Tens of millions of children in the United States participate in youth sport, a pastime widely believed to be part of a good childhood. Yet most children who enter youth sport are driven to quit by the time they enter adolescence, and many more are sidelined by its high financial burdens.
Until now, there has been little legal scholarly attention paid to youth sport or its reform. In her new book, More Than Play: How Law, Policy, and Politics Shape American Youth Sport, University of Baltimore School of Law Professor Dionne Koller sets the stage for a different approach by illuminating the law and policy assumptions supporting a model that puts children's bodies to work in an activity that generates significant surplus value. In doing so, she identifies the wide array of beneficiaries who have a stake in a system that is much more than just play—and the political choices that protect these parties' interests at children's expense.
Koller, who is director of the law school’s Center for Sport and the Law, co-chaired the Commission on the State of U.S. Olympic and Paralympics. She also served as chair and a member of the executive board for the Sports Law Section of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), is a member of the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s Administrative Review Panel, and serves on the editorial board for the International Sports Law Journal. In 2024, she received an AALS award for significant contributions to the field of sports law.
She will discuss her book with a panel of colleagues on Thursday, April 17 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in the 12th Floor Reading Room of the Angelos Law Center. Learn more and register. She also will discuss her book with veteran sports journalist Mark Hyman at Baltimore’s Ivy Bookshop on Wednesday, April 23 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Learn more and register.