PositiveSports.net

Young Girls' Social Risk Factors Link To Obesity

Girls exposed to a number of social risk factors in early childhood are significantly more likely to be obese by age 5, but young boys aren't prone to the same effects, according to a new study published online today in the journal Pediatrics.

Based on the data, girls who experienced more than one social risk factor at 1 or 3 years old were "at significantly increased odds of being obese" by the time they were 5. Girls exposed to more than two of the six social risk factors had even higher odds of being obese by age 5. However, "no significant associations were noted among boys."

Read the full Education Week article here.

 

Female Athlete Triad Educational Pamphlet

The Female Athlete Triad Coalition is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing the Female Athlete Triad, which is syndrom in active females involving three interrelated conditions of low energy and disordered eating, bone loss and menstrual disturbances. 

The FATC provides an educational pamphlet on the issue that can be helpful for coaches and parents who can help prevent the triad in their athletes by becoming knowledgeable on the topic.

Click here to access the online pamphlet.

Check out the full Female Athlete Triad Coalition's website here.

Research suggests one-sport athletes suffer more injuries

Researchers at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine found in 2011 that single-sport athletes were almost twice as likely to injure themselves as multi-sport athletes.

A growing number of young athletes are focusing on playing a single sport, putting themselves at greater risk of serious injuries, physicians said.

The movement toward specialization may produce more successful athletes, but it also results in more injuries. More than 3.5 million children 14 and younger were treated for sports injuries in 2010, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. In contrast, 1.9 million were treated in 2002, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Read the full Iowa Gazette article here.

 

High School Coaching Surveys Cause a Stir

Should coaches be evaluated through the use of anonymous surveys?  This article from the MarpleNewtown Patch in Pennsylvania takes a look at this controversial issue. 

"It’s been a point of contention and serious dialogue in Havertown since the unforeseen firing of Haverford High School’s long-time basketball coach Terry McNichol two weeks ago. It seems to have caught on like wildfire throughout locker rooms and playing fields this spring from athletes, teachers, school administrators and parents throughout the area. The point of alarm is anonymous coach surveys..."

Read the full article here...

 

How Parents Can Help Student Athletes Grow as Leaders

Dr. Chris Stankovich, known as “The Sports Doc” for his segment on Ohio News Network and featured column in Columbus Parent magazine, is a national expert in the field of sport psychology.  In this article on the 'hleadership' website, Dr. Stankovic recommends that parents can help their student athletes grow as leaders in sports and in the community by emphasizing that being a student athlete is a privilege with responsibilities for integrity, responsibility, positive attitude, and intelligent decision making. 

Read 'Student Athletes as Leaders in Our Schools and Communities' at the hleadership website...

 

 

Parental Expectations of Coaches: Closing the Communications Gap

By Steve Horan

 

Ask a group of coaches to identify their coaching challenges, and parent relations will probably show up on the list.  Ask a group of parents to identify their concerns about their kids in sports, and the issue of coaching is just as likely to be listed.  Parent / coach relationships are important because they can have a powerful impact on the positive development and performance of individual athletes and teams. Individuals and teams are much more likely to thrive when there is a positive culture of parent / coach relations.

One way to strengthen parent / coach relations is to seek understanding of what parents expect from coaches.  Candace Barton and Craig Schwartz of Montana State University conducted a combination literature review and parent survey to identify key expectations of parents for coaches.  They found the three things parents value most include:

• fairness and honesty in dealing with athletes
• commitment to the development of sportsmanship, and
• ability to teach well.

The researchers also found the three things parents value least include:

• commitment to winning
• improving a player’s chances to play at a higher level, and
• experience as a player.

Parents also shared important insights about how they evaluate the quality of communication and teaching by coaches. 

The study results provided important information for parents and coaches who aim to create the best possible environment for positive development of young athletes.  As a practical measure, it is a good idea for coaches to work hard at proactively communicating with parents about their coaching philosophy, views on sportsmanship, teaching methods, competitive goals, thoughts on athlete development, etc.  This will allow parents to make informed judgments about whether the program is right for their child. 

Coaches are also encouraged to invite parents to bring any significant concerns about their child's development to the attention of the coach.  This creates a culture of trust in which most issues can be effectively addressed with a good faith commitment to the good of the athlete from both parent and coach.

 Read a full summary of the study here... 

 

(Book Review) Play Their Hearts Out: A Coach, His Star Recruit, and the Youth Basketball Machine

This well-written but disturbing book crystallizes what can go wrong when young athletes are placed in the wrong adults' hands. 

From Publisher's Weekly at Amazon.com: (George) Dohrmann, a Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter for Sports Illustrated, spent eight years chronicling the struggles and triumphs of a select group of California youths who chased their dream in his wonderful and immaculately reported first book. Dohrmann largely focuses his work on Demetrius Walker, the hoops phenom who seems destined for stardom at a young age, his travel team from California, and the club's complex and bombastic coach, Joe Keller. Dohrmann began reporting on the book back in 2000, when Walker and many of his teammates were only 10 years old, and followed them through to their high school graduation. Along the way, he shows the brutal nature of "grassroots" basketball, in which coaches can view their players as "investments," the power of sneaker companies in youth basketball, and the cutthroat antics of collegiate recruiting. But this is equally a story about relationships and the sad deterioration of many of them, whether it be among teammates, parents and son, or coach and player. It's a brilliant and heart-wrenching journey, and a cautionary tale to any basketball player who thinks the path to the NBA is a slam dunk.

Learn more at Amazon.com.

 

A Quick Mental Script for Building Resilience

By Steve Horan, PositiveSports.net

Resilience is the ability to bounce back from a setback - ideally, even stronger than before.  Needless to say, resilience is a critical life skill in athletics and beyond. 

Some athletes struggle with resilience not because they are weak or uncommitted, but because they take their performance very seriously,  When they fall short, they feel badly, and this affects their future performance. We can help our athletes strengthen their resilience by teaching them a four-step mental script for putting mistakes in perspective and moving forward. 

• This is not catastrophic. If your athlete is feeling a serious loss of confidence or a sense of guilt about their performance, teach him that it is only a game, perfection is not an option, and no performance error is ever catastrophic in the overall context of life. 
• This is not pervasive.  If your athlete is feeling that 'all I do is make mistakes,' teach her that her mistakes are not as pervasive as she thinks, and back that up with a list of valuable contributions she brings to the team.
• This is not permanent.  If your athlete feels that his mistakes have put him in a permanent state of low performance, teach him him that mistakes and slumps are part of the game and they are not permanent.  Also assure him of your confidence and desire to see him bounce back.
• This is not defining.  If your athlete feels that her mistakes or low performance define her as a person, reassure her that she is valued as a person regardless of her athletic performance, and teach her that no athlete should ever define her personal worth in terms of her athletic performance.

Most importantly, teach your athletes to use this four-step script whenever they feel a loss of confidence or a sense of guilt over performance errors.  To make it easier, teach them the phrase 'this is not CPPD'  (catastrophic, pervasive, permanent, or defining) whenever they are struggling with performance. This mental script, backed with your affirmation and role modeling, will help them bounce back quicker and stronger, and become more resilient athletes and people.

 

  

 

Bobby Orr leading the charge for positive sports

Hockey great Bobby Orr has teamed with Chevrolet to deliver Fun & Safe Hockey, a program designed to teach young hockey players positive values.  Orr lends more than his name to the effort - he visits local programs and challenges coaches and parents to teach positive values through hockey.  Although this program is focused on the game Orr revolutionized, he emphasizes that the same approach can be used in any sport.

Read the full story here...

 

Sportsmanship Matters: Annual Survey Reveals Sportsmanship is on the Rise

For five years, Americans have been polled to uncover their views on sportsmanship. For four consecutive years, 85 percent or more said the state of sportsmanship is worse now than when they were growing up, according to the national survey fielded by TNS Worldwide Research. In 2010, however, sportsmanship sentiments shifted, from 85 percent all the way down to 65 percent, feeling sportsmanship is worse now versus a generation ago. Coupled with other highly regarded sportsmanship viewpoints-- more than 85 percent of us feeling one player that displays good sportsmanship makes the entire team stronger—the sportsmanship barometer is changing.

Read the full article from PR Web