~From a former athlete who now coaches and mentors youth athletes
I will preface this with saying I do not myself have kids. However, as a former athlete who felt his sole purpose growing up was to be the best athlete in the world, and now a strength coach who works with youth and D1 college athletes who are also burdened with that same feeling, I feel that I have accumulated a good amount of knowledge and insight into the minds of these athletes and things they may go through. Yes, times have changed since that was me, however I see so much of myself in a lot of these young athletes and I believe that is a big reason why I am able to connect with them. I receive parental questions quite often about whether their kids are doing enough, doing too much, or are somewhere in between, and I find that my responses are often similar. You can take this information with a grain of salt, or if you realize you or your child relate to anything and you do take something valuable from it, reach out to me and let’s discuss it more.
Below I have listed a table of factors that your child athlete may or may not (but probably will) experience at any given time during their youth athletic years and maturation. I am in no way telling you how you should be parenting your kids; this is simply information I feel can be helpful in navigating this time in your athlete’s life.
INFLUENCES:
SLEEP
AFFECTS
Most young athletes that I have worked with, especially females, do NOT get enough sleep every night. It may be because they were up late doom scrolling Instagram, or were studying til midnight because it was the first chance they had after school and school and travel practices. Oh, and don’t forget the time needed for socializing with family/friends and other commitments that take up time in a day.
RESOLUTION
You need to plan and create a routine that provides them positive results. That’s positive results both in their school and sports performance, and in their physical and mental health. Through trial and error, it is vital to figure out a system that works for them. That means finding that ideal time they need to go to bed every night to get 7-9 hours, and being consistent with it, in order to perform at their best the following day. As most of us adults know, no one can perform well on a poor night’s sleep, especially when you have a full day ahead of school work and sports.
NUTRITION
AFFECTS
The majority of healthy youth athletes can get away with eating a 70/30 diet; that’s 70% whole foods and 30% crap. Most have a high enough metabolism that snacking and eating Chipotle here and there isn’t going to be harmful to their health or their performance. There is always room to do better however. And it comes in the form of eating MORE meals, and better meal TIMING. If I had a nickel for every time a female athlete has told me at 3 o’clock in the afternoon they’ve only had a handful of strawberries and bagel to eat that day.
RESOLUTION
There needs to be more effort put into eating whole foods more often throughout the day (obviously they can only eat so often during the school day). Proteins (chicken, turkey, beef, fish) for recovery, carbohydrates (rices, potatoes, fruit/vegetables) and healthy fats (olive/coconut/macadamia oils, avocado, peanut/almond butter) for fuel. Wake up with enough time to eat a balanced breakfast (fuel for the morning), pack a balanced lunch (fuel for the afternoon), and eat a balanced dinner with some high protein snacks in between. Simple healthier snack options include products like Chomps beef sticks, fruits and veggies, nuts, and healthy protein shake/bar options.
SOCIAL MEDIA
AFFECTS
Social media. The good, the bad, and the ugly. It can be such a phenomenal tool for educating and uplifting others, but so often we see it used for the opposite- bringing others down, or criticizing strangers. Finding the right accounts to follow can either make or break a mood for the rest of the day. Are we following these accounts to better ourselves and gain motivation? Or are we following them because we are jealous of their “perfect life”, that of which is probably mostly fake and staged. Comparison is the thief of joy.
RESOLUTION
Monitoring (to a degree) what and who your kids are following can be a good way to make sure they aren’t tuning in to the wrong content. A good way to do this could be to once in a while ask, “what’s the cool trend on Tik Tok or Instagram right now?”. Most of us also probably fall into the doom scroll late at night either before we go to bed or once we get into bed. Replacing these behaviors with something healthier like reading a book or even falling asleep to the TV can inherently promote a healthier nights sleep and allow for greater recovery.
SCHOOL WORK
AFFECTS
When will I have time to study for my test? How am I going to get this essay done with games and practices in the next few days? These are probably thoughts your child is having on a weekly basis. How can they find the proper time to prepare for and get their school work done with having so much time committed to school and/or travel sports?
RESOLUTION
Coming back to that idea of finding the balance and daily structure that works for them, determining what time of day (that is available between school and sport) is important for being able to complete their school work with a clear mind. If it is coming at the expense of sleep, it may not be the best structure. Help them schedule these hours into their daily schedules so that they know what time they have for it in advance. This can provide some relief to the mental burden.
SPORT
AFFECTS
Sport is mental just as much as it is physical. The preparation that a committed athlete puts into being their best takes a lot of energy. It will undoubtedly even be draining at times. Especially during those recruiting months. Always wanting to be out on the field even when it is not required of them. And while it may not be what some of you want to hear, some athletes feel they are only in school so that they can play their sport (they’ll later realize this was not the case).
RESOLUTION
While we all want our athletes to be able to do their sport for the long run at a high level, doing too much of one thing at once can have a negative effect on them and can even deter them from wanting to continue playing. This is why it is recommended for young athletes to play a variety of sports and not specialize in one sport, year round, too early on. It is okay to lean one way more than another, however for athletic development, we want to expose our bodies to as much variability as possible. Again, finding the right balance for your athlete between all of their commitments is vital to ensuring they don’t burn out too quick too early. Oh, and having a conversation with them that youth sports aren’t their whole identity. Because if and when they lose that, as I did, it can be earth shattering.
STRENGTH/SPEED TRAINING
AFFECTS
Strength and to an extent, speed training, are important tools for athletes to utilize while still developing as humans. Not only will strength improvements contribute to injury mitigation and performance enhancement, a proper and safe training program (through a qualified AND educated professional-and by educated I don’t necessarily mean a degree, I’m talking someone who stays up to date with current research and protocols) promotes discipline and other behaviors that can be used to living a healthy lifestyle forever.
RESOLUTION
Doing it. Year round. 2-3 times per week for 30-60 minutes. When your athlete is in-season, 30 minute sessions are a useful tool. If they are NOT getting much playing time, then we can continue utilizing one hour sessions, training hard, to continue progressing them further. There is no harm in continuing to train strength and speed capacities during the competitive season, given that they are done at a controlled volume and load for the athlete (coming back to that “educated” professional).
RECOVERY
AFFECTS
All of the above factors contribute to the degree an athlete can recover.
RESOLUTION
If we are not making the best use of our time, eating and hydrating appropriately, following positive influences on social media, or sleeping enough hours each night, our bodies are going to be out of flux and not able to recover as fully as needed to perform at our best. I know I’ve said this a million times now, but the best tool at our disposal as young athletes is to find a schedule that works for US and OUR needs. Not what our friends are doing.
I hope you enjoyed this reading and have been able to pull some useful tools from it to use with your athletes. As always, please feel free to reach out to me regarding your athlete and their needs, and how we can better serve them to help them maximize their time and energy.
-Jared
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