Introduction to Physical
Education, Fitness, and Sport
Chapter 6
Problems and Issues in Sport
Child and Youth Sport Problems (Cont’d.)
 Sport Injuries
 Difficult to determine trends.
 Acute injuries (e.g., sprains contusions) result
in approx. 4,00,000 ER visits per year.
 Overuse injuries are seen more in younger
children (early age specialization likely
contributes).
 New trend: Extreme sport injuries
(i.e., higher risks >> increased risk of injury).
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Child and Youth Sport Problems (Cont’d.)
 Sport Injuries (cont’d.)
 Duquin (1988): Sado-asceticism . . . . Trend
by adults and coaches to redefine pain as
discomfort, and pushing kids to work
“through the pain.”
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Child and Youth Sport Problems (Cont’d.)
 Youth Sport Coaching
 Major dilemma: Attracting sufficient
numbers of volunteer coaches, but not
being able to require much in the form
of certification.
 Improvement is occurring in terms of
requiring background checks, providing
volunteer workshops, and Code of Ethics.
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Child and Youth Sport Problems (Cont’d.)
 Youth Sport Coaching (Cont’d.)
 What little is known empirically, shows that
youth sport coaches offer too much criticism,
and little positive support.
 This produced the “Coaching Effectiveness
Training” program (Smoll, 1986).
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Child and Youth Sport Problems (Cont’d.)
 Youth Sport Coaching (Cont’d.)
 “Coaching Effectiveness Training” program
Philosophy:
 Winning is an appropriate goal, but not the
only one.
 Losing does not imply failure.
 Success comes in multiple forms.
 Success is related to effort as much as it
is to outcome.
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Child and Youth Sport Problems (Cont’d.)
 Impact of Sport on Family Life
 Sport directly alters family life patterns
 Transport kids to games and practices.
 Fewer, if any, family dinners at home.
 Increased expenditures on Sport (e.g., camps,
club fees, gas, hotels etc.).
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Child and Youth Sport Problems (Cont’d.)
 Impact of Sport on Family Life
 Parents can get quite overzealous. . .
 Examples of inappropriate parent behavior?
 What about the children’s view of their parents?
(see also boxes 6.4 & 6.5)
Would you want your parents to behave like that?
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Child and Youth Sport Problems (Cont’d.)
 Unequal Access (SES)
 Opportunity & access to sport is skewed
toward middle and upper-middle class
children and youth (i.e., programs, facilities,
equipment, coaching, etc.).
 Those most in need, are least likely to have
access.
 What will you do to “level this playing field?”
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Child and Youth Sport Problems (Cont’d.)
 Trends in Child & Youth Sport (Cont’d.)
 . . . BUT, much remains to be done:
 Declines in public funding.
 Increase in private/commercial programs.
 Programs segregated by SES, race,
and/or ethnicity.
 Less access and opportunity for lowerSES children.
 Children exploring other (less adultdominated) activities.
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Interscholastic Sport
 Unique to U.S. society.
 Scope of programs depends on school
size and funding.
 Often a strong binding force in
especially smaller rural communities
(See also Box 6.6)
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Interscholastic Sport (Cont’d.)
 It does carry its own problem . . .







Exclusion in the varsity model.
Youth & interscholastic sport injuries.
Eligibility and pass-to-play rules.
Specialization.
Performance enhancing supplements.
Coaching issues.
Funding: Pay-to-play / Booster clubs.
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Interscholastic Sport (Cont’d.)
 Varsity model: Exclusion.
 Little to no access or opportunity for the
lesser skilled adolescents.
 “Where do I go if I still want
to play competitively?
 Internationally, the focus is on
broad-based programming for
anyone . . . . (See Box 6.7)
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Interscholastic Sport (Cont’d.)
 Injuries.
 Centers for Disease Control (2006) study:
(Across 9 sports & 425 High Schools)





2,000.000 injuries.
500.000 doctor visits.
300.000 hospitalizations.
Injury rate higher during games.
Sprains, contusions, fractures,
concussion are most common.
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Interscholastic Sport (Cont’d.)
 Injuries.
 Centers for Disease Control (2006) study:
(Across 9 sports & 425 High Schools)
 Highest rate of injuries: Football, Wrestling,
Soccer, & Girls’ Basketball.
 Sprains, contusions, fractures,
concussion are most common.
 Lower number of injuries likely a result
of better equipment and conditioning.
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Interscholastic Sport (Cont’d.)
 Eligibility & pass-to-play rules.
 Students must meet eligibility standards to play,
incl. pass-to-play criterion.
Is Sport an extra-curricular activity, a
privilege? . . .
Or is it of basic educational importance for
all?
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Interscholastic Sport (Cont’d.)
 Performance enhancing supplements.
 Increased media attention to use of dietary
supplements and steroids in professional sport
and High Schools.
 Their health risks are documented for both
adolescents and adults.
 Random drug testing is now
more common in High schools.
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Interscholastic Sport (Cont’d.)
 Performance enhancing supplements
(Cont’d.).
What the ethical obligations of
those overseeing the sport and
its athletes (i.e., coaches,
athletic trainers, & parents)
relative to such supplements?
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Interscholastic Sport (Cont’d.)
 Coaching Issues.
 Teacher-Coach role conflict: Balancing the
demands of both, each with different rewards.
 With schools being the venue, it follows that
coaches would be teachers at the school . . .
 Not so . . . Many are not directly
affiliated with the school, and not
required to be certified teachers.
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Interscholastic Sport (Cont’d.)
 Coaching Issues (Cont’d.).
 Coaches are paid using supplementary
contracts, that reflect a very low
“hourly wage.”
 Never-ending dilemma in hiring:
Are you hired to teach first and also
coach or vice versa?
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Interscholastic Sport (Cont’d.)
 Funding: Pay-to-play / Booster Clubs.
 Pressures placed on HS athletes (and
coaches!) by parents, school
administrators, and booster club
members can be enormous (see Box 6.8).
 If funding for HS athletics is dependent on
fundraising by booster clubs, it adds
additional pressure.
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Interscholastic Sport (Cont’d.)
 Pay-to-play ($2P) Plans
 Though ruled as discriminatory) against
those who can least afford it, $2P plans
are more common than ever.
 If not managed by the school district, it is the
Booster club that oversees this program.
 It goes against court efforts to equalize funding
for education.
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Intercollegiate Sport
Has become BIG
BUSINESS for
Universities (notably
in Division I)
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Intercollegiate Sport (Cont’d.)
 Problems may differ between Division
I and III schools.
 Main problems:
 Recruiting violations and pressures.
 Drugs used to enhance performance.
 Economic disparities among top powers.
 Economic pressures to win.
 Treatment of athletes at the University.
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Intercollegiate Sport (Cont’d.)
 Recruiting violations and pressures.
 Competition for talented athletes among
Universities is not always fair.
 Violations often occur by way of alumni and
“friends” exerting influence on athletes,
coaches, and the University (e.g., gifts, cash, cars).
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Intercollegiate Sport (Cont’d.)
 Drugs used to enhance performance.
 Increased size, weight, and speed among
athletes is the result of:
 Improved training and conditioning . . . &
 Performance enhancing drug use
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Intercollegiate Sport
 Drugs that enhance performance.
 Drug testing among Univ. athletes is a complex
issue relative to the “right to privacy”, and its
constitutionality (i.e., 4th Amendment).
 At what point is it considered a “reasonable
search?
 What if your belongings were searched?
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Illegal
Creatine
 Blood doping
 Steroids
 Diuretics
 Stimulants

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Intercollegiate Sport (Cont’d.)
 $$$ flows disproportionately to a select
few programs.
 Main problems:
 “The rich get richer.”
 Aids in recruitment of new athletes.
 May lead to cheating in less-established
programs (absence of an equalizing draft
system).
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Intercollegiate Sport (Cont’d.)
 Economic pressures to win.
 Main problems:
 Large investments in facilities often
produce large deficits.
 Donors & alumni contributions.
 Also will encourage
cheating.
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Intercollegiate Sport (Cont’d.)
 Treatment of athletes at the University.
 Main problems:
 Exploiting of athletes.
 Poor “quality of life” (e.g., chronic fatigue, poor
academic performance, low graduation rates, injuries).
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Equity Issues in Sport
 Women’s issues
 Inequity still lingers, but progress has been
made.
 Title IX >> increased
participation among
females, across all levels.
 Overt vs. subtle
discrimination . . . ?
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Equity Issues in Sport (Cont’d.)
 Women’s issues (cont’d.)
 Coaching and leadership positions still
mostly filled by males today.
 Supreme court decisions have suppressed
upward mobility of females in
College sport.
 Females coaches, AD’s,
and officials remain a
minority (e.g. Motley & Lavine, 2001; Pastore, 1994).
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Equity Issues in Sport (Cont’d.)
 Women’s issues (cont’d.)
 Breaking the stereotypes:
Increased participation by girls in contact
& strength sports.
VS.
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Equity Issues in Sport (Cont’d.)
 Women’s issues (cont’d.)
 Further advancing the status of women will
require constant advocacy by all professionals
in Physical Education and Sport . . .
. . . as 19th Century views still
linger!
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Equity Issues in Sport (Cont’d.)
 Minority issues:
 1947: Jackie Robinson drafted by the
Brooklyn Dodgers (MLB).
 Full racial integration for athletes only
occurred after court rulings (60s – 70s).
Which Sports still have few
minority participants?
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Minority Issues (Cont’d.)
 Minority issues (cont’d.)
 Hires in leadership positions in both
collegiate and pro Sport
remain sparse (e.g., Lapchick, 2007).
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Minority Issues (Cont’d.)
 Minority issues (cont’d.)
 Those in economically disadvantaged
communities have less access and
fewer opportunities for PA
(. . . Despite evidence of its benefits!).
How are problems of inequity in
Sport intertwined with society’s
structural inequities?
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Sport Systems
How would you describe the
structure of the U.S. Sport
System?
 Levels of participation?
 Government involvement/regulation?
 Funding?
 Prevalence of Club Sport?
 Certification of Sport coaches?
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Alternative Goals for Sport Systems
What are (or should be) the
goals of a Sport System?
 Direction of funding?
 Government funding of Olympic-caliber
talents?
 Increase opportunities, better coaching for
ALL non-elite participants?
 Role of the private sector?
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Sport in Perspective
Despite its many problems . . .
Sport has enormous potential to
influence youth and adults
positively.
 An experience to be enjoyed . . .
 Sport is not a cure-all . . .
 Many organizations work hard to make it
a positive, educational and fun experience.
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Discussion Questions
4. Do eligibility rules for sport participation
in schools discriminate against less
talented students?
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Discussion Questions
5. How early should athletes specialize?
What are the benefits and problems of
specialization at the high-school levels?
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Discussion Questions
6. If you were making policy for the NCAA,
what policies would you suggest for a) drug
abuse, b) recruiting violations, and c)
academic progress of athletes?
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