Parenting Young Athletes

Since he retired from baseball in 2001, Cal Ripken, Jr., has devoted his time to coaching kids, including his own son and daughter, who play baseball and basketball, among other sports. With a baseball league of nearly 700,000 kids, ages 5-12, named for him, he has also had a chance to meet and work with countless young athletes. Cal Ripken’s simple yet effective philosophy for helping kids get the most out of playing sports is to keep it simple, explain the “why,” celebrate the individual, and make it fun! But Ripken is troubled by what he sees in youth sports: a competitive intensity that removes the element of fun from playing.