"Let Them Be Children!"

Tom and Marc Anderson, a father and son caught up in the world of football to the point of insanity, have no idea that reality supercedes their vision or abilities to think and play the sport just so! They can't conceive that they are not the individual all-star planners and players that will make or break a team! More importantly, they can't conceive a relationship outside of this drive to "success" that always hovers on the edge of violence, resulting in buried feelings and eventually perhaps causing injuries. And so Tom and Marc keep pushing for the higher dream!

Maggie and Katie, a mother and daughter, also couldn't be more different than Tom and Marc. For Maggie fears what this "game" will do to the psyche of her children and has opposite affects on both her son and daughter. Maggie fears that such "pushing" can only be played out so far, a type of "survival" mode. Katie is trying to be what Marc can't seem to fulfill, and her intensity in the game, while learned from her father, far exceeds even his high expectations.

The results could be devastating! One coach, Coach Reynolds, basically lets both father and son have it with "both barrels," stating they overrate themselves in performance and original ideas for winning strategies. Denial is huge, however!

After realizing that it really isn't just a "game," the self-propelled looming disaster seems avoidable. But the truth really hasn't quite sunk into Tom Anderson's psyche!

What, if anything, will free this family from the adult game of sports? What does it take to be a rising star and just how much effort should be expended on such a goal? What's the cost? Who will fight for the protection and integrity of these star players? These questions lurk behind and under the scene of every sports field where one finds parents screaming and screeching, bellowing, and cursing their children toward a victory! Donald W. Albertson has written a potent novel about the reality of just what is happening in the hearts, minds, and spirits of both players and families who cannot face failure of "the game." Read it and call it as it really exists; but even more, read it and learn from it -- before it is too late!

It's just a game, isn't it? So very well done, Donald W. Albertson!

Reviewed by Viviane Crystal on March 30, 2006

Reviewed by Viviane Crystal
Courtesy Crystal Reviews
Posted July 9, 2006

Summary

What can drive a parent to sports rage? The Adult Game of Youth Sports Into this maelstrom hurls the Anderson family. Tom Anderson is an obsessed sports parent who lost out on his chance for football glory. He seeks redemption through his twelve-year-old son, Marc, whom he believes is the best youth quarterback in New Jersey. To stay ahead of the pack, Tom designs a demanding four-hour a day training program for Marc. While some would call this abusive, Tom believes he is doing all a father can do to prepare his son for the fiercely competitive world of professional sports. Tom's wife, Maggie, disagrees. She wants her children to just be children, and desperately tries to hold on to her daughter, Katie. But Katie has other plans. She is a natural born athlete, and has talent that her brother would kill to have. But Marc has something that Katie desperately wants more than a life in sports: the love and attention of their father, and she will not be denied....