Youth sports in the United States are in crisis. Parent-coaches fight with students and each other, occasionally to the death. Young children, often pressured by overbearing parents, become ruthless competitors at an early age, desperate to excel rather than simply enjoy themselves. And positive role models are hard to find -- a growing number of multi-million-dollar pros are involved a host of illegal activities, from drugs to homicide.
According to Don McPherson, former NFL player and current Director of the Sports Leadership Institute (SLI) at Adelphi University, athletics in this country, especially youth sports, need a great deal of help. McPherson and the SLI are working to change the hyper-competitive, pressure-cooker environment that often breeds aggression, stress, violence, and injury and foster a return to the altruistic roots of sport. The SLI's programs include workshops for parents and coaches of youth sports, workshops aimed at coaches of boys that work to prevent the beginnings of behaviors that can lead to domestic violence, and programs that support leadership, gender equity, healthy competition, and healthy living off the field of play.
McPherson says, "Are sports good for kids? The way they are played now, I don't think they are. There's too much pressure, too much aggression, and younger and younger kids are being forced out either due to their skill level, burnout, or serious injury. At the Sports Leadership Institute, we're working hard to develop programs to take some of the pressure off and make youth sports what they should be -- character-building, great for fitness, and fun."
The Sports Leadership Institute, incorporating the resources of Adelphi University and Athletes Helping Athletes, Inc., is working to engage communities in the New York area and across the country to investigate the causes of negative social change in the world of sports, and to engage academic and sports constituencies to help implement programs that stress positive life skills, healthy decisions, and leadership through sport participation.
Mr. McPherson is a former All-America college football player and a veteran of the NFL and CFL. In off-seasons and since retiring from football, he has been a leader of Athletes Helping Athletes, Inc. He has also served as co-director of Athletes in Service to America at Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society. He has a great deal of media experience, and has been featured on MSNBC, Fox News, "Nightline," and "The Oprah Winfrey Show." He is currently working on a book about sport, masculinity, and violence called You Throw Like a Girl.
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