Can you make an ALL-STAR ?

 

Can you make an ALL-STAR player?
 

The answer is No, but as a coach, you must start recognising a few key things to help young athletes reach their goals.

As of right now, kids are walking away from sports because of injuries due to overuse. Every year, more than 3.5 million children under the age of 14 need treatment for sports injuries, with nearly half of all sports injuries for middle and high school students caused by overuse.

Parents believe they need to give their kids an edge, but the irony is they may be hurting their child's athletic future more than helping. It is important to have an idea of your players and all their activities; your practice plans have to have the concept of education over the old school work drills.

The concept of success in sports needs to be redefined. Success doesn't mean that you're always going to be the star on the team; it doesn't mean that you are always going to start. "I had a student who at one time when he was a senior in high school, thought about quitting the hockey team because he was getting less playing time compared to his junior year.

He ended up sticking with the team and decided that his role on the team was going to be 'the backup goalie. 'At the end of the season, at the awards dinner, his coach saluted him as the most valuable player on the team.

Okay, he wasn't the starting goalie. He didn't have great stats, so come on, coach, most valuable player? He didn't need any patronizing.

The coach then went on to say that this player practised the hardest every day, came to every game ready to play knowing he was going to sit on the bench while cheering for his teammates the whole time, never complaining but enjoying the game he was still a part of.

That was the success. We too often "look at only the kind of success that ends with a scholarship or a contract in the pros, but there are other ways to have success."

So, what's a parent to do?

You can't single-handedly change youth sports as we know it, but if each parent started practising good, positive, supportive behaviour, with a focus on the fun of the game and nothing else, that's how you create your All-Star.
 

 

Coach This Way

Robb Tallas from CoachThem