Massachusetts Pending Sport Psychology Legislation

Concerned by chaotic behavior of student athletes during competition, Massachusetts is pending legislation to implement a pilot sport psychology program in schools, the online journal Athletic Business reports. Seeing a connection between on-field disruption (complaining to refs, poor sportsmanship) and off-field problems (addictions, violent tendencies), the bill would provide funding for generation and distribution of a sport psychology textbook with courses on goal setting, positivie thinking, visualization, and other topics. The goal of the program would be to teach student athletes mental tools which can improve their lives both in and out of athletics.

Of course, there are two sides to the story; the cost of the program is undetermined, and it's even been criticized for making a "science experiment" out of youth athletics.

On the flip side, the director of the nonprofit GetPsychedSports.org defends the bill by saying, "How do you argue against teaching self-control to children?...Sports psychology has already been proven to help kids play better."

Where do you come out on the issue? Could a sport psychology handbook for youth athletes be helpful? Is it too much for younger competitors? How expensive would be too expensive? What influence do behaviors by professional athletes have on youth?

Read the whole article here.