college of education | fall 1998

Youth Sports Institute's Impact Felt Throughout Nation

When Vern Seefeldt helped to establish the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports at Michigan State University, he thought it might last five years.

It was 1978 and Seefeldt had just been named the institute’s director. Although he didn’t really want the job, he felt that if the fledgling organization could stick around for five years it might help improve the poor condition of youth sports programs in the state.

Little did he know that the institute would become an institution in Michigan, and he would remain its director until his retirement in 1995.

"At that time, all we could see was the tremendous problems that were being faced by people who were organizing youth sports," Seefeldt said. "There were very few guidelines, and very little literature available to these individuals. There was almost nothing available on the education of coaches. So it was a tremendous task. We realized very soon that lack of leadership was the primary problem. The kinds of coaches who were being recruited were almost always careless with children.

"The elitist model, which involves taking care of the children who are already highly skilled and providing them with even more opportunity, was very much in effect at the time. We could see that this was depriving the vast majority of children the opportunity to become involved in sports and to have an enjoyable experience. So we realized that we had to provide additional information to the coaches so that they would change their philosophy and make it possible for everyone to play. Changing opinion was a big job. But there were many, many parents who agreed with us immediately because their children had had bad experiences with youth sports. That became the challenge and, I think, it is still a challenge today although I think we’ve made tremendous progress."

That tremendous progress is due at least in part to the efforts of the institute, which over its 20-year history has reached out to coaches, parents and program administrators throughout the state and in so doing has gained a national reputation for its work.

Indeed, the institute was unique from the start. Its roots date to 1975, when a group of state legislators approached Seefeldt and others about conducting a study to determine the status of youth sports programs in the state.

The result was a 3-year study that found youth sports in disarray, with programs run by coaches who had no training and favored elite athletes, and children who consistently said they were not enjoying their experiences.

So in 1978, the state Legislature approved funding for the creation of the institute. The goal of the institute was clear: Provide leadership in the area that seemed to have little, and give coaches information that would help make youth participation enjoyable.

Seefeldt set out to attack the problem. Because most programs were run by parks and recreation departments, he quickly forged alliances with the Michigan Recreation and Parks Association. Within a few years, the institute was doing 125 workshops a year and almost all them at departments of parks and recreation.

Seefeldt also began assembling a staff. He hired Eugene Brown in 1979, and Deborah Feltz in 1980. Today, the institute’s staff is composed of Robert Malina, who succeeded Seefeldt as director; Brown; Mike Clark; Martha Ewing; and Seefeldt, who, although retired, remains active in the institute.

"The heart of the institute is the focus on children and sport, and specifically the well-being of children in the context of sport," Malina said. "You don't have to go much further than the daily sports page to see the central position of sport in our society, and you don't have to go very far to see children being exploited in sport, and people making money on children and sport. So the goal of the institute is still to focus on children in sport in a healthy sense."

Over the years, the institute’s staff has produced numerous articles and books on various facets of youth sports, from youth baseball and soccer to issues ranging from motivating young athletes and the use of awards and other rewards.

Researchers at the institute developed a soft baseball and promulgated new rules to make youth baseball safer. Studies have focused on numerous areas, including young distance runners and wrestlers and their motivations and commitments.

More than ever, the institute plays a central role in the state. Malina, who is one of the leading scholars in the area of children and growth, said the institute gets two or three calls a week from magazines and other news media on issues related to youths and sport.

And there is always a steady stream of queries about various aspects of youth sports from parents and coaches through the state and the country.

The institute has not only maintained its educational workshops for youth coaches, but has expanded to include high school coaches.

Although the issue of elitism is less an issue now then it was in the 1970s, Malina said it remains a concern, especially during the middle school years when school sports programs begin to take over.

Youths begin to drop out of sports during those years and community programs start forming select teams of elite athletes. "So many programs become geared at a select few and the general population of youngsters are shortchanged. So we need to come up with creative opportunities to keep youngsters physically active and I think we probably have to revamp, in some cases, the nature of sports programs in order for them to be more inclusive. The ones especially at risk are young girls."

As Malina looks to the future, he said he would like to see more work on documenting how organized sport contributes to the physical activity needs of children, as well as the effectiveness of coach education in making sport more enjoyable and safe for children.

He also would like to see the institute develop a means of monitoring or surveying the prevalence of injuries in youth sports.

For Seefeldt, the years he has spent with the institute have been rewarding and meaningful. He is convinced that the work of the institute has made a difference for countless children in Michigan and elsewhere.

"I think we elevated the youth sports scene to a level where people recognized that the education of coaches was important, that there was a whole new area of research that needed to be done on sport and children and youth," Seefeldt said. "You couldn’t just assume that only good things were happening in youth sports. We elevated the issue on the educational level and on the research level.

"That resulted in nationwide policy changes in the way administrators of youth sports programs were conducting their programs. I think the Youth Sports Institute has been instrumental in effecting such policies."

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