As a part of our book club for Sport Ethics, my group read Why Johnny Hates Sports. In this book, Fred Engh examines the various reasons why more and more youth are dropping out of sport at a younger age. He dives deep into detail examining why this happens blaming it on overeager parents, the win-at-all-costs mentality, coaches, administrators, and even the media. In addition, he proposes changes to youth sport to stop this issue from continuing and calls for a return to fair play, teamwork, and true enjoyment of the game. This is non-fictional book written by Fred Engh. Engh is a longtime activist in youth sport who has even created the National Youth Sports Coaches Association in 1981. He is also the founder of the National Alliance for …show more content…
His other solution involves the certification of youth coaches along with having them sign a “Coaches’ Code of Ethics”. Lastly, for administrators he asserts that they should be trained and certified as well. All three of these are meant to help create an overall better system for youth sports. Implications for sport managers include the theme that only qualified and certified coaches and administrators should fill roles in youth sports. These select will them create inclusive policies for all kids, and with disabilities or not. In addition, girls should have an equal opportunity to participate in sports.
Ethical issues discussed in this book include: cultural emphasis on winning, discrimination against genders and kids with disabilities, and the high dropout rate of sport. These issues have been discussed on different levels throughout our class and I believe that our main focus should be on parenting. Once we control the actions of the parents, along with the win-at-all-costs mentality, the other things will begin to dial down and more opportunities will fall in place for those who are discriminated against. The actions of the parents will have a positive effect on their children, their coaches, and will lead to an overall centrally focused youth sports