Fred Engh, president of the National Alliance for Youth Sports and authorof Why Johnny Hates Sports, the children are the biggest victims. In a recent survey condcuted bythe Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission, nearly half of the young atheletes admitted to beingyelled at or insulted. Seventeen point five reported being hit, kicked, or slapped, while eight pointtwo were pressured into harming others. No wonder why seven of ten kids drop sports prior totheir thirteenh birthday(Lesyk 2000). Youd never hear this at a childs piano recital: Erin, youbum, you can never do anything right! said Engh, who likens the unrealistic expectations adultsplace on young atheletes to child abuse(Lord 2000). Some feel that parental guidance and pressure can yield productive results. For example,Tiger Woods was pushed by his parents at an early age to play golf, and as you can see, it workedout pretty well. But there can be others who do not work out. Jennifer Capriati is a perfectexample. Once a beaming fourteen old armed with killer backhand and six-figure endorsementdeal, Capriati bottomed out when she was busted for both drug possession as well as shoplifting.She tried to stage a comeback in 1996, but withdrew herself from Wimbledon, claiming that shewas not ready, and hasnt staged another since. She is, as one sports writer put it, the posterchild for sports gone astray(Kantrowitz 2000).Todd Marinovich is another example. In 1991, Marinovich fulfilled his fathers loftyexpectations by inking a three-year deal worth $2.25 million with the NFLs Oakland Raiders.Marinovichs transition to the NFL, however, was anything but seamless. By 1995, knee inuriesand rumors of failed drug tests (Marinovich denies them) found the former first round draft pick making sixty dollars a night playing with a Los Angeles rock band called Scurvy. At this point,he told a Los Angeles Times reporter, I just want to be able to get the knee well enough to playbasketball and surf ...
