Smarts Thoughts On Youth Sports

There is a wealth of sound thoughtful and useful information daily on the web. I so wish I could see it all as soon as it hits.  Here are some of the latest thoughts from some of the best and brightest in Youth Sports.

 

Mark Hyman at Youth Sports Parents

“Getting caught up in making  it to the professional leagues or Olympics is unrealistic. Children and adolescents train year-round on multiple teams of one sport often with the hope of earning a college scholarship in that sport or becoming a professional athlete, but less than 1 percent of high school athletes make it to the professional level”.

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Gary Andrew Poole wrote an article early in the summer “Go out and Play” about youth athletes and how  socio-economics can play a major role in developing champion athletes.

“10 sports immortals, nine came from incredibly humble backgrounds. This lack of self-sufficiency, which exists in many children, will have adverse consequences as they try to figure out life on their own. It will also create a sub-standard athletic nation”

“Go to any upper-class suburb and the rich kids are outfitted with top-notch equipment, receive better nutrition, and play on nicer fields. They don’t have the pressures of the electricity getting shut off. So why don’t they dominate our sporting life? Because they don’t know the pressures of getting the electricity shut off. And they don’t develop the skills through play”.

“Our over-emphasis on traveling teams, private coaching and super-involved parents is hurting our kids and their athletic future, and this over-involvement has become a characteristic of all parents - rich and poor - of this generation”.

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  Tim Warsinskey talks about the  “The fine line of being a student-athlete’s parent” He listed 10 great points in hisarticles here are 2 of the 10.

” Have no expectations, for your child or the coach. If you go into his or her freshman year thinking “This kid is going to be a star,” you have just set the bar too high.

Trophies won from ages 5 to 15 do not mean a thing. What he or she did on the freshman and junior varsity teams is almost as unimportant. So many kids who are young all-stars will fade away. Even among the seemingly “sure bets” as sophomores, some will lose interest, quit, peak early, become ineligible or get kicked off the team.

“Conversely, for the little ones, puberty is like a magic bean. It takes them to unexpected places. I’m 5-7. My wife is 5-foot-nothing. My son grew to be 5-10 and a better athlete than either of us ever were combined. It was an astonishing transformation, and you will be amazed at the kids who weren’t stars at early ages who stick with it and become valuable varsity performers”.

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Diane Rumbaugh’s article “Strong Muscles, Improved Balance: Key to Avoiding Childhood Sports Injuries”  Explains just how important strengthing of the youth athletes core muscles can help prevent injury ,improve balance and coordination for better play in the sport of your youth athletes choice.

“In the mid 1960s, many doctors thought children who participated in strength training would damage their growth plates. “That was proven not to be true,” says Zetterberg. “With the proper supervision, kids can benefit from the kind of exercises that builds strong muscles. Strong muscles do not mean larger muscles,” notes Zetterberg. “People often confuse strength training with body building. They are completely different. Until kids reach puberty they don’t have enough hormones to make sizable gains in muscle mass”.

Until Next Time

Related posts:

1. Can Youth Sports Be Reigned In?
2. Are We Out Of Balance With Youth Sports Pursuit?
3. Look Who’s Talking Youth Sports
4. Sports Parent Highlights
5. Youth Athletes And Injuries, Is Your Youth Athlete Next?