Intervention and Innovation-The Plan After the Realization

Being that I have worked my entire adult career only within the confinement of the athletic sports realm, it has brought me to light with not all, but much of what is out in today’s sports world. I have coached my own two boys in their little leagues, flag football and soccer teams. I am now an avid wrestling parent making the three day a week practices along with the weekend tournaments.

Along with the youth programs I have spent over a decade coaching in a diversified amount of high schools throughout Texas and I have had my fair share of various college strength programs that I have been a part of. Sports and everything around it has consumed my life as well as my families when it comes to what we read, how we eat, sleep and how we play within my home.

This has molded much of how I live my day-to-day activities. With that said, I begin to notice things that probably most other people do not take note of. More specifically a recent conversation with one of my coaches from high school opened my eyes to what is really happening.

In summation, the conversation we had consisted of us talking about how the current high school program was doing and how low the numbers of participants in this athletic program were. The program went from having over 80 to 100 freshman from when I was in school to having numbers in the teens and low twenties. You could say that the kids are going to other programs because they are winning more than the others or because the other schools are a bit on the new side. I however find that hard to believe when you live in such a highly populated city. To me this participation dwells deeper than that. Let’s take a glimpse out how the impact within the household could be a, if not THE, factor.

Within the United States, close to 45 million youths between the ages of 6 and 18 participate in some form of organized sports (Bean et al., 2014). While recent reviews have shown the positive effects of youth sport participation on youth health, there are also several negative factors surrounding the youth sport environment. To date, a comprehensive review of the negative physical and psychological effects of organized sport on youth has not been done and little thus far has documented the effect organized sport has on other players within a family, particularly on parents and siblings.

Family has a major influence on the initiation of the child entering the sports world. In addition, the coaches that the athlete crosses paths with, friends, and teachers all play a role in influencing them to continue pursuing sports. In my opinion, the coaches and parents have the most influence over the athlete being that they see the athletes more often than others do. Because this holds true, this is group of people that should gain knowledge in the most effective way to progress the athlete.

Proposed Intervention

To begin, overall physical and safety recommendations for youth athletes should be established and set. Educating parents and all who are involved with the sport on these issues is an essential piece in bridging the gap between the facts and the myths. As Merkel (2013) stated, “changing the future of youth sports for the better needs to be a collaborative effort between parents, coaches, teachers, health professionals, community leaders, and politicians.” As parents play a critical role in the sport socialization process of their children, they take on an imperative role in this process.

Before parents enroll their children in sport, it is vital that they become informed of both the benefits and dangers associated with various developmental pathways of sport participation. For example, it has been recommended that educational opportunities are created for athletes, parents, and coaches to provide information about youth safety related to specialization and overtraining, but also regarding proper nutrition and fluids, including the dangers of extreme dieting and sleep patterns. Delivering the entire package on the essential topics of what makes up an athlete and athletics will be ground breaking in the future of our youth athletic development.

As parents are becoming increasingly busy and taking on many roles within their lives, it would be worthy to look at the parents as one of the pieces in redirecting today’s youth athlete. In many circumstances, the parent fulfills the role of the actual parent, work professional, and youth sport coach, which is important to not only understand the effects this would have on family dynamics, but also to shed light on the well-being of the adult involved in these multiple roles. More specifically, understanding elements of stress and burnout, life-balance, and well-being of parents involved in youth sport would prove to be fruitful, as well as understanding the stress youth sport places on the marital-dyad.

In addition, it would be critical to delve into the role of the single parent. For single parents, trying to keep up with active children can become overwhelming. Merely trying to organize time for school, practice, games, and homework is all a job of its own. Taking time to gain education on the sports and the effects it takes on our kids may not be at the top of the priority list. As coaches, administrators, and youth organizations, we must take the initiative to gather the essential information necessary for parents to receive. Getting this type of knowledge to parents can be game changing in their overall approach towards sports development with their children.

Summary

An essential topic in sports specialization with young athletes is how it can affect their playing careers. Because of single-sport specialization, many athletes never are exposed to the different opportunities of athletic growth that they would encounter through various sports. It is evident that there are concerns that need more studying. These would include worrisome physical and psychological effects on the youth athlete, the straining financial and practical investments that parents undertake with having children in organized sport, often leading to issues surrounding parental mental health, and psychosocial effects on siblings such as feelings of resentment and jealousy towards their brother or sister.

Before parents enroll their child in sport, it is vital that they become informed of not only the benefits, but also the dangers associated with sport participation. With much literature indicating an overall increase in stress in youth and adults, this review raises concerns surrounding the issue of organized youth sport. It will also cover whether involvement helps youth and families flourish, or simply cause stress to the family unit. Further, a framework proposal is presented that could potentially fuel future research and direct interventions to optimize the youth sport experience.

Action Plan

Plan

Ensuring that all youth progress safely, age appropriately, and overall systematically. Brainstorming with educated coaches, administrators, and youth sport groups to produce a systematic program that allows for optimal sports progression that educates everyone involved is an approach that will slowly, but surely, allow for a sports makeover. Getting efficient data and recommendations to athletes, parents, and coaches will allow for an outline to be erected. From this data and professional recommendations, a progression system can be produced that will ensure the basic guidelines.

Act

Once a proper system with guidelines and requirements is established, it is to be presented to the state educational committees, NCAA, and professional sport organizations for input and alterations. Food and nutrition, resistance and strength training, sleep requirements, regeneration periods, school and sport time management, and age appropriate progressions will all be viewed and studied. By involving all of these branches, we are ensuring that the best plan of action is developed from a holistic point of view and that the plan follows athletes not only from youth ages, but also up until specialization should occur like in college and professional sports.

Once approved, a presentable system will be established so that all organizations, public and private, will have access to this system and its educational data. This system should be adopted across the United States just like the requirements for grade school or college. Adoption from state organizations like University Interscholastic League (UIL), Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS), and other similar sport organizations of the states would be the key in enforcing the system. By them doing so, they will create a statewide rule for state programs, private programs, and local sports leagues.

Evaluate

Once adopted, the charter year will be the starting point for data collection. Coaches will be required to evaluate and test kids physically, emotionally, and psychologically. These tests will measure physical progression, fatigue mentally and physically, and overall enjoyment of the sport(s) played. Tests will be physical in nature and given through surveys. The data collected will travel with the year that child begins sports from the age of 6 up until their senior year in high school. That cohort year will be considered one group and so on. This will allow data to be measured by graduating class and see the different changes that occur throughout the testing.

Conclusion

To conclude here is what some of the excerpts have concluded already about how early specialization may negatively affect your child. Children who specialize in a single sport account for 50% of overuse injuries in young athletes according to pediatric orthopedic specialists. Those who commit to one sport at a young age are often the first to quit and suffer a lifetime of consequences.

In a study of 1200 youth athletes, Dr. Neeru Jayanthi of Loyola University found that early specialization in a single sport is one of the strongest predictors of injury. Athletes in the study who specialized were 70% to 93% more likely to be injured than children who played multiple sports. Children who specialize early are at a far greater risk for burnout due to stress, decreased motivation and lack of enjoyment. Early sport specialization in female adolescents is associated with increased risk of anterior knee pain disorders including PFP, Osgood Schlatter and Sinding Larsen-Johansson compared to multi-sport athletes, and may lead to higher rates of future ACL tears (De Lench, 2015).

Providing our youth the best opportunities to enjoy sports is what will allow us as a nation to grow healthy children. By allowing them to take in everything that sports has to offer, instead of forcing perfection in one specific thing, will allow the natural competition and active lifestyle to grow within them. Bogging down today’s young athlete with the expectation that they must master a sport in order to pursue recognition that may lead to a scholarship or professional contract is pressure that many adults may not even be able to bear. By providing a structured system that strategically involves a periodization scheme, the athletes of tomorrow will flourish with wonderful memories of sports, and so will the parents.

References

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De Lench, B. (2015) Early Sports Specialization: Does It Lead To Long-Term Problems?. Retrieved from http://www.momsteam.com/successful-parenting/early-sport-specialization-does-it-lead-long-term-problems

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