The Young Athlete A Sports Doctor's Complete Guide for Parents

The Young Athlete aims to help the parents of more than 30million U.S. kids who play organized sports to keep them safe andhealthy--physically, socially, and psychologically. The book is not just aboutsports medicine; in fact, only about one-third of the book addresses avoidingand treating injuries. The rest explores essential issues such as how to be agood sports parent, hallmarks of good coaching, nutrition and nutritionalsupplements, and keeping values and perspective intact (including topics such aspreventing sports from taking over the family's life, good sportsmanship, andethics). This book also offers helpful and often provocative insights into the youngathlete's world. For example, although most proclaim that cheating is wrong,many athletes, coaches, and parents justify "what can we get away with?"behavior. Checklists, bulleted lists, and quotes from parents about theirproblems make it easy to skim for pertinent and interesting information aboutthis and many other issues.Author Jordan D. Metzl, M.D., cofounder and medical director of the Hospital forSpecial Surgery's Sports Medicine Institute for Young Athletes and a formermember of the U.S. Olympic Committee Medical Advisory Board, has been teamphysician for several schools, so you can be assured of the validity of thebook's content. Highly recommended for parents of school-age athletes. --JoanPrice

Jordan D. Metzl, M.D., is the medical director of the Sports Medicine Institute for Young Athletes at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. A medical contributor to CBS News, he has published widely in the field of sports medicine and speaks regularly to medical and parent groups both in the United States and around the world. A former college soccer player, Dr. Metzl is a seventeen-time marathon runner and two-time Ironman triathlete Carol Suen Shookhoff, Ph.D., writes frequently on educational issues