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.
KIDS THESE DAYS…
Over the past week I came across the latest in a series of reports on the steeply declining levels of physical activity among children and adolescents. This latest publication, commissioned by the World Health Organisation (WHO), reported on the present state of things on a global scale, based on nearly 300 surveys across 146 countries. The report also tracked trends over the past two decades, drawing comparisons to data collected in 2001. Based on data from 1.6 million kids aged 11-17 years, somewhere in the range of 76-80% of boys and 83-88% of girls reported insufficient levels of daily physical activity, based on WHO guidelines (60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity daily).
From a personal perspective I am a little bit insulated from these trends. In my professional capacity I don’t tend to come across many kids who are not physically active. Over the past decade I have also lived in parts of the world where kids (and adults) are generally more active, having spent six years in Auckland, New Zealand, and now residing in Vancouver. However, there have been more subtle signs that have become evident.
Alike others in the profession, over the past two decades I have become aware of another trend that has run in parallel with the declining levels of free play and physical activity among children and youth generally. Specifically, the levels of general athleticm and mastery of fundamental movement skills that youth athletes demonstrate has fallen into decline. This is a trend that has been commented on by colleagues who work in national sports organisations across multiple sports and in different parts of the world.
RUN, JUMP, THROW…
Once again, there is an ever-growing body of data from different parts of the world to support these observations. One recent study of 12 and 13-year olds reported that only 1 in 10 demonstrated mastery of all nine fundamental movement skills assessed. These fundamental movement skills were evaluated during tasks such as running, skipping, jumping, landing, throwing, catching, dribbling a ball (with the hands), and kicking a ball, so are very much representative of general athletic skills that are common across sports.
Drawing these strands together, kids who have better fundamental movement skills are more inclined to participate in sport. Participating in sport is inherently more enjoyable (and less a cause of apprehension) when we possess a level of mastery or athleticism.
As an aside, perhaps this is part of what explains the rise of e-sports! A growing number of kids are more adept at playing basketball or football (soccer) with the aid of a handheld controller. For many this has become the easier and oddly more rewarding option than coordinating their body and limbs to play IRL (‘in real life’ - yes it now has an acronym). I caused much consternation in my most recent role with a commercial sport and health organisation when they launched an e-sports venture and I refused to comply with an order to refer to e-sports players coming into the facility as ‘athletes’. It may be that some athletes happen to participate in e-sports, but playing e-sports does not make an athlete. The fact this was a controversial viewpoint demonstrates how far from the path we have strayed…
Participating in actual sport (as opposed to e-sports gaming) throughout childhood and adolescents has a bearing on physical activity levels throughout our lives thereafter. Habitual physical activity is strongly and highly positively associated with physical and mental health. It is now firmly established and widely recognised that exercise is medicine (that is also free of the harmful side effects that come with pharmaceuticals); and this applies to both physical and mental health . The declining levels of physical activity among youth has coincided with greater mental health issues reported among children and adolescents particularly. Participation in sport also provides the in-person (in real life) social interaction that children and adolescents are increasingly lacking, which is a critical part of the equation.
What is also notable and less obvious is that fundamental movement skill mastery also shows a positive association with academic achievement. The finding from a couple of studies is that kids who scored higher on fundamental movement skill assessments also reported better grades at school. Part of the reason is likely to be the positive link between habitual physical activity and cognitive development. In other words, regular activity is not only good for motor skill development, but also supports cognitive development and kids’ ability to focus at school. Employing exercise bouts scheduled around the school day is becoming an important tool for helping kids diagnosed with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), for instance.
A GROWING NEED TO PROVIDE THE TOOLS…
There are a few implications for the declining levels of proficiency in fundamental movement skills we see. In previous generations kids acquired these capabilities (run, jump/land, throw/catch) through free play and exploration - running around, climbing on things, jumping off them, etc. Increasingly it is no longer safe to assume that kids have fully developed what coaches previously considered ‘the basics’. This even applies to high performers in youth sports, particularly in the case of sports that encourage supervised practices (to the exclusion of other sports) from an early age. A dedicated young hockey player may not be able to run, jump, or skip with any degree of proficiency. It is not safe to assume a high performing youth swimmer will demonstrate athlete competencies on land - throw them a ball and see what happens, for instance.
For the majority of kids who are not identified as youth sports stars, developing proficiency and enjoyment of movement is critical to encouraging kids to continue to participate through their teenage years. Most parents and coaches will attest to the fact that there is a steep drop off in participation numbers when kids reach their early teens in various sports. This is particularly the case for girls; many of whom cease to participate in sport entirely (which also mirrors the higher proportion of girls failing to meet daily physical activity levels compared to boys). Once again, we need to combat these troubling trends given the physical and mental health implications.
All of this puts a far greater onus back on coaches to provide kids with the general athletic tools that they might have acquired naturally in previous generations. Sadly, aside from the logistical challenges of catering to these needs during sport practices, very few sports coaches are equipped to provide this input. Sport coaches naturally focus on technical skills and tactical aspects. It was assumed that kids would figure out the rest for themselves. Sadly this is no longer a safe bet.
There are a couple of strategies that parents can employ to help their kids. Beyond physical education at school (which is also sadly declining in many parts), I would recommend that all children participate in track and field athletics (run, jump, throw) and gymnastics to develop fundamental movement proficiency. Another strategy is to encourage kids to participate in multiple sports for as long as that is feasible, to allow them to acquire a broader range of skills and athletic abilities. Once again, the demanding practice schedules in many sports (soccer and hockey being two examples) do however make this very challenging as kids progress in their youth sports journey.
A major reason behind the decision to embark on the Prepared ATH initiative was to provide for this growing need, and cater to what is presently lacking in this space. The Develop stream in particular is dedicated to developing the pillars of athleticism. Young athletes in all sports who work with me can expect that jumping, skipping, landing, dynamic balance/stabilisation, and locomotion movements in all planes and axes will be a regular feature of their sessions, whether we are on the track, on turf, or on the court.
So there it is! The growing needs of kids, why it is important we help them, and how we can provide the necessary tools to fill the gaps!
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