Customer Reviews

It's Just a Game! Youth, Sports & Self Esteem: A Guide for Parents

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I have worked with kids in youths sports and activities as well as their parents for over 35 years. Dr Burnett's book is one of the best books on the market when it comes to kids, parents and sports. Page 43, I believe the second sentence in the first paragraph defines youth sports. I recently looked at some similar publications but found that most parents, nor coaches have the time to read 281 pages. Although the other books might be wonderful teaching tools for folks in coaching classes or for folks like me that manager volunteer coaches and hundreds of parents through public sporting activities, I don't believe they would be nearly as effective for parents as Burnett's Its Just A Game. Over the years I have distributed three cases of the book to parents and coaches that might have been a bit overzealous in their parenting or coaching of their young athlete........I simply ask them to read the book which does help them look at sports through the eyes of their child. Most parents have agreed that it was a great read, to the point, and provided them with tools that helped them move forward with their young athletes. So kudos to Dr. Burnett for zeroing in on the issues and making a great teaching tool for parents and coaches.

If you're involved in youth sport...or have a child involved, you need to read this book. As a coach for 15 years, it gave me some new insights....and is valuable from a parental point of view as well

I bought four paperbacks on youth sports from Amazon recently and this was the worst. First, the printing of this paperback looks like a 2nd generation photocopy, the physical production quality is poor. Although it was lightly updated in 2001, most of the material is clearly from the original 1993 edition. If the author is deceased the publisher could be excused for not having updated it significantly since then, but otherwise this book is not worth selling or buying for more than about $3-$5. The advice is common-sensical, avuncular, milk toast quality, the usual points are made about kids just wanting to have fun and parents needing to calm down, etc. You'll likely learn nothing new here about how to grapple with the critical issues surrounding youth sports, there are no great insights or innovative approaches. The material is dated, tired, and uninspiring.