What is an Elite Youth Athlete?
September 24, 2008
What is an Elite Youth Athlete?
The best definition I could find was the following :
According to Dr.Eric Smalls a sports pediatrician and author of “Kids and Sports” states that “a child athlete between the ages of 7-17 that demonstrates above average performance and reaches a regional,national or international meet.These youths athletes train year round, and because of this training they need a sports physician,coach,Sports Psychologist, a personal trainer,and a physical therapist. He goes on to say that an “elite athlete has special issues to consider,such as injury prevention,rest recovery” to name a few.
That’s a lot to take in…..A whole lot. For the track athlete that is an elite athlete and under high school age, I personally believe it is very important to NOT specialize but incorporate many types of activites and other sports during the off season. Generally this is called “Cross Training” When I was a child this was simply called having fun, doing lots of stuff. Cross training never replaces the training of the sport but an enhancer that helps with coordination,muscle building,strength and agility.
I view it as a foundation for better performance. Cross training allows the athlete to take some much needed time away from the sport and focus (although it may not as intense in many instances) on other activites and sports play.
Pros Of Being a Elite Athlete
I am of the opinion that the athlete that rises to this level has a gift. A gift from God, and that should be nurtured in such a away that develops it to the fullest. Whatever the parent feels that should be . A yearly assessment of the youth athletes desire and overall interest is an important piece of the nurturing process of the athlete.
There are many aspects that are postive in the life of the elite youth athlete.These include but not limited to positive self esteem ,experiencing time mangagment real time,attaining a good body image and healthy lifestyle habits.
The Cons
I chose to look at these as Challenges and not cons. Learning how to handle expectations of the many people around you that recognize your gift. Balancing extended family time, and loss of time with loved ones due to many weekends in the season competing, unexpected recognition in locations not related to where competion takes place. Potential injuries,and physical fatique when stamina is needed most.
The Parent Of An Elite Athlete
There are probably hundreds of important life tips parent of elite athletes can share. Here are 10 to get the dialog started.
1) Teach humilty and gratefullness for ever experience win or not ( you can practice this too!)
2) Keep the lines of communication open about all things including track experiences
3) Always be honest in a positive way with assesment of their performances ,this way they won’t assume you always say postitve even when you may not have positive things to say about hte performance .
4) Create normal childhood experiences when at all possible (which should be a lot)
5) Have some family time that doesn’t have to do with track & field
6) Listen closely to your childs physical complaints learn to decifer real from imagined or over blown
7) Schedule a break in training at proper times during the season (Lauren always runs faster after a short break in the action)
Learn about the sport so you can feel more apart of the on going process and understand the basics of competition
9)Make sure your athlete Is having fun
10) Have some fun too…the journey is long with lots of twists and turns
Until Next Time
Related posts:
- What Is The Financial Cost Of An Elite Athlete
- At What Cost ?….The Elite Athlete
- Patrice Jones of Illinois Elite Says “This Is My NOW!”
- Is There Such A Thing As A Youth Elite Athlete ?
- Training of Elite Youth Athletes….. What Age Would You Start?
[...] TrackMom gives us a great description of What is an Elite Youth Athlete. [...]
There is no such thing as an elite youth athlete. There is a such thing as a child that shows an ability. However, that child is still a child.
Creating normal childhood experiences should BE the norm, not something we find time for. Yes, I know that when child shows athletic talent and promise, it almost feels like we HAVE to accelerate them as far as they are physically capable of going. The same thing happens with academically talented kids, although on less of a scale.
What are the long term costs of a child associating their self concept with how fast they run?
The fact is, it would have been perfectly ok 30 years ago for a child to be the fastest in their neighborhood, then their school, and then move on to national competition at a later age. But now, as early as a child shows promise, we start packing them off to every competition available and specializing them in one sport at the age of 8. Kids are having to sign contracts for some sports, and may see their opportunities to even play a sport competitively dwindle unless they commit year round. Kids are not little professionals, no matter how impressive that concept may seem.
Most pediatricians, child development specialists, and youth fitness specialists recommend against this early specialization. The long term effects are both psychological and physical.
Sports training issues for the pediatric athlete .
Pediatric Clinics of North America , Volume 49 , Issue 4 , Pages 793 - 802
Expectations of pediatric sport participation among pediatricians, patients, and parents .
Pediatric Clinics of North America , Volume 49 , Issue 3 , Pages 497 - 504
Parents, make sure this is not what you are doing. What does it mean to develop something to the fullest? Does that mean take advantage of every opportunity to practice, and developo it as soon as possible? The research overwhelmingly shows “no”. The best approach is to let your child’s ability to develop along with the rest of their life, not to make them into some sort of prodigy.
Kids should play sports for fun. If they are good at sports, they will continue to be good at sports. How good? Time will tell, not you.
This movement toward developing young athletes as quickly as possible and making their whole lives revolve around this one thing: This almost always at its deepest core has money (for someone, not necessarily the child or the parent) or prestige (feeding the ego) as the root. Otherwise, what’s the point?
Great comment!
Thanks for visiting TrackMom.com.I couldn’t agree more that youth of a certain age shouldn’t sports specialize and there are plenty of experts that agree.The problem is that parents don’t.
I don’t believe participation in any sport as a youth athlete is a bad thing,not listening to your child’s wishes and desires is.
I may be nieve but, I believe the point for most parents is fun and introducing their child to a life long love for sports..even if it doesn’t always work out that way.
Lorraine
[...] ,insightful perspetive on the “Elite Youth Athlete” in response to the post What is an Elite Youth Athlete? Dr. Brown will be contributing from time to time and I look forward to his [...]
[...] training? Is it really necessary? For more on the topic of Elite Youth athletes see What is an Elite Athlete , Is There Such A Thing As An Elite Youth Athlete ? and What is the Financial Cost Of An Elite [...]
Well I do beg to differ with the Doc on this one. Especially with the current status of youth health and inactivity; more and more we are seeing a staggering numbers of under achievers in the area of athletics and even in basic physical fitness activities in the schools. So for those kids that do raise the bar and achieve to the National level, they are Elite. They certainly meet with the definition of Elite. They are truly leaders in their own right. You may consider it ability and that is okay, we all have an opinion….
[...] What is an Elite Youth Athlete? [...]