The Young Athlete: A Sports Doctor's Complete Guide for Parents

The Young Athlete aims to help the parents of more than 30 million U.S. kids who play organized sports to keep them safe and healthy--physically, socially, and psychologically. The book is not just about sports medicine; in fact, only about one-third of the book addresses avoiding and treating injuries. The rest explores essential issues such as how to be a good sports parent, hallmarks of good coaching, nutrition and nutritional supplements, and keeping values and perspective intact (including topics such as preventing sports from taking over the family's life, good sportsmanship, and ethics).

This book also offers helpful and often provocative insights into the young athlete's world. For example, although most proclaim that cheating is wrong, many athletes, coaches, and parents justify "what can we get away with?" behavior. Checklists, bulleted lists, and quotes from parents about their problems make it easy to skim for pertinent and interesting information about this and many other issues.

Author Jordan D. Metzl, M.D., cofounder and medical director of the Hospital for Special Surgery's Sports Medicine Institute for Young Athletes and a former member of the U.S. Olympic Committee Medical Advisory Board, has been team physician for several schools, so you can be assured of the validity of the book's content. Highly recommended for parents of school-age athletes. --Joan Price