Youth sports drew low grades for parental misbehavior and an overemphasis on a win-at-all-cost mentality among parents and coaches, according to the first National Youth Sports Report Card released through the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance (CTSA).

The CTSA is a national coalition of professional and amateur sports organizations that includes the NCAA. The report card focused on five areas: child-centered philosophy, coaching, health and safety, officiating, and parental behavior/involvement.

The panel awarded "Ds" in the categories of parental behavior/involvement and child-centered philosophy. In addition, a "C-" was issued in the area of coaching, and a "C+" was awarded in health and safety. The highest grade, a "B-," was issued in the category of officiating.

Released this month by Dan Gould, the director of the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports at Michigan State University, the grades were assigned by a national expert panel composed of youth sports leaders, authors, sociologists, sports psychologists, coaches and parents charged with evaluating and cataloging the successes and failures of youth sports in the United States. The panel reviewed only community-based youth sports programs that serve children ages 6 to 14 and relied on their own experiences, current research and academic literature.

For more information, go to www.sportsmanship.org.

-- Compiled by Leilana McKindra