The 24-hour Rule is the Antidote to the Ugly, Often Scary, Usually Non-productive Ride Home in Youth Sports
By Ken Reed
Research has found that one of the things kids hate the most about youth sports is “The Ride Home” with critical parents. This short video depicts the typical youth sports “Ride Home” very well.
When you put yourself in the child’s spot in this video, it’s clear how these “Ride Home” conversations can become sad and scary situations for young athletes. Many report experiencing nervous stomachs, and other anxiety symptoms, during, and in anticipation of, “The Ride Home.”
The 24-Hour Rule for youth (and high school) parents is great for addressing this issue/problem. The 24-Hour Rule, in this context, is simply eliminating discussions with one’s child about his/her performance during a game or practice for 24 hours. Emotions are much cooler, for the parent and child alike, after 24 hours. As a result, the chances of a productive conversation about a particular practice or game are much greater.
In another context, the 24-Hour-Rule works well for coaches in dealing with the parents of both youth and high school athletes. This aspect of the rule states that there should be no discussion between parents and coaches about an athlete’s playing, time, how the child is used during a particular game, what position they play, etc., for 24 hours after a game. Parents and coaches are both emotional in the first few hours after games and discussions usually aren’t productive in that emotional state.
The bottom line is, the 24-Hour-Rule is an effective tool to utilize for adults (parents and coaches) involved in youth and high school sports.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
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.
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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
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