How miserable and unhappy are you regarding our present sports culture in the United States? It is easy to find out. Just take a few minutes to respond to the questions below and you can come up with a quick index of how you presently feel about the state of sports in our country.

1. Have you ever watched a youth or scholastic sports event and witnessed parents and coaches exhibiting abusive and unsportsmanlike behavior?

2. Have you ever wondered why a particular coach is instructing youth or scholastic players when you know that they are primarily interested in their own ego and “winning at all costs?”

3. Does it bother you that some sports such as wrestling are reaching the point of extinction in some areas of our country because more glamorous revenue producing sports such as basketball and football have achieved dominance and greater popularity?

4. Are you concerned about the growing emphasis upon competition and winning as opposed to participation at the younger ages of organized sports?

5. Are you worried about reports of the increasing use of performance enhancing drugs by high school, amateur, and college athletes?

6. Are you concerned about the increasing difficulties that many communities face in funding athletic opportunities for their kids?

7. Have you wondered about the evolution of athletics in the United States where we find more and more young participants every year but kids “burning out” at earlier ages and leaving sports altogether as they get older?

8. Are you worried about the pressures that have led some young athletes to concentrate exclusively on one sport at earlier and earlier ages in their life?

9. Are you finding it more and more difficult to watch some team sporting events in which individual play is being rewarded to such an extent that team play and success is taking a back seat?

10. Does it concern you that the publication of point spread information in the media and the proliferation of sports gambling on college athletic events may someday pose a threat to the integrity of athletics at almost all levels?

11. Are you concerned about the ethics of the college recruiting process and the effects it ultimately may have upon athletes and their long-term adjustment once their playing days are over?

12. Are you worried about the dominating role that money is playing in college and amateur sports and how it is reshaping the landscape of athletics from the highest to the lowest levels of participation?

13. Have you wondered about the intent of Title IX and the consequences it has had for both male and female athletes as well as minorities?

14. Are you concerned about the rise in sports injuries especially as it relates to contact sports and the fact that athletes are participating at younger and younger ages?

15. Are you worried about the excessive pressure to succeed that some parents place upon their kids in hopes that a college scholarship will justify the obsessive commitment to a sport?

16. Are you concerned about the uncontrolled nature of amateur athletics and the effects that it may have upon the balanced educational and emotional development of our youths?

17. Do you wonder about the system that has evolved which encourages the unethical recruiting of very young athletes at the elementary, middle, and high school levels?

18. Are you concerned about the standards in many communities that permit preferential treatment for athletes?

19. Are you worried about the increasing pressure at all levels (youth, scholastic, and college) to place athletics above education?

20. Are you worried about the increasing reports of coaches abusing young athletes that are under their supervision?

21. Are you concerned about the excessive and often inappropriate media attention that is directed toward athletes at younger and younger ages?

22. Are you concerned about the lack of respect exhibited by athletes, coaches, and parents toward officials and referees that supervise athletic contests?

23. Are you worried about the many reports of negative behaviors exhibited by athletes and the increasingly poor image that surrounds “jocks”?

24. Are you concerned that college athletes often do not receive a good education because they are poorly prepared and/or the demands of their sport force them to take “mickey mouse” and “gut” courses?

25. Are you concerned about the skewed priorities in colleges that permit football and basketball coaches to be paid millionaire salaries while faculty and university presidents earn significantly less.

26. Do you wonder why exploited college athletes in high profile sports earn little if anything for their sweat and hard work while the NCAA and colleges divide the spoils of a highly commercialized entertainment industry?

27. Are you disappointed that those in a position to do something positive to reform athletics, such as college presidents and trustees, athletic directors, school superintendents and principals, and sports organizers consistently back off on significant sports reforms?

28. Do you believe that many of the changes in youth, scholastic, amateur and college sports may be destroying the fundamental reasons why athletics are supposed to be healthy, fun, and rewarding for those who choose to participate?

29. Do you love sports because of the great times you had as a participant during your own early development but now find yourself experiencing a certain level of cynicism, disgust and disappointment about some of the current trends in athletics?

30. Do you believe that if enough people think the same way and are willing to provoke some changes at the grass roots level, then sports for our younger generation will be immeasurably improved?

How did you do? Did you answer “yes” to quite a few of the questions? If you did, then you are undoubtedly unhappy about the condition of our present sports culture. The chances are good that you are part of a growing number of individuals who see sports going through a period of national convulsion and breakdown.

Whether you are a sports participant, a fan, a coach, an administrator, a concerned parent, a college professor or secondary school teacher, it may be time for you to consider learning more about the NISR and its mission to reform sports and improve the lives of our young athletes.

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