NASSS 2018 Conference - Vancouver

The purpose of this session is to explore the various socio-cultural and economic aspects of youth sport involvement for participants and their parents.  A system of specialization now exists in many youth sports where an over emphasis on competition and sport skill specialization exists at a young age.  Parents often pay thousands of dollars to enroll their child in club sport teams in the hopes of receiving advanced sport skill instruction for their son or daughter with the hopes of eventually receiving an athletic scholarship to attend college.   Sport agents, college recruiters, and youth sport coaches comprise a growing enterprise at different competitive levels that link into a larger multi-million dollar sport tourism industry where youth sport teams travel to other cities to participate in tournaments   The youth sport phenomenon in the United States has grown to the point that millions of young boys and girls participate at the recreational and club sport levels.  Gaining a better understanding of the nature and scope of the youth sport phenomenon from socio-cultural and economic perspectives is the primary goal of this session.