1. Introduction to youth sports
What motivates youth sports participation?
Do youth sports develop character?
2. Youth sports for adults
The adult takeover of children's sports
The youth sports coach, for better or worse
The commercialization of youth sports
3. The child athlete's family
The youth sports family
The sports parent: soccer moms and dugout dads
Are youth sports overpriced?
Youth sports as college prep
4. The child athlete as miniature adult
The hurried child athlete
Toddler sports
The child athlete as specialist
The overscheduled child athlete
Sports camps and academies
5. Youth sports may be hazardous to your child's physical health
Unnecessary roughness: youth sports injuries
Violence in youth sports
Do youth sports promote unhealthy eating?
Do youth sports promote fitness?
6. Youth sports may be hazardous to your child's emotional health
The youth sports athlete under stress
Youth sports and the shaping of masculinity
Youth sports as child abuse
Quitters never win: burnouts and dropouts
7. The toxic elements in youth sports
Youth sports as drudgery
Youth sports as child labor
Winning is everything: competition out of control
Youth sports as elitism
8. So you want your son to play football
A portrait of youth football and its downside
Youth football coaches: amateurs and abusers
Bigger is better: overweight players
No pain, no gain: a plague of injuries
Does playing football promote bad behavior?
Do you want your son to play football?
9. Concluding thoughts: reform or re-form.