*Flashback Friday*

*This post originally appeared on The PediaBlog on July 15, 2019.

 

Sports — For The Fun Of It

 

 

Youth participation in organized sports is a trend that has been growing in recent decades. A recent clinical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics details the myriad health benefits that can be achieved by children and adolescents who become involved with youth sports programs:

Health benefits from physical activity and organized sports participation may include better overall mental health in young adolescents, higher bone mineral density in adult women who spent more time playing sports at 12 years of age, and a decrease in cardiovascular risk, overweight, and obesity in elementary schoolchildren. Participation in organized sports in adolescence is associated with higher physical activity and better subjective health in young adulthood.

 

Physical and social skills are developed and strengthened when children participate in well-run youth sports programs that emphasize fun and fitness:

Organized sports participation may aid in the development of physical skills, such as hand-eye coordination, functional movement skills and strength, and academic, self-regulatory, and general life skills. It also may have positive social benefits, leading to both improved social identity and social adjustment.

 

There is a lot of evidence showing that children and teenagers with chronic medical conditions, developmental disabilities, and cognitive delays also benefit greatly — physically and emotionally — from regular physical activity, exemplified best by young athletes involved with Special Olympics.

The report lists risks associated with participation in youth sports programs that young people face that can lead to physical injuries, loss of interest, and, ultimately, drop-out from organized athletic activities. Overuse injuries are common — especially in the age of sports specialization — and there may be a formula that indicates who may be at highest risk:

It has been suggested that young athletes participating in more hours of sport each week than their age in years and those spending more than twice as much time in organized sports than in free play are at increased risk of suffering a serious overuse injury.

 

Burnout occurs in up to 9% of young athletes and may result from overscheduling and specialization in any sport or activity:

Burnout can be thought of as a syndrome comprising emotional and physical exhaustion, a reduced sense of accomplishment, and sport devaluation. Common signs and symptoms include chronic joint or muscle pain, fatigue, elevated resting heart rate, decreased sport performance, personality changes, lack of enthusiasm regarding athletics, or difficulty completing usual routines.

 

Early specialization in a sport or activity can cause a child or teenager to lose interest and drop out. Pushy parents and unsupportive coaches only accelerate that movement away from the benefits of participation:

Kids who start concentrated training earlier in life, those who are involved in fewer extracurricular activities, and those with less unstructured play are more likely to drop out of sports […] Having an intense sports focus and its associated time commitment, along with the home schooling or participation in sports academies that often accompanies such training, can foster social isolation from peers and lead to limited social and problem-solving skills. Finally, parent and coach behaviors can adversely affect kids’ organized sports experience, with 30% of young athletes reporting negative actions of parents and coaches as their reason for quitting sport.

 

While the kids play and learn new skills, it is up to parents and coaches to keep sports fun:

For youth, fun is named as the most rewarding part of organized sports participation. In a study on the tenets of what comprises fun for young athletes, researchers found being a good sport, trying hard, and positive coaching to be highest rated. Part of “fun” likely includes equal playing time, especially for younger athletes (12 years and younger) and can be a strategy for coaches to keep developing athletes involved.

 

The AAP has prepared a patient education handout to help parents determine whether or not their child is ready to participate in organized sports. Guidelines include:

>  Get fit and learn a new skill.

>  Focus on fun. “Choose sports programs that focus on personal involvement, variety, success, and fun rather than competition, strict rules, and winning. It may help them stay interested and want to keep playing.”

>  Check out the rules.

>  Make sure safety is a priority.

>  Keep differences in mind. Up until puberty, boys and girls can compete together. During puberty, “to make sure athletes are well matched in contact sports, consideration should be given to body size and physical maturity as well as chronological age.”

>  Proceed with caution. Encourage plenty of time for free play. “Early specialization in a single sport, intensive training, and year-round training should be undertaken with caution because of the risk of overuse injury, mental stress, and burnout.”

>  Wait until your children are ready.  “Children should not play competitive win/lose sports until they understand that their self-worth is not based on the outcome of the game.”

>  Find a good sports program. “A sign of a good program is children having fun.”

 

 

source http://www.thepediablog.com/2022/07/15/flashback-friday-215/