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The Roundtable
51%

Dionne Koller on why youth sports are "More Than Play"

By Jesse King
Published May 1, 2025 at 8:00 PM EDT
University of California Press/University of Baltimore
Book Cover and Headshot

On this week's 51%, we speak with Dionne Koller, a law professor at the University of Baltimore, about the benefits and dangers of youth sports, and what parents should know before signing their kids up. In her new book, More Than Play, Koller explains how today's youth sports became more privatized, more expensive, and less regulated. We also stop by a roller derby bout in New York's Hudson Valley.

Guest: Dionne Koller, professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law and author of More Than Play: How Law, Policy, and Politics Shape American Youth Sport

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. 

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51% bookyouthSportsDionne Koller
Jesse King
Jesse King is the host of WAMC's national program on women's issues, "51%," and the station's bureau chief in the Hudson Valley. She has also produced episodes of the WAMC podcast "A New York Minute In History."
See stories by Jesse King
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