Mental Health

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.

Weekly Reflections: Practising Gratitude

Weekly Reflections: Practising Gratitude

In these strange times we perhaps have a newfound appreciation of the many comforts, amenities, and simple pleasures that we normally have at our disposal. Since many of these things are presently subject to restrictions and various everyday pursuits are temporarily not available to us, we certainly now miss them and eagerly look forward to normal service being resumed. It turns out we have much to be grateful for. This got me thinking on gratitude, what role it plays in our everyday lives, and how this all relates to the journey of the athlete. A broader question is how we might appreciate the good stuff without needing to rely on extreme events to bring it to our attention.

Weekly Reflections: Real Life Meaning

Weekly Reflections: Real Life Meaning

Last weekend a former athlete reached out to me. Seumas was one of the student athletes on the university sports scholarship programme I was responsible for (his sport was rugby union), and I trained Seumas for perhaps three years during my time in Edinburgh before we moved to New Zealand. Aside from seeking to wish me happy birthday, Seumas wanted to thank me for the knowledge and coaching input I gave him as an athlete, but more specifically for helping him through challenging times during an extended injury lay off. Seumas went on to say that the help and guidance during that time had strengthened him mentally, and as a result has had an enduring benefit in all aspects of his life since then. The idea that the coaching I provided to an athlete might have had a lasting impression on them is of course gratifying, but more striking was the assertion that there was a real impact on the life of the athlete. So that is the theme for this week’s post.

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.