It&39s All for the Kids Gender, Families, and Youth Sports [Paperback]

Today, in a world quite different from the one that existed just thirty years ago, both girls and boys play soccer, baseball, softball, and other youth sports. Yet has the dramatic surge in participation by girls contributed to greater gender equality? In this engaging study, leading sociologist Michael A. Messner probes the richly complex gender dynamics of youth sports. Weaving together vivid first-person interviews with his own experiences as a volunteer for his sons' teams, Messner finds that despite the movement of girls into sports, gender boundaries and hierarchies still dominate, especially among the adults who run youth sports. His book widens into a provocative exploration of why youth sports matterhow they play a profound role in shaping gender, class, family, and community.

Michael A. Messneris Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at the University of Southern California and the author of several books includingTaking the Field: Women, Men, and Sports.

As an eminent sociologist of gender and sports, the son of a high school coach, and a parent, Michael Messner is uniquely positioned to illuminate the persistent and changing gender dynamics of parent-organized youth sports. The result, as predicted, is a perceptive, vividly detailed, and highly readable book. Barrie Thorne, author ofGender Play: Girls and Boys in School

Michael Messner has brilliantly assembled many important insights into the current culture of adult-organized youth sports. If every town or municipality governing the use of publicly owned facilities, which are dedicated to ensuring cohesive communities and are truly committed to equality and diversity, made this book mandatory reading, the ethical climate in youth sports will inevitably change for the better. No longer will permits be handed out to youth sports organizations that are, intentionally or unintentionally, excluding participation by adults at the coaching and aló-