‘How We Can Save Sports’ Hits the Streets
Rowman & Littlefield
www.rowman.com
FOR RELEASE FEBRUARY 2015
Contact: Jacqline Barnes / 301-459-3366 x5515 / [email protected]
How We Can Save Sports
“Immersed in sports as a player, coach, marketer, teacher and writer, Ken Reed shares our belief that many of the problems and challenges in sports – at all levels – have been exposed but little has been remedied. How We Can Save Sports reports on the panorama of issues in the sports world that are negatively impacting sports enthusiasts. Unfortunately, these issues are rarely on the table for anything close to a serious discussion. Reed’s book is an invitation to all of us who care about sports, and what they can be at their best, to start that much-needed discussion.” — Ralph Nader, founder, League of Fans
Many sports fans are conflicted—they may love the games, the players, and their communities, but may be alarmed by issues including academic corruption, athlete safety, and the overarching emphasis on winning and profit at all costs. From disturbing new research about the long-term impact of sports concussions to publicly financed stadiums that drive profits to team owners but not communities, author Ken Reed argues that much of our sports culture is broken, driven by ego and greed. How We Can Save Sports, with a foreword by Ralph Nader, is written to inform and empower sports stakeholders who care deeply about the impact of sports today on individuals and society as a whole.
Reed, sports policy director for the League of Fans, introduces readers to nine of the most pressing problems in sports today and shows how they largely derive from the mentalities of profit-at-all-costs and win-at-all-costs. Chapters dig into issues such as concussions, overzealous adults in youth sports, the disappearance of PE from many school curriculums, the focus on profit objectives in college sports, discrimination in sports, and more. Each chapter outlines key challenges and provides concrete steps that readers can take to work for change. The book includes lists of helpful resources for readers interested in change at various levels — from youth and high school sports, to AAU and college athletics, to professional sports.
• Examines nine major sports issues, often from a public policy perspective.
• The book not only analyzes critical sports issues, it also provides a wide-range of recommended solutions. Resources and ideas for budding sports reformers are included.
Ken Reed is sports policy director for the League of Fans, a sports reform project started by Ralph Nader. Reed is a long-time sports marketing consultant, sports studies instructor, sports issues analyst, columnist and author. He holds a doctorate in sports administration and created the Center for the Advancement of Physical Education (CAPE) for the non-profit PE4Life, devoted to cardiovascular-based physical education for all students, K-12. He blogs on sports issues for the Huffington Post.
Rowman & Littlefield
www.rowman.com
February 2015 / 208 pages / 978-1-4422-4264-7 / $32.00 Cloth
February 2015 / 208 pages / 978-1-4422-4265-4 / $31.99 ebook
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #28 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: A Chat With Mano Watsa, a Leading Basketball and Life Educator – Watsa is President of PGC Basketball, the largest education basketball camp in the world, with over 150 camps in 30+ U.S. states and Canada. We discuss problems in youth sports today, including single sport specialization, the growing gap between the “haves” and “have-nots,” the high drop-out rate in competitive sports, and the growing mental health challenges young athletes are dealing with today.
Listen on Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Anchor and others.
Follow on Facebook: @SportsForumPodcast
More Episodes on Apple Podcasts; Spotify; Google Podcasts; PocketCasts; & Anchor
Episode #27 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Kids’ Sports: How We Can Take Back the Game and Restore Quality Family Time In the Process – Linda Flanagan is author of “Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids’ Sports and Why It Matters.” We discuss how commercialized and professionalized youth sports are hurting kids and their families.
Episode #26 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: How Can We Fix Youth Sports? – John O’Sullivan is Founder and CEO of Changing the Game Project and author of “Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids.”
Episode #25 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Physical Education Should Be a Critical Component of K-12 School Design – Michael Horn is co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.
Episode #24 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Mental Health and Athletes: Ending the Stigma – Nathan Braaten and Taylor Ricci are the founders of Dam Worth It, a non-profit created to end the stigma around mental health at colleges and universities through sport, storytelling, and community creation.
Episode #23 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Olympian Benita Fitzgerald Mosley Talks Title IX, Youth Sports and the Olympics.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- League of Fans Sports Policy Director Ken Reed quoted in Washington Post column titled "What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement," by Jay Mathews
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
Books