Changing the Game: The Parent's Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes, and Giving Youth Sports Back to our Kids

My oldest son plays football, basketball and baseball, while my younger son is almost old enough to follow his brother down the road of youth sports. I wouldn't have purchased this book unless I was troubled by what I've experienced, both as the father of an athlete, a former athlete, and a youth basketball coach myself. This book should be required reading for all coaches and parents of young athletes, regardless of their involvement level. The truth is that adults are ruining sports for the kids. I find myself way too invested in my son's sports life, and I'm a very mild sports dad by most comparisons. I don't yell or make his athletics the center of our relationship, but I knew I was doing something wrong when my son really started to push back on letting me help him at home, even though I'm his coach. After reading this I have a much different perspective and so does my son.I'll give you one example of something I learned from this book:I stopped watching his practices. Yes, I'm there, but I don't sit and watch him anymore. I usually take a book and sit in the car or find something to do at the park. When I used to watch him, he was quiet and reserved on the practice field, even though I know he's a good leader on game day. I recently snuck up on a practice and watched for a good 30 minutes during baseball season. I was amazed to hear my son was such a vocal team leader. I'd never even seen that side of him before. He was telling the other fielders to shift, encouraging his teammates, etc. I was blown away. All this time I've treated practice like something that demands my full attention, and I was holding him back from being a leader. Needless to say, it re-enforced the main theme of the book. - Let your kids control their own sports lives, and you'll see them unlock their full potential, all while having fun and getting better.So coaches and parents, the time has come when we have to realize that we've gone too far. We've stolen youth sports from the youth. We just need to be there to make sure they're not hungry and not injured. We just need to be their fan base, not their agents.

As a high level athlete, coach of over 20 years and a trainer of coaches, and a parent of two, this book is pure gold. This should be mandatory reading for any parent with kids participating in youth sports. Within are countless tools to ensure your child’s experiences are their own, and that the decisions you make, regarding their youth sports experiences, are informed and support their love of their game. John’s podcast, ‘Way of Champions’ is also fantastic.

I thought this book articulated a great set of concepts and a roadmap to actively implement them. I think it is a must read for a parent before their kid begins competitive sports. I wish I would of had this to read when my kids started. The worksheet questions at the end of the chapters were extremely helpful.

I'm a parent of two boys, 3 and 9 years old, and picked up this book after coaching several seasons of U9 flag football and becoming utterly dismayed at the state of youth sports.I have to be honest, I already agreed with everything O'Sullivan preaches. Changing the Game didn't change my mind--what it did is give me rock solid confidence that I'm right in my approach to coaching despite feeling like I'm constantly swimming against the time.The case that John O'Sullivan puts together through statistic, anecdotes and scientific evidence is virtually unassailable. It's tough coaching in the win-at-all costs environment when you're focused on fun, equal playing time, skill building, and building the confidence of your kids. You tend to lose a lot of games to coaches who only give the ball to their top athletes, and after a string of losses you sometimes question yourself. This book not only gave me the boost I needed to stay the course, but also provided me with the necessary resources to help spread the message to the parents of the boys I coach.The insights in this book are so powerful that they were life-changing for me. I no longer worry about my son's development. I've always been pretty relaxed about his participation in team sports, but I have to admit there've been times when I've been frustrated by his inability to pick up a particular skill or technique--not because I think he'll be an all-star, but because I don't want him to be excluded. Understanding youth neurological development and the uneven pace at which kids learn has taken away that my anxiety and allowed me to be 100% okay with where he's at.

I highly recommend this book for parents, especially if you think your child is a sports superstar (regardless of if they really are or not). If you haven't heard yet close to 75% of children quit sports either before or by age 15. I didn't know it was that high until I read this book. The #1 reason kids quit sports is because they are not having fun. So who are the fun killers? Perhaps you should look at yourself (Dad or Mom).As a parent of two children (1 boy and 1 girl) who both play sports this book opened my eyes to some of my own misbehavior and in my opinion offers invaluable insight for any sports parent. The worst thing that could happen to my child isn't having a bad game on Saturday, it would be for them to quit sports altogether for the rest of their life because of me, their Dad.This book contains tons of great information and advice, for example: don't spend all of your family vacations going to sport tournaments, yes everyone else on the team is probably going but you don't have to, you could take your family to Disney Land instead, everyone will have a great time and that includes your star child athlete. This book will give parents the confidence they need to make decisions that are in the best "long term" interest of their child, not the coaches ambitions to win the U10 tournament.

My sister recommended this book because she a is a friend of the author. It combines a lot of common-sense viewpoints for parents who have children in sports. I am about 25% of the way through and am enjoying the read.

Must read for all parents who have kids participating in organised sports.

This book is an invaluable tool for any hot headed parent who think they know best when in fact they are sucking out all the fun!

O'Sullivan's 7'C of a high performing state of mind are a great read for parents and coaches genuinely interested in the positive athletic and social development of their sons and daughters in sports regardless of which sport they play.

Perfect book about a necessary drastic change in thinking about youth sports! Read it!