The business of youth baseball, however, fills young
players' minds with grandiose dreams and tugs at the
hearts of parents longing for their children to succeed at
America’s pastime. As John put it, the youth baseball
industry sells facility or travel teams to parents as the
means to the big leagues.
America’s other pastime — making money — tends to
cloud the reality that kids are getting hurt because
training regimens fail to focus on the whole body and
that the time spent in competition typically extends well
beyond what a young athlete's body can handle.
"The youth sports industry in the United States is set out
to develop elite youth [athletes], and they are
succeeding," said John’s son, Dr. Tommy John, author of
"Minimize Injury, Maximize Performance: A Sports
Parent's Survival Guide."
"We have elite youth athletes, but we are breaking rules
of development and end up with elite youth athletes
with dysfunctional bodies."
Dr. John spoke at length about his endeavor to aid young
athletes as they navigate the $15 billion youth sports
industry and the pressure it tends to place on their
bodies. The youth sports machine has created the