Professor of Sociology, Villanova University
Rick Eckstein is a nationally recognized expert on the commercialization of youth sports and the economics of higher education.
His recently published book, "How Intercollegiate Athletics are Hurting Girls' Sports: The Pay to Play Pipeline" (Rowman and Littlefield), draws a causal connection between the corporatization of higher education and the rampant commercialization of youth sports. This relationship has detrimental impacts on college costs and the increasingly class-exclusive landscape of youth sports that systematically excludes poorer, darker, and non-suburban families. Families that can access the "pay to play youth sports to college pipeline" are regularly misled about the chances of receiving athletic scholarships and admissions advantages. The American Library Association recommends this book for all readers, and the research has been regularly featured in the national media.
'Nobody said anything because they feared being benched' – how abuse is baked into American sports
Oct 19, 2022 08:49 am UTC| Sports
As someone who has been researching, writing and teaching about womens and girls sports for the past 15 years, I wasnt surprised by the recent revelations of sexual and verbal abuse by National Womens Soccer League...
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