My Top Ten Sports Parenting Predictions for 2012…
So much has happened in recent years in the ever-changing world of sports parenting, that I thought I’d finish out 2011 with my Top Ten Predictions for the coming year. Here we go: 10. LL Baseball will follow the NCAA and the Nat’l HS Baseball Federation and allow only BBCOR (and of course wood) bats. … Continue reading
HS Girls’ Basketball Chant: “One, Two, Three…N-Word”?
The media reports from Buffalo, NY, were hard to believe. For the last few years, the members of the Kenmore East HS girls’ varsity basketball team would meet for a private session in the lockeroom before taking the court. There were no coaches or adults present. And then, the girls would say a little prayer, … Continue reading
Mike Milbury Allegedly Assaults a 12-year-old Hockey Player: What Sports Parent need to know…
According to several eyewitnesses, former NHL player and head coach and GM of the Islanders did something that lots of sports parents do – -when Milbury saw his 12-year-old son getting into an altercation with another 12-year-old on the ice, Milbury went onto the ice and separated the two boys by grabbing the other boy … Continue reading
Memorializing a Coach or Player
By Doug Abrams From 1969 to 1985, Wally Livingstone led the Nassau County youth hockey program at the Cantiague Park Ice Rink in Hicksville, New York. His presence extended everywhere — as director of the County’s hockey program, coach of the midget travel team, and coach of an advanced summer conditioning clinic. When Wally died … Continue reading
Can You Legislate Good Sportsmanship? The Bizarre and Sad Case of the Massachusetts HS Super Bowl
With every intention of trying to eliminate show-boating and taunting in HS sports, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Assn. enacted a zero-tolerance law this past fall that made it very clear that any kind of unsportsmanlike behavior would not be tolerated in any way. And the MIAA especially instructed its football refs and coaches to be … Continue reading
The Serious Social Costs of Closing The Door On Teen Athletes
By Doug Abrams A few years ago, a friend from a nearby town stopped by my office to say that his 14-year-old son wanted to join our ice hockey program that autumn. The boy had lost interest in soccer because he saw the handwriting on the wall after warming the bench the prior two seasons. … Continue reading
Has Title IX Gone Too Far In Terms of Guaranteeing Equal Play for both Sexes?
Every sports parent agrees that Title IX, which was passed in 1972, has had only positive results in terms of making sure females have a right to compete in sports, just as their male counterparts have. Numerous studies have shown that girls who play competitive sports come away with higher self-esteem, better physical fitness, better study … Continue reading
Winning, Losing and Learning
By Doug Abrams My past four columns listed nearly a dozen important issues that youth league coaches and boards of directors should confront early in the pre-season period. I discussed each issue only briefly, but I promised that future columns would provide more in-depth discussion from time to time. This is the first of these … Continue reading
Doug Abrams
Rick Wolff
Steve Kallas
Ask Coach Wolff 