Principles for Middle School Athletic Development

The best-kept secret in athletics (we are working year after year to change this!) is that the most important program in a school district is actually not at the high school.

Sure the ticket sales hit their highs on Friday nights at the varsity football game, stands are packed for a Tuesday night volleyball big district match and it can be easy to think that the magic happens there, of course, a part of it does. But what many don’t see is that those athletes who are shining on the big stage were once 6th, 7th, and 8th graders playing multiple sports and hopefully developing athletically and also as young people.

Investing in laying the foundation at the middle school level will pay massive dividends not only for the athletic development side of children but also for the future of their work ethic, attitude, and resiliency.

Let’s take a look briefly at first, how to ensure we are keeping young athletes engaged and in sports as well as secondly, some strategies to employ when practically putting athletic development into action.

According to a report released by the American Academy of Pediatrics, about 70% of kids drop out of organized sports by the age 13. I have my guesses as to why this is but the fact remains that most of the athletes in our middle schools don’t even make it to the high school level and never realize their full athletic potential.

Research has shown that team sports involvement can have a massive impact in improving the mental health of teens along with shaping their very character. There are so many benefits in being a part of something bigger than yourself, being accountable to your role and what the team needs from you, and then belonging to something that is pursuing a collective interest.

So here is the issue: we know kids benefit from being a part of athletics but we also know we are losing 70% of them by the time they become teenagers.

Here are 3 ways we can try to change that!

MAKE IT FUN

We have a window of opportunity when kids are young to help them buy into the benefits of athletics and team sports and we have to take advantage of it while the concrete is still wet, so to speak. The priority at this age is to create a fun environment so they keep coming back for more.

Remember we are not trying to only be great athletes but lifelong learners, lifelong exercisers, and lifelong, joyful people! Turn the music up, let them chant, let them yell, let them jump around, do it with them, and make their first experience with hard work, teamwork, and structure one that they will never forget in a positive way!

MAKE IT COMPETITIVE

Speaking of fun, the universal language of fun is winning. We can help so many kids get excited about athletics early by letting them get a taste of competing. Let them race, create tournaments, and find ways to compete every single day! They can always win when they compete with themselves so incorporate max effort sets of low-impact body weight sets such as push-ups and inverted rows to allow them to chase the personal best every day.

RECOGNIZE THEM

One of the best ways to create engagement is to be intentional about recognition. Young people who are seen, affirmed, and recognized for things in their control (their attitude and effort) that level the talent playing field are much less likely to go look for those things elsewhere.

Athletics are finite, they will come to an end and every young child will be a teammate and a person way longer than they will be an athlete so we must invest in those aspects just as much.

We know the importance of sports in middle school as it pertains to the mental health and character developmental perspective, now let’s move to the principles to consider when putting together a plan for these athletes.

Make sure these 3 things are prevalent in your middle school programs!

LAY THE FOUNDATION

When building a house, the step that takes the longest time, requires the most scrutinous level of detail, and is the most important to get right is pouring the foundation. If the foundation is solid the house can last. Developing an athlete is no different.

Invest in these 8 movement patterns in the weight room and field and implement them all week, every week, all year!

• Squat
• Hinge
• Push
• Pull
• Lunge
• Sprint
• Stop
• Jump

To learn more about how to implement these movements click below! https://medium.com/performance-course/move-better-live-better-f32617b95342.

TECHNIQUE BEFORE RESISTANCE

In a tale as old as time, most middle schoolers are going to walk into the weight room and try to lift all the weight. Every lift is an ego lift and it matters to them greatly! We have to educate and allow them to understand the danger of loading the weight without first properly learning how to move it.

Just like that house we mentioned earlier, if the foundation is weak, cracked or damaged it is only a matter of time before the whole structure crumbles. The same is true for young kids trying to move heavy weights with poor technique, even if they accomplish the lift that is almost the worst-case scenario because it sends the message that they were successful but after a while, due to a poor foundation, they are going to break.

Applying this principle will take time and salesmanship. We need to explain that as much as they want to put weight on the bar, learning how to move it properly first, although seemingly boring, will take the cap off their ceiling to move weight heavy and safely.

If we want a behavior to repeat, we must affirm it. Celebrate the improvements in movement quality and go crazy when they get it right! This will elevate the importance and allow for greater engagement toward the goal of accomplishing elite and healthy movers.

CROCK POT > MICROWAVE

Everyone, not just middle school athletes, wants to see their goals accomplished and the results of hard work show instantly. The reality of life is that good things take time. Athletic development is no different.

Squatting, hinging, lunging, pushing, and pulling over and over again can get monotonous and flat-out boring so there can be plenty of temptation to try to overcomplicate seemingly elementary movements for the sake of “new and exciting”.

Remember we are not in a rush! That is the beauty of starting early, there is plenty of time to develop. Just imagine putting chicken in a microwave on high for 2 minutes. That is the equivalent of trying to rush young athletes to develop at a faster pace than necessary. The result is similar; a cheap and dangerous version of the real thing! Take your time, buy into the process and they will find along the way that such is life!

I love working with our middle school groups. There is no better feeling than seeing them gain confidence and fall in love with the process of being great. I find that the same steps and characteristics required to be successful in athletics are the same things that are required to be successful in our careers, in a family, in marriage, and as a parent.

There is such gold to be mined for when developing our middle school athletes both from the mental health and character development side and athletically speaking as well. Get them in sports, keep them in sports, and develop them along the way!