Youth Sports - Problems & Solutions
Problems
Training at the beginning level focuses on winning rather than the process of learning how to train and appreciating the joy of participating and learning to test limits.
Young developmental athletes over compete and under train. The ideal training to competition ration is 4 or 5 training sessions to every competition. Realistically it should be no less than three training sessions to every one competition.
Fundamental motor skills are under emphasized or never emphasized. The lack of a foundation of fundamental movement skills will ultimately limit sport skill.
Damage done at early developmental ages cannot be corrected. Therefore it is imperative to get it right the first time.
Possible Solutions
Give the games back to the kids – Minimize adult and parental involvement. Set up situations where free is encouraged and the kids organize their own games.
Put play back into play – Every kid will not win a scholarship or a pro contract. For every Freddy Adu and Le Bron James there are thousands who have not made it.
Reinstitute mandatory Physical Education in the schools. This will solve many problems and create some other, but it would be a start.
posted by Vern Gambetta @ 5/24/2006 11:39:00 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
The real question is how do we try and change a whole culture. The highschool and club sports in our area are unreal. We have kids that are deciding to do sport training on certain days because they only have one sport that day. Or they have a club game, school practice and want to do sports training. You see it everywhere, but how do you convince a coach, school district, club team that they need to play their sport less and play/train more.
The guys in Spokane.
"Give the games back to the kids"
My girlfriend works with children with disabilities, ages 0-3. She often asks parents when they're controlling a kid's activity (say, a walk for example), "Is the walk for you or for the child?"
Another example: People take their dog for a walk yet tug and pull the animal the entire time. Since the owner doesn't poop in the grass, we might assume the walk is for the dog yet dominated by the owner.
Along these lines, are these sports for the kids or to satisfy the coaches' and parents' needs?
Brian
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