num_pages: 0
description: When New York Times best-selling author and journalist Michael Lewis got involved in his kids local softball league it all seemed so wholesome and simple. Ten years later his family looked back to find that they had spent thousands of dollarsnot to mention hoursand traveled thousands of miles in the service of a single sport.All over America families are investing blood sweat tears and retirement savings in their childrens sports careers all with the ultimate goal ofwhat exactly? A college scholarship? A professional contract? Simply the taste of victory?Through the lens of the highly competitive world of girls softball Lewis reveals the youth sports industrial complex that has arisen to aggressively monetize after-school pastimes. The major players arent the ones on the fieldtheyre the ones stripping the pockets of unwitting parents to the tune of billions of dollars a year creating an arms race of amateur athletics and enabling the Varsity Blues scandal. So whats in it for the parentsor for that matter the kids themselves? This from-the-bleachers portrait of our national obsession with youth sports explores the consequences of high-stakes play for families communities and the kids in the game.
language: English
title: Playing to Win
publisher: Audible Original