Until It Hurts: America's Obsession with Youth Sports and How It Harms Our Kids Paperback - 2010

Media reviews

Part confession, part cautionary tale, Mark Hyman's little book carries a big message about the 'hostile takeover' of youth sports by adults. . . .What lends Hyman's admonitions such chilling credibility is his willingness to lay bare his own foibles. . . . Such candor is compelling and engaging.—Brion O'Connor, Boston Globe

"A hair-raising look at everything that is wrong with youth sports today . . . Every parent and every coach who has ever been involved in youth sports and cares about kids has an obligation to read it."—Buzz Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lights

"As his teenaged son undergoes major surgery so he can pitch again, a sports dad examines the physical and emotional minefield of youth sports and comes up with ideas to make it family-friendlier. If you've got a young jock in the house, this book is more important than a private coach."—Robert Lipsyte, author of Raiders Night

"It took a son's sore arm for Mark Hyman to recognize a hard truth: we're destroying youth sports, and maybe not even producing better athletes in the process. Until It Hurts is a sobering manifesto that should be required reading for every parent, coach, administrator, and referee. Though my daughter's U-7 soccer team doesn't know it, I've already implemented its smart, sensible, and long-overdue advice."—Stefan Fatsis, National Public Radio sports commentator and author of A Few Seconds of Panic

"Mark Hyman . . . shows how adults are . . . turning youth sports into a high-pressure, big-money enterprise. When did kids' sports become more work than play? Until It Hurts provides the answer-and offers the solutions we've been looking for."—Joan Ryan, author of Little Girls in Pretty Boxes