CHICAGO, July 11 -- Sportsmanship has gone bad. Last week, in Reading, Massachusetts, a single father of four children died after a fight at his son's hockey game. The fistfight broke out after two fathers argued about rough play in their sons' youth hockey game. In New York, Mike Piazza accused pitcher Roger Clemens of throwing at his head in the second inning of last weekend's game. And in Zimbabwe, twelve people died in a stampede at a soccer game.

There are other occasions where parents and athletes have hit coaches, referees and each other. Although each occurrence does not result in death, this is a problem. Because this problem is ever-increasing, the Jupiter-Tequesta Athletic Association out of Florida, with the National Alliance for Youth Sports, held a mandatory sportsmanship training course for parents earlier this year.

The main reason for this type of course is that these actions reach young people who look up to their parents and professional athletes as role models. There are things that can be done to improve on and off-the-field behavior and promote good sportsmanship. To better understand this, Dr. Darrell J. Burnett, a respected youth sports psychologist, author of Youth, Sports, & Self-Esteem: A Guide for Parents and featured in the Playbook for Kids: A Parent's Guide to Help Kids Get the Most Out of Sports, can discuss this important issue.

Darrell J. Burnett, Ph.D. is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, a Licensed Marriage, Family, and Child Counselor, a Certified Group Psychotherapist and a Certified Sports Psychologist in southern California. Dr. Burnett was selected as a National Sports Ethics Fellow by the Institute for International Sport at the University of Rhode Island. He has specialized in "positive parenting" issues throughout his professional career, which extends over 20 years.

Dr. Burnett received a B.A. and M.A. in philosophy at the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. He received an M.A. in psychology from Xavier University before moving from his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio to complete a Ph.D. in psychology at the United States International University, San Diego, California. He was awarded a one-year post-doctoral fellowship in psychology at the Neuropsychiatric Institute, UCLA.

Dr. Burnett can discuss the goal of youth sports as well as the parents' role in their child's activities.

Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 27 Jan 2007

Power resides in the moment of transition from a past to a new state.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson