports Task Force, a group made up of specialists from the physical education, rec- reation, and medical professions. The task force, among other things, drafted a “Bill of Rights for Young Athletes,” which attempted to guarantee that children would realize fun from their participation, enjoy equitable treatment, and have an opportunity to assist in the administration of highly organized youth sport programs (Martens & Seefeldt, 1979). A more visible and perhaps even more significant initiative was Michigan’s Joint Legislative Study Committee on Youth Sport Programs. The com- mittee, made up of six members, issued the findings of its longitudinal study in November 1978, indicating that enjoyment and the chance to improve skill level were the primary reasons for children’s involvement in sport while coaches and other support personnel were typi- cally involved in youth sport programs either because of their children’s participation in the program or because they had special skills needed by a particular organiza- tion (Joint Legislative Study committee, 1976, 1978a,

70 Wiggins

1978b). In 1999, Northwestern University’s Center for the Study of Sport in Society began collaborating with the Harvard Prevention Research Center at the Harvard School of Public Health to assess the sport and physical activity patterns of children in Boston. Titled Play Across Boston, the project also has analyzed and collected data on youth sport and physical activity resources in the city (Cradock et al., 2002).

In 2001, the Amateur Athletic Foundation (now LA 84) combined with ESPN to conduct a “Children & Sports Media Study.” Based on 509 interviews, the study assessed the sports media preferences of children ranging from television and radio to newspapers and the internet (Amateur Athletic Foundation & ESPN, 2001). Even more recently, the Women’s Sports Foundation initiated and published a comprehensive study “Go Out and Play: Youth Sports in America” (Sabo, 2008; Women’s Sports Foundation, 2008). Led by Don Sabo and Phil Veliz from the Center for Research in Physical Activity, Sport, and Health at D’Youville College, the study was based on two nationwide surveys of youth sport participation conducted by Harris Interactive. The results gleaned from questionnaires completed by a sample of 2,185 boys and girls, and phone interviews conducted with 863 randomly selected parents of elementary school children, indicated that there is still a serious gender gap in youth sports. Although more girls engage in sports in the United States than ever before, their participation rate is generally lower than that of boys, especially in urban settings. Girls in that environment enter sport later than boys, and girls from both rural and suburban settings drop out of sport during the middle school years at a higher rate than their contemporaries. When broken down by race and ethnicity, the study determined that 15% of African American girls and 16% of African American boys, 17% of Hispanic girls and 15% of Hispanic boys, and 8% of Asian girls and 12% of Asian boys participate in youth sport (Sabo, 2008; Women’s Sports Foundation, 2008).

The aforementioned large-scale legislative studies were matched in importance by the establishment of institutes, councils and coaching programs devoted to improving highly organized sports for children. One important outgrowth of Michigan’s Joint Legislative Study Committee on Youth Sport Programs was the estab- lishment of the Youth Sport Institute (YSI) at Michigan State University in 1978. Originally under the leadership of Vern Seefeldt and now Daniel Gould, the institute was established to ensure that children realized positive expe- riences from participation in sport. Although involved in a number of important initiatives, the YSI is probably best known for the research they have conducted on children’s involvement in sport; in-service clinics and workshops provided to youth sport administrators; and dissemina- tion of education materials to those responsible for the administration of youth sport programs (Joint Legislative Study Committee, 1976, 1978a, 1978b).

The National Council of Youth Sports Directors (NCYSD) was established a year after the founding of the YSI. Included on its membership rolls are the American

Youth Soccer Organization and a number of other impor- tant national sports organizations; the NCYSD was intended to enhance cooperation among the executives of youth sports programs (NCYSD, n.d.). The North American Youth Sport Institute (NAYSI), organized in the same year as the NCYSD in Kernersville, North Carolina, sponsored a number of research studies and conducted clinics for youth sport coaches (Cox, 1982). In 1981, the National Recreation and Parks association founded the National Youth Sports Coaches Association (NYSCA) with the intent of training youth sport coaches and educat- ing the general public about children’s highly competitive sport programs as well as conducting research on various aspects of youth sports (NYSCA, n.d.). Now titled the National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS), the organi- zation is one of the leading advocates for positive youth sports programs (NAYS, n.d.). In 2003, it extended its reach globally by establishing the International Alliance for Youth Sports (IAYS), an organization dedicated to building connections and relationships with groups and organizations focused on improving youth sport programs (IAYS, 2003). In 1981, Rainer Martens, a noted sports psychologist and founder of Human Kinetics Publish- ers, established the American Coaching Effectiveness Program (ACEP). One of the most well known coaching education programs in the United States, ACEP provides both the theoretical foundations of coaching and an understanding of skill development and teaching of sport techniques and fundamentals (ACEP, 1984). In 1998, Jim Thompson, former Director of the Public and Global Management Program in the Stanford Graduate School of Business, founded the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA). With the goal of providing children and high school athletes with positive experiences and opportunities for character development, the PCA provides on-line courses, publishes books and articles, conducts live workshops, and establishes connections with renowned coaches, ath- letes, scholars, corporations, and youth sports programs. The PCA gives out various awards and scholarships and has a student-athlete advisory board (PCA, n.d.).

Model Programs, Report Cards, and Future Considerations

A number of model youth sport programs have been established in the United States that seemingly adhere to the guidelines and principles put forward by the previ- ously mentioned task forces, institutes, and legislative bodies. One such program is the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO). Organized by a group of soccer enthusiasts in Los Angeles in 1964, the AYSO employs some 50 people and includes in excess of 50,000 teams and over 600,000 players. Taking the approach that all players should enjoy their sport experience and deserve the opportunity to improve their soccer skills, the AYSO established early on its “Everyone Plays” and “Balanced Teams” approach, which necessitates that each child registered in the program is guaranteed to play at least a

History of Youth Sports 71

half of each game and placed on a team based on talent level (AYSO, 2012).

In 1971, the AYSO established its first program for girls who now make up approximately 40% of all players in the organization. A short time later, the AYSO founded the Very Important Player (VIP) program for kids with special needs. In 1995, the AYSO established its first program in Moscow and now has other programs in Trinidad, Tobago and the US Virgin Islands. Three years later, the AYSO announced its Coach Certification and Safe Haven programs, which are designed to bolster the organization’s role and importance it attaches to child protection (AYSO, 2012).

In 1997, The First Tee Golf Program was founded. Organized as a partnership among PGA of America, PGA Tour Master’s Tournament, LGPA, and USGA, and with the assistance of corporate partner, Shell Oil, the First Tee initially began as a way to introduce golf and the accompanying positive values it can impart to children not typically exposed to the game. With former President George W. Bush as Honorary Chair and some 10,000 volunteers actively engaged in the program, The First Tee provides children instruction in the basic fundamentals of the sport while focusing on nine positive health habits and respect for others as well as themselves. The nine positive health habits include energy, play, safety, vision, mind, family, friends, school, community. The First Tee program also includes the following nine core values: honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy, and judgment (The First Tee, 2012).

In many ways, The First Tee program resembles in philosophy and approach that adopted by Luther Gulick and other progressive reformers at the turn of the twenti- eth century. The game of golf and the nine healthy habits plus the core values are taught to children in more than 5,000 schools and on 100 U.S. Armed Forces installations in the United States and 20 Worldwide. An indication of the success of The First Tee is evidenced by a four-year longitudinal study led by Maureen Weiss, which deter- mined that participants in the program learned life skills, exhibited the nine core values, and used those skills and values in nonsport-related settings (The First Tee, 2012; Weiss, Stuntz, Bhalla, Bolter, & Price, 2012).

In spite of educationally sound programs such as the American Youth Soccer Organization and The First Tee, people from all walks of life continue to be highly critical of youth sports and, in some cases, even question whether they are worthwhile. A classic example of this would be the 2005 Youth Sports National Report Card completed by a group of experts convened by the Citizen- ship Through Sports Alliance (CTSA), an alliance made up of major sports organizations devoted to insuring posi- tive and healthful experiences in youth sport. The group of experts, which included noted academicians as well as coaches, parents, and youth sports leaders, published a report card with grades posted for five areas of importance in youth sport programs (American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, 2005).

The group posted an overall grade of D (poor) for what was termed “Child-Centered Philosophy,” providing for example an “unacceptable” designation for “youth sport leaders, parents and coaches put the goals of children—fun, friends, fitness, participation, and skill development—first and “needs improvement” designation for “league leaders, parents, and coaches understand the dangers of early sport specialization.” The group posted an overall grade of C- (fair) for “coaching,” providing for example an “unacceptable” designation for “coaches focus on effort, skill development, posi- tive reinforcement and fun” and “needs improvement” designation for “coaches cultivate an environment of respect for officials and opponents, modeling sportsman- ship and civility.” The group posted an overall grade of C+ for “health and safety,” providing for example a “satisfactory” designation for “league leaders, coaches, and officials provide a safe and secure environment for games and practices” and “needs improvement” for “the league conduct formal background checks on coaches and volunteers” (American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, 2005).

The group posted an overall grade of B- (good) for “officiating,” providing for example a “satisfactory” designation for “officials model sportsmanship and civil- ity, encouraging an environment of respect for all” and “needs improvement” designation for “officials possess adequate training in officiating techniques, game rules and safety.” The group posted an overall grade of D (poor) for “parental behavior/involvement” providing for example an “unacceptable” designation for “parents behave appropriately at games and show respect for officials, coaches and participants” and “needs improve- ment” designation for “parents understand and support children’s motivations to play sports – fun, friends, fit- ness, participation, and skill development.” The bottom line is that this was a report card no parent would be proud to have their child bring home, with no postings of an overall grade of A (outstanding) or designation of “excellent” for any areas on the five categories assessed (American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, 2005).

The 2005 Youth Sports National Report Card, while highly critical of children’s sport programs, was tame in comparison with the bashing these programs have taken in the popular press. Just the most cursory review of the popular books on the subject reveal that people are angry about what is taking place in highly organized youth sports programs in the United States and that something needs to be done to fix them. Some of the most notable books of this type, many of which provide an important human dimension to the youth sport phenomenon, are Joan Ryan, Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnastics and Figure Skaters (1995); Fred Engh, Why Johnny Hates Sports: Why Organized Youth Sports are Failing Our Children and What We Can Do About It (2002); Tom Moroney and Linda Hall, Just Let the Kids Play: How to Stop Other Adults From Ruining Your Child’s Fun and Success in Youth Sports

72 Wiggins

(2001); Vincent Stanley, Stop the Tsunami in Youth Sports: Achieving Balanced Excellence and Health While Embracing the Value of Play (2012); Tom Farrey, Game On: How the Pressure to Win at All Costs Endangers Youth Sports and What Parents Can Do About It (2009); Shane M. Murphy, The Cheers and the Tears: A Healthy Alternative to the Dark Side of Youth Sports Today (1999); Richard Caruso, Youth Sports: Is Winning the Result, or the Point? (2009); Regan McMahon, Revolution in the Bleachers: How Parents Can Take Back Family Life in a World Gone Crazy Over Youth Sports (2009); Mark Hyman, The Most Expensive Game in Town: The Rising Cost of Youth Sports and the Toll on Today’s Families (2012); and Mark Hyman, Until It Hurts: America’s Obsession With Youth Sports and How it Harms Our Kids (2009).

Although one could legitimately question these books for their polemical tone, each of them raise critical issues and provide personal stories that illuminate many of the problems associated with youth sport programs. One important issue is how the increasingly privatized world of highly organized youth sport has exacted a heavy financial burden on many families and have completely excluded many others from participation. An issue that has received far too little attention, the privatization of youth sport, which has entailed the creation by upper- middle class parents of highly organized sport clubs for their children along with skills training, expensive equipment, and travel costs, has left many children from low-income families on the sidelines with limited opportunities to participate in competitive youth sport programs. Unfortunately, those who have suffered most are racial and ethnic minorities who generally have lower household incomes and family wealth. Ultimately, the privatization of youth sport reflects the economic and ethnic disparities prevalent in American society more generally (Coakley, 2009).

An equally significant issue is the concussions suf- fered by youth sport participants. Now recognizing the seriousness and lasting effects of concussions, far more attention is being paid to the prevention and treatment of the injury among children competing in sport. One group among many that is addressing the problem of concus- sions among youth sport participants is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It has created an online course titled “Heads Up: Concussions in Youth Sport” which disseminates information about the injury to parents, coaches and others interested in creating a safe environment for children engaged in youth sport. Those who successfully complete the course are awarded a certificate that acknowledges the ability to recognize the signs of a concussion and how to respond to the injury as well as the steps necessary to take before an injured child can return to full activity (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.).

Perhaps even more influential is the work being done by Kevin Guskiewicz and his colleagues at the Matthew Gfeller Sport-Related Traumatic Brain Injury Research Center at the University of North Carolina at

Chapel Hill. Although conducting research, educating the public and disseminating information on sport-related brain injuries of athletes at all levels of competition, the center devotes time to analyzing concussions among youth sport participants. Evidence of this is made clear by the research studies completed on youth sport partici- pants by Guskiewicz and his team as well as the Center’s Community Outreach Program (Guskiewicz & Valovich, 2011; Mihalik et al., 2010, 2011; Matthew Gfeller Sports- Related TBI Research Center, n.d.; Thomas et al., 2011).

A Retrospective and the Future of Youth Sport Programs

The more things have changed in youth sport programs the more they have stayed the same. First created by progressive reformers at the turn of the twentieth century in an effort to develop character and teach certain values, youth sport programs would eventually evolve into an enterprise that stressed victories and the performance ethic, yet never stopped rationalizing their existence based on the lessons learned by children who worked hard to hone their talents and contribute to the success of their fellow players and teams. The status of youth sports today is, for all intents and purposes, a mixed bag. Although an indeterminate number of children have realized athletic success while at once enjoying a healthy and positive experience in youth sport, an equal number have been exposed to inadequate coaching, poor officiat- ing, overzealous parents, insufficiently trained support personnel, and a system that places more importance on winning than a sound educational experience. To ensure that all youth sport participants have a positive experience will probably never be realized, but a higher percentage would certainly benefit more fully and have a better over- all experience if programs were more child-centered and less concerned about control and administrative structure.

With that said, a method must be found to ensure that all children have access to quality youth sport programs, not just those that have the financial means, greater ath- letic talent, and family support. One approach that should continue to be pursued to ensure quality experiences for as many children as possible, including those from disadvan- taged backgrounds, is afterschool youth sport programs. While certainly not a panacea, these programs, as long as there is adequate funding and properly trained personnel, have the potential to provide educationally sound sport experiences that have a profound and lasting effect on children. Programs of this type that have proven to be suc- cessful, or have the potential to be, are The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation USA and Mercedes Benz USA Collaborative sponsored afterschool sports programs in Miami, the Extreme Youth Sports afterschool program in Tampa, Valley Sports Center’s afterschool program in Canton, CT, and Overtime Athletics in Reston, VA (The Miami Herald, 2012; Extreme Youth Sports, 2010; Valley Sports Center, n.d.; Overtime Athletics, n.d.). These programs do not seem just worthwhile, but essential if

History of Youth Sports 73

children are to experience the joy and fulfillment that can result from participation in sport.

References Albinson, J.G., & Andrew, G.M. (Eds.). (1979). Child in sport

and physical activity. Baltimore, MD: University Park Press.

Amateur Athletic Foundation & ESPN. (2001). AAF/ESPN children & sports media study. Westfield, NJ: Statistical Research Inc.

American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. (2005). 2005 Youth Sport National Report Card. Retrieved from http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/ publications/teachingtools

(1984). American coaching effectiveness program. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. ([Brochure])

American Youth Soccer Association. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.ayso.org/home.aspx

Baker, W.J. (2007). Playing with god: religion and modern sport. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Bankes, G.W. (1877). A day of my life; or, everyday experiences at Eton. London: Stanley Paul.

Berryman, J.W. (1975). From the cradle to the playing field: America’s emphasis on highly competitive sports for pre-adolescents boys. Journal of Sport History, 2, 112– 131.

Black Athlete Sports Network. (2006). Dixie youth grew from racial divide. Retrieved from http://blackathlete. net/2006/03/dixie-youth-grew-from-racial-divide

Brown, E.W., & Branta, C.F. (1988). Competitive sports for children and youth: an overview of research and issues. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Cahill, B.R. (Ed.). (1988). Proceedings of the conference on strength training and the prepubescent. Chicago: American Orthopedic Society of Sport Medicine.

Cahill, B.R., & Pearl, A.J. (1993). Intensive participation in children’s sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Carriere, M.H. (2005). A diamond is a boy’s best friend: the rise of little league baseball, 1939-1964. Journal of Sport History, 32, 351–378.

Caruso, R. (2009). Youth sports: is winning the result, or the point? Richard Caruso Publishing.

Cavallo, D. (1981). Muscles and morals: organized playgrounds and urban reform, 1880-1920. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Cloyd, J. (1952). Gangway for the mighty midgets. American Magazine, 154, 28–29, 83–85.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/concussion/Headsup/online_ training.html

Coakley, J. (1992). Burnout among adolescent athletes: a personal failure or social problem? Sociology of Sport Journal, 9, 271–285.

Coakley, J. (2009). Sports in society: issues and controversies. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Cox, R. (Ed.). (1982). Educating youth sport coaches: solutions to a national dilemma. Reston, VA: American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.

Cradock, A., Elayadi, A., Gotmaker, S., & Hannow, C. Sobol, A., & Wiecha, J. (2002). Play across Boston: summary report. Boston: Harvard Prevention Research Center.

Dorgan, E.J. (1934). Luther Halsey Gulick, 1865-1918. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University.

Dyreson, M. (1989). The emergence of consumer culture and the transformation of physical culture: American sport in the 1920s. Journal of Sport History, 16, 261–281.

Engh, F. (2002). Why Johnny hates sports: why organized youth sports are failing our children and what we can do about it. Garden City Park, NY: Square One Publishers.

E.S.P.N. Media Zone. (2012). ABC, ESPN & ESPN 2 combine to present little league world series from Williamsport. Retrieved from http://espnmediazone.com/05/press_ release/2012/08/abc_espn_espn2_combine_to_pres- ent_little_league_world_series_from_williamsport

Extreme Youth Sports. (n.d.). You and your child are going to love extreme youth sports afterschool program. Retrieved from http://extremeyouthsports.com/#

Farrey, T. (2009). Game on: how the pressure to win at all costs endangers youth sports and what parents can do about it. New York: Ballentine Books.

Figler, S.D., & Whitaker, G. (1991). Sport & play in American life. Dubuque, IA: W. C. Brown.

Fine, G.A. (1987). With the boys: Little League baseball and preadolescent culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Forbush, R. (1901). The boy problem: a study in social peda- gogy. Boston: Pilgrim Press.

Forbush, R. (1904). Can the YMCA do all the street boys work? Work With Boys, 4, 182.

Gerber, E.W. (1971). Innovators and institutions in physical education. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger.

Goodman, C. (1979). Choosing sides: playground and street life on the lower east side. New York: Schocken Books.

Gould, D., & Weiss, M.R. (1987) Advances in pediatric sport science: behavioral issues, 2, 1-24. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Grant, R. (1887). Jack Hall, or the school days of an American boy. New York: Seribner.

Guskiewicz, K.M., & Valovich, M. (2011). Pediatric sports- related concussions. Physical Medicine and Rehabilita- tion, 3, 353–364.

Hardy, S. (1982). How Boston played: sport, recreation, and community. Boston: Northeastern University Press.

Harris, J. (1984). Interpreting youth baseball: players under- standing of fun and excitement, danger and boredom. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 55, 379–382.

Hemings, b. (1864). Eton school days. London: Hutchinson. Hughes, T. (1857). Tom Brown’s school days. New York: Harper

and Brothers. Hyman, M. (2009). Until it hurts: America’s obsession with

youth sports and how it harms our kids. Boston: Beacon Press.

Hyman, M. (2012). The most expensive game in town: the rising cost of youth sports and the toll on today’s families. Boston: Beacon Press.

International Alliance for Youth Sport. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.iays.org/about.us/about.iays/

74 Wiggins

Jable, T. (1979). The public school athletic league of New York City school children, 1903-1914. In W.M. Ladd & A. Lumpkin (Eds.), Sport in American education: history and perspectives (pp. ix-18). Washington, D. C.: Ameri- can Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.

Jennings, S.E. (1981). As American as hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet: the desegregation of Little League Baseball. Journal of American Culture, 81–91.

John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. (n.d.). The federal government takes on physical fitness. Retrieved from http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-history/ physical-fitness.aspx

Joint Legislative Study Committee. (1976). Joint legislative study on youth sports: agency-sponsored sports – Phase I. Lansing, MI: State of Michigan.

Joint Legislative Study Committee. (1978a). Joint legislative study on youth sports: agency-sponsored sports: agency phase II. Lansing, MI: State of Michigan.

Joint Legislative Study Committee. (1978b). Joint legislative study on youth sports: agency-sponsored sports – agency phase III. Lansing, MI: State of Michigan.

Lewis, G. (1966). The muscular Christianity movement. Journal of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, 37, 27–28.

Little League Online. (2005). 1955 little league team from Charleston S.C. to be featured on ESPN. Retrieved from http://www.littleleague.org/media/newsarchives/14_2005_ connonstreet_espn.htm

Lucas, J.A. (1968). A prelude to the rise of sport: ante-bellum America, 1850-1860. Quest, 11, 50–57. doi:10.1080/003 36297.1968.10519656

Martens, R., & Seefeldt, V. (1979). Guidelines for children’s sports. Washington, D.C.: American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.

Matthew Gfeffer Sport-Related TBI Research Center. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://tbicenter.unc.edu/mag_center/ home.html.

McElroy, M. (2008). A sociohistorical analysis of U.S. youth physical activity and sedentary behavior. In A.L. Smith & S.J.H. Biddle (Eds.), Youth physical activity and sed- entary behavior: challenges and solutions (pp. 59–78). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

McMahon, R. (2007). Revolution in the bleachers: how parents can take back family life in a world gone crazy over youth sport. New York: Gotham Books.

Miami Herald. (2012). Golf legend Gary Player supports after- school sports programs in Miami. Retrieved from http:// www.miamiherald.com/2012/10/27/3062507/golf-legend- gary-player-supports.html

Mihalik, J.P., Greenwald, R.M., Blackburn, J.T., Cantu, R.C., Marshall, S.W., & Guskiewicz, K.M. (2010). The effect of infraction type on head impact severity in youth ice hockey. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 42, 1431–1438. doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181d2521a

Mihalik, J.P., Guskiewicz, K.M., Marshal, S.W., Greenwald, R.M., Blackburn, J.T., & Cantu, R.C. (2011). Does cervical muscle strength in youth ice hockey players affect head impact biomechanics? Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 21, 416–421. doi:10.1097/JSM.0B013E31822C8A5C

Miller, P.B. (2002). The sporting world of the modern south. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.

Miller, P.B., & Wiggins, D.K. (2004). Sport and the color line: Black athletes and race relations in twentieth-century America. New York: Routledge.

Monroe, K. (1946). Hothouse for tennis champs. The Reader’s Digest, 49, 52.

Moroney, T., & Hall, L. (2001). Just let the kids play: how to stop other adults from ruining your child’s fun and success in youth sports. Deerfield Beach, FL: HCI.

Murphy, S. (1999). The cheers and tears: a healthy alterna- tive to the dark side of youth sports today. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

National Alliance for Youth Sport. (n.d.). Retrieved from http:// www.nays.org/who_we_are/mission_and_history.cfm

National Council on Youth Sports Directors. (n.d.) [Brochure]. National Youth Sports Coaching Association. (n.d.) [Brochure].

West Palm Beach, FL. Author. North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physi-

cal Activity. (1989). Program bulletin. Kent, OH: Kent State University.

Overman, S.J. (2011). The protestant ethic and the spirit of sport: how Calvinism and capitalism shaped America’s games. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press.

Overtime Athletics. (n.d.) The leading provider in youth athletic programming. Retrieved from http://www.otathletics.com/ cantactus.php

Passer, M. (1983). Fear of failure, fear of evaluation, perceived competence and self-esteem in competitive trait anxious children. Journal of Sport Psychology, 5, 172–188.

Paxton, H. T. (1949). Small boy’s dreams come true. Saturday Evening Post, 221, 26-27, 137-140.

Positive Coaching Alliance. (n.d.). Better athletes, better people. Retrieved from http://www.positivecoach.org/

President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition (n.d.). Our History. Retrieved from http://www.fitness.gov/about-pcfs/ our-history/

Putney, C. (2001). Muscular Christianity: manhood and sports in protestant America, 1880-1920. Cambridge, MA: Har- vard University Press.

Rader, B. (1999). American sports: from the age of folk games to the age of spectators. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Ryan, J. (1995). Little girls in pretty boxes: the making and breaking of elite gymnasts and figure skaters. New York: Doubleday.

Sabo, D. (2008). Go out and play: youth sports in America. East Meadows, NY: Women’s Sport Foundation.

Scott, P. (1953). Attitudes toward athletic competition in elementary schools. Research Quarterly, 4, 352–361.

Seymour, E. (1956). Comparative behavior characteristics of participant boys in little league baseball. Research Quar- terly, 27, 338–346.

Skubic, E. (1955). Emotional responses of boys to little league and middle league competitive baseball. Research Quar- terly, 26, 342–352.

Skubic, E. (1956). Studies of little league and middle league baseball. Research Quarterly, 27, 97–110.

Smoll, F.L., Magill, R.A., & Ash, M.J. (1988). Children in Sport (3rd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

History of Youth Sports 75

Smoll, F.L., & Smith, R.E. (1978). Psychological perspectives in youth sports. Washington, D.C.: Hemisphere.

Stanley, V. (2012). Stop the tsunami in youth sports: achieving balanced excellence and health while embracing the value of play. New York: Vincent L. Stanley.

The First Tee. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.thefirsttee. org/club/scripts/home/home.asp

Thomas, M., Hass, T.S., Doerer, J.J., Hodges, J.S., Alcher, B.O., Gerberich, R.F., . . . Maron, B.J. (2011). Epidemiology of sudden death in young competitive athletes due to blunt trauma. Pediatrics, 128, 1–8. doi:10.1542/peds.2010-2743

Valley Sports Center. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.val- leysportscenter.com/about_vsc_valley_sports_center_ farmington_sports_tournaments_leagues.

Weiss, M., Amorose, A.J., & Kipp, L.E. (2012). Youth motiva- tion and participation in sport and physical activity. In R.M. Ryan (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Human Motivation (pp. 520–553). New York: Oxford University Press.

Weiss, M.R., & Gould, D. (Eds.). (1986). Sport for children and youths. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Weiss, M.R., Stuntz, C.P., Bhalla, J.A., Bolter, N.D., & Price, M.S. (2012). ‘More than a game’: impact of The First Tee life skills programme on positive youth development: project introduction and Year 1 findings. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise, and Health, DOI: 10. 1080/ 2159676X.2012.712997.

Wiggins, D.K. (1996). A history of organized play and highly competitive sport for American children. In D. Gould & M. Weiss (Eds.), Advances in Pediatric Sport: Behavioral Issues (pp. 1–24). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Wiggins, D.K. (2002). A history of highly competitive sport for American children. In F. Smoll & R.E. Smith (Eds.), Children and Youth in Sports: A Biopsychological Perspec- tive (pp. 15–30). Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.

Wiggins, D.K., & Miller, P.B. (2003). The unlevel playing field: a documentary history of the African American experience in sport. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.

Women’s Sport Foundation. (2008). Retrieved from www. womenssportsfoundation.org/gooutandplay