Play is a critical part of a child’s healthy development, and well-planned sports and team sport programs are a chance for children to learn valuable life lessons, including teamwork, discipline, leadership, conflict resolution, respect, integrity, self-confidence, and effective communication — all while having fun. Coaching Youth Track & Field stresses the fun, safety, and effective instruction, helping you create an environment which promotes learning, encourages a love of the sport, and motivates your athletes to come out year after year.
burnout
Burnout—Is It Inevitable at Some Point?
StandardEditor’s Note: How many people at some point in their life find themselves just “going through the motions”? The treatment of conditions such as depression and anxiety disorder are prevalent facts of life in American society. The author, a graduate student at the United States Sports Academy, makes some excellent points about things that all of us need to watch for in our own lives.
The Dilemma of the Young Athlete: “Bigger, Stronger, Faster” May Mean “Beaten, Sick, and Fractured”
StandardIn the pursuit of excellence within the sport performance arena, there are coaches and parents who push young athletes with a desire for them to become “bigger, stronger, faster”. Our young athletes are training harder than ever before and their bodies are paying the price. Because of this aggressive pursuit of excellence in sport performance at a younger age; our young athletes are being beaten to exhaustion, over-trained to sickness, and fractured into pieces. Dr. Letha Y. Griffin, an Atlanta-based team orthopedist at Georgia State University, and a staff physician for Peachtree Orthopaedic Clinic, suggests that “We are dealing with dedicated young athletes who are being coached to constantly improve their performance levels by coaches and parents. This can cause the athlete to sometimes overdo it.”