ABSTRACT
This chapter examines an account of sports (interpretivism) which offers a different type of youth sports reforms (mutualist reforms) that maintain the competitive aspects of youth sports while increasing the moral accountability of participants as members of sports practice communities. It summarizes a series of suggestions for youth sports coaches that stem from the two general responsibilities that coaches have as individuals assisting youths and the interpretivist framework discussed. Far from recipes, these suggestions should be taken as broad guidelines to organize and reform youth sports in a way that respects both their protagonists and the mutualist approach to competitive sports. By focusing youths on achieving excellence in sports rather than simply winning, the mutualist perspective can help coaches teach athletes appropriate ways to approach competition. The mutualist coach is able to impart to youth the moral duties that they owe to their opponents.
