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An interview with Jack Perconte, author of the baseball book Raising an Athlete: How to Instill Confidence, Build Skills and Inspire a Love of Sport
Listeners of Cover the Bases may know the name Jack Perconte as a major 
league second baseman. Over the course of 7 seasons he played with the Dodgers, Indians and Seattle Mariners. Since his retirement he has taken to a life of teaching at his baseball and softball academy, and writing. In each pursuit he has focused on passing along his firsthand knowledge of the game of baseball, combined with life lessons for budding athletes.
Jack is the author of numerous baseball books including The Making of a Hitter: A Proven and Practical Step-by-Step Baseball Guide
(including forward by Mike Socscia), 60,000 Hitting Lessons – A Hands on Baseball Guide for Parents, Coaches and Players
PositiveParentingInSports.com is the companion web site to Raising an Athlete, and begs the question as to whether it was witnessing objectionable behavior by parents on the ball field that motivated Jack to write this book. Of course, this is such a complex topic that there is never one single episode, lesson, or exercise that is applicable to all cases.
Jack is trying to point out that in many cases it is the parent who makes sports more difficult for their kids. The parent’s actions are directly contributing to burnout, fear, anxiety, and pressure for kids on athletic fields across the country.
Jack also points out that the increase in travel teams, scholarships and the simple fact that more girls are participating in sports has increased the number of children being impacted, as well as the overall amount of pressure being heaped on athletes in youth programs today.
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