Listen free for 30 days

  • Take Back the Game

  • How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids' Sports--and Why It Matters
  • Written by: Linda Flanagan
  • Narrated by: Abby Craden
  • Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Take Back the Game cover art

Take Back the Game

Written by: Linda Flanagan
Narrated by: Abby Craden
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $21.99

Buy Now for $21.99

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

Longlisted for the Porchlight Business Book Awards 2022

A close look at how big money and high stakes have transformed youth sports, turning once healthy, fun activities for kids into all-consuming endeavors—putting stress on children and families alike

Some 75% of American families want their kids to play sports. Athletics are training grounds for character, friendship, and connection; at their best, sports insulate kids from hardship and prepare them for adult life. But youth sports have changed so dramatically over the last 25 years that they no longer deliver the healthy outcomes everyone wants. Instead, unbeknownst to most parents, kids who play competitive organized sports are more likely to burn out or suffer from overuse injuries than to develop their characters or build healthy habits. What happened to kids' sports? And how can we make them fun again?

In Take Back the Game, coach and journalist Linda Flanagan reveals how the youth sports industry capitalizes on parents’ worry about their kids’ futures, selling the idea that more competitive play is essential in the feeding frenzy over access to colleges and universities. Drawing on her experience as a coach and a parent, along with research and expert analysis, Flanagan delves into a national obsession that has:

  • Compelled kids to specialize year-round in one sport.
  • Increased the risk of both physical injury and mental health problems.
  • Encouraged egregious behavior by coaches and parents.
  • Reduced access to sports for low-income families.

A provocative and timely entrant into a conversation thousands of parents are having on the sidelines, Take Back the Game uncovers how youth sports became a serious business, the consequences of raising the stakes for kids and parents alike—and the changes we need now.

©2022 Linda Flanagan (P)2022 Penguin Audio

What the critics say

“Searing indictment of the current state of youth sports . . . It’s all too easy for parents to recognize that there’s a problem, but it’s much harder to swim against the societal current on your own. Here’s hoping Flanagan’s book helps kickstart a movement.”—ALEX HUTCHINSON’s 2022 Sweat Science Holiday Book List, Outside Magazine

“I think Take Back the Game is a profoundly important book. Every parent needs to read it.”—MALCOLM GLADWELL, host of the podcast Revisionist History

“This book is for anyone who has ever found themselves spending entire weekends at youth soccer events and asked, ‘Why?’”NEW YORK POST, Best Books of 2022

More from the same

What listeners say about Take Back the Game

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.