Christopher Bjork & William Hoynes, MORE THAN JUST A GAME

Free. Registration Requested.

Professors Christopher Bjork and William Hoynes will present compelling first-person stories from their new book MORE THAN JUST A GAME, providing much-needed perspective about the billion-dollar youth-sports industry.

The book explores parental attitudes and struggles and shows parents how to navigate the profit-driven system of youth sports that frequently ignores the needs of kids.

• How taxing athletics can be developmentally for children.
• The financial impact the ever-popular travel teams have on families.
• Excessive time commitments and expectations.
• The conundrums and challenging decisions the families of young athletes’ face.
• Inherent disadvantages of being an underprivileged young athlete.

Christopher B. Bjork, PhD, is professor of education and coordinator of teacher education at Vassar College. His most recent book, High Stakes Schooling, was published by the University of Chicago Press (2015). He currently serves on the editorial boards of the British Journal of Sociology of Education, the International Journal of Sociology of Education, and Schools: Studies in Education. As a faculty athletics representative at Vassar, Dr. Bjork attends Athletics Department meetings and workshops, interviews candidates for coaching positions, and weighs in on decisions about awards for athletes. In the world of youth sports, he has served as a travel team soccer and Little League baseball coach.

William Hoynes, PhD, is professor of sociology on the Jane Baker Nord ’42 Chair in Media Studies at Vassar College, where he has served as Chair of the Sociology Department and Director of both the American Studies Program and the Media Studies Program. Hoynes is a cultural sociologist whose research explores contemporary media and culture in the United States. Dr. Hoynes has written widely about the media industry in the United States and is author of several award-winning books. He has been a board member of the Rhinebeck Little League for more than fifteen years and is a former board member of the Rhinebeck Soccer League. He has served as a travel team baseball and soccer coach and volunteer assistant high school basketball coach.

Oblong Books in Rhinebeck is a fully wheelchair accessible space with on-site van accessible parking. Microphones and speakers will not be used at this event but can be made available with advance notice. Our chairs are stackable and have arms. If you have specific questions about the space or how an event can be made more accessible to you, please do not hesitate to contact us: .

Host or Publisher Oblong Books