Perspective: Advancing spectator behavior research in youth sports through a closer examination of racial differences.

Inappropriate spectator behaviors are a recognized challenge within both amateur and youth sport settings. These behaviors occur during youth sports contests and involve several sources of interaction, and impact the experience of child athletes, coaches, parents, and referees Spectator misconduct reflects a failure to self-regulate amidst disagreement with the coaching practices, officials, and poor performance from children. Despite widespread recognition of spectator misconduct and an emphasis by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to improve parent behavior, limited empirical research is available to promote understanding of both contributors to these actions, more specifically, what parents are observing from others and the frequency of such behaviors. A path to enhance research in this area is a closer examination of intersectionality, especially race and its influence upon parent observations and their personal behaviors as youth sport spectators. Based on research conducted in Louisiana, this perspective piece reflects on a study that found race as a contributing factor to differences in spectating behaviors of parents. The authors unpack the nuances of these findings through a lens of both Critical Race Theory (CRT) and implicit bias and provide a platform for future study, especially in states such as Louisiana where laws and the role of police have been advanced to mitigate spectator behaviors in youth sport settings.

"I'd Rather Be with Them Than Doing Anything Else": Kobe Bryant's Status as the MVP of Girl's Dads.

Over 40 years ago, Cazenave (1979) provided one of the first scholarly examinations of how middle-income Black fathers defined the provider role. Since that time, scholars have studied the realities of biological and social fathers (Coles et al., 2010; Connor & White, 2006; Hamer, 2001, 1997; McDougal III & George III, 2016; Ransaw, 2017), as well as the relationship between fathering and sport (Fletcher, 2020). This qualitative work examined the words the late Kobe Bryant (January 23, 1978-January 26, 2020) used to describe his role as father to four daughters. To determine the underlying messages behind Bryant's words, I used Phenomenology as the theoretical framework. Qualitative analysis of the words featured in the Insider article, "Kobe Bryant's 10 Most Touching Quotes on Fatherhood and Raising Daughters" By Emily Cavanaugh (February 25, 2020) revealed three themes: (1) Bryant made being a present father a priority; (2) Bryant publicly praised his late daughter Gianna and her sisters; and (3) Bryant saw himself as a role model to children. Most important, Bryant's fame and status in professional basketball along with his narratives regarding being a father to daughters is a strong, enduring counter narrative to the "absent Black father" trope that is common in society. The work also discussed the reasons why in light of the rape scandal Kobe Bryant is a good role model. Implications for how fatherhood will shape the Bryant legacy will be discussed.