by admin | May 12, 2014 | Uncategorized
Safety Articles from the Educated Sports Parent Preventing Head Injuries in Soccer Safety Info on Other Sites Football Players Need Several Days to Recover from a Concussion Concussions Exact Toll on Football Players Long After They Retire Head Injuries and Brain Damage in Football (Soccer) Brain Injury in...
by admin | May 12, 2014 | Uncategorized
It is probably not hard to identify the “superstars” of any youth team. You all know them – maybe it’s even your child – and you all know what most of their parents are thinking, “My child is the next Michael Jordan (or Mia Hamm, or whoever).” Before you get too far along in this thinking, I hate to be the one to inform you that even though you are positive your child is the best 3-yr. old free throw shooter this side of the Mississippi – so what if he’s got all the trophies to back it up – it means very little about what his chances are of making it into the NBA. In reality, all early superstardom usually means is that your child has matured faster than his friends. Look at the real Michael Jordan. Was he considered the best player on his team when he was 5? Probably not. He couldn’t even make his high school basketball team! Performance success is due to a variety of characteristics including abilities, attitudes, body type, cultural background, emotional makeup, fitness level, learning style, maturational level, motivational level, previous social experience, prior movement experience (1) and personality (2). Each of these factors are extremely important, with ability being one of the most important, but because there is such a wide variety of factors influencing performance, it is virtually impossible to make an early prediction about a child’s future success in sports. That’s not to say that the early superstars don’t ever go on to be successful athletes at a later stage, such as high school. It just doesn’t happen...
by admin | May 12, 2014 | Uncategorized
Popular culture seems to be pushing the notion that in order to succeed at sports, kids need to be put into sports before they are even out of diapers, and then as soon as they get out of diapers they have to know what sport they want to commit themselves to for the rest of their lives so that they can practice enough to make sure they get some sort of athletic scholarship and do well enough to reach the professional ranks. I would like to remind you that 98% or less of athletes will never be elite athletes (1, 2) and be the first one to tell you that popular culture has got it wrong. There is a time and a place for sports specialization, but it has no place in childhood. I would like present information for you to help you figure out just when, and if, your child should specialize in a single sport. First of all, you should know that the position of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) (3) on specialization is the following, “Children involved in sports should be encouraged to participate in a variety of different activities and develop a wide range of skills” (p. 154). They also found that, “Those who participate in a variety of sports and specialize only after reaching the age of puberty tend to be more consistent performers, have fewer injuries, and adhere to sports play longer than those who specialize early” (p. 156). There are a number of very good reasons to explain why the AAP recommends children participate in a variety of sports as opposed...
by admin | May 12, 2014 | Uncategorized
The answer to this question is more complex than you might think. Readiness for sports does not come with a certain birthday. And just because a program offers sports teams for 4 and 5 yr-olds does not mean that you should feel compelled to sign your child up for the team. Nor should it compel you to think that this is the best possible thing for them. Readiness is also not determined by when the neighbors sign their kids up for sports. To determine when your child is ready for sports you need to know a little bit about physical and psychological development. In this section we will discuss some of the myths involved in early childhood youth sports participation. We will also present a guide to help you determine when your child is ready. The Early Start Youth sports seem like a rather benign, cultural rite of passage for children all over the country. Many parents feel that putting their child in sports early is the best thing for them, but did you know that pushing an early start could actually be the worst thing in some cases, causing undesired emotional consequences (1)? Some parents view youth sports as the arena where their child will be turned into a superstar, and they are under the impression that giving their child an early start will ensure success in athletics. However, physical education expert and professor Robert Pangrazi (2) says, “There is no evidence to support the idea that starting a child at a young age assures the child will become an outstanding athlete” (p. 30). He also says, “In...
by admin | May 12, 2014 | Uncategorized
Childhood is a unique time. Children are growing and learning at a fast pace. Children are different than adults, and the structure of the youth sports environment should reflect this. These articles from The Educated Sports Parent relate to how to accommodate the uniqueness of children in youth sports. Is My Child Ready for Sports? Should My Child Specialize? Is My Child the Next Michael Jordan? ...
