Over the past week I attended a public event that featured a debate on the topic of running shoes, with a panel of prominent researchers and advocates in the area of running injury. The nominal theme for the night was the role of running shoes in relation to injury and performance. The event drew a sizeable audience, in a large part because of the ongoing furore over the Nike shoes that have proven instrumental in breaking distance running records, prompting claims of mechanical doping and raising the question of whether the shoes should be banned in competition. Continuing the theme of the debate, the topic for this week is equipment and the question of what tools aspiring athletes should invest in when seeking to improve performance and avoid injury.
The parallels between coaching and parenting are striking and both of these elements naturally come together with youth sports. The concept of free-range kids popularised by author (and parent) Lenore Skenazy thus readily applies to how we coach young athletes (as well as sport parenting). In each case, free play and participating in unsupervised games are essential parts of how children and young athletes develop. Engaging in play is central to how we learn to navigate the world and engage with others. Voluntarily participating in games with others (without intervention from the grown ups) teaches kids how to conduct themselves and develops the capability to interact with peers in a competitive context and a cooperative manner. A less structured environment where the kids themselves decide the playing area and the rules of the game affords the opportunity to apply what they have learned, explore different tactics and engage in trial and error. As such, free play and unsupervised games are particularly rich in opportunities to acquire and adapt sport skills and develop game sense. Given the myriad benefits and the essential role that these opportunities play in developing adept athletes and capable humans, it seems baffling that they are systematically being eliminated with today’s youth. So here we will make the case for applying the free-range perspective to rethink youth sports participation and talent development in a way that fosters engagement and creates self-reliant athletes.