Adolescence

Navigating Talent ID and Selection in Youth Sports

Navigating Talent ID and Selection in Youth Sports

One of the biggest travails of the youth sports journey is dealing with selection. Even the most successful athletes often recall instances of disappointment at not being selected for teams or being benched during their years competing at high school and junior level. Navigating selection and talent identification policies are thus part of youth sports. To help parents and young performers themselves deal with these trials we should try to understand the factors at play and perhaps find some strategies to overcome the challenges involved.

Realising the Full Benefits of Youth Sports

Realising the Full Benefits of Youth Sports

A notable casualty amid the ongoing uncertainty of the pandemic has been organised sport below the elite and professional level. In recent weeks kids have cautiously returned to school, but youth sports and school sport in particular remain off limits for many. Competition schedules for the coming year are still in limbo. There is a question mark over whether there will even be a competitive season for some sports and this uncertainty extends to college sports, which is the end-goal that many high school aspire to. Against this backdrop, the numbers of kids who have returned to participating in training and practices are way down since the lockdown and returning to school. There is an understandable reluctance among parents and the kids themselves to reengage in sport, given the perceived risks. Some authors are already sounding the alarm that the present generation of high school kids may be lost from participating in organised sport.

Developing Grit in Young Performers

Developing Grit in Young Performers

Over recent years talent identification in sport has started to acknowledge and account for the crucial character element in talent development. In particular, the importance of ‘grit’ is increasingly championed. Coaches and parents are accordingly becoming more aware of this concept in relation to youth sports. So what is grit, how does it relate to long-term success in sport and what can we do to create the conditions to help foster grittiness in young performers?

The Opportunity of Early Adolescence with Young Performers

The Opportunity of Early Adolescence with Young Performers

Without doubt a unique opportunity to have a profound impact and see dramatic changes presents itself as young performers enter the adolescent years. The theme for this latest offering is this overlooked but crucial phase in the development of young athletes.

As most who read this will already be well aware, there are fertile windows of development in the childhood years. It is widely recognised that young kids are a sponge for learning and acquiring cognitive and motor skills, including language. What is less known is that there is similarly a distinct window of development that coincides with the transition from childhood to adolescence.

Keeping the Fire Burning

Keeping the Fire Burning

Whilst much of what I do involves sport at the elite level, throughout my career and to this day I have had a specific interest and involvement in the journey from youth sport to senior level. This area is variously described as talent development and long term athlete development, but these are largely academic concepts. One question that is not fully resolved is how we can create a learning environment that provides the challenge and support so that young performers acquire the necessary tools and abilities. But today we tackle a more fundamental question: how can we help to ensure that young performers have the fuel to sustain them through this journey which may span many years?

Weekly Reflections: The Growing Needs of Kids

Weekly Reflections: The Growing Needs of Kids

We are back with our regular instalment from the Prepared Athlete Training & Healthy project. A warm welcome to regular readers and those finding the Prepared Blog for the first time. This past week as usual saw a mix of coaching, discussions on collaborations (including a consultation with Volleyball Canada), and building relationships with sports injury clinics locally. Another significant development with our sister project was the submission for a new book manuscript to literary agents on Friday. Amidst all those developments, the theme I chose to focus on with this post is the growing needs of kids, and why and how we might assist them.