Besides training long hours for their sport, a youth
athlete’s body also develops quickly. To get everything needed for proper body
development and to optimize their training, a healthy eating plan must be a
regular component of an athlete’s workout regimen.
Benefits of Nutrition
to Youth Athletes
Snack and meal planning are often pushed to the side because
of hectic schedules (it takes extra time), but it has to be a priority. The
benefits of a proper nutrition plan include:
Muscle healing and
recovery
Strengthening of the
immune system
Injury prevention
Decreased muscle
soreness and tiredness
Increased focus and
attention span
Improved energy levels
Youth Athletes and
Their Nutritional Needs
Children who eat well-balanced, healthy meals will get the
nutrients required to perform at their best in sports. But child athletes have
higher energy requirements. Children and teenagers involved in strenuous
endurance sports or all-day competitions that can involve a few hours of
activity at a time may need to consume more food and fluids due to their
increased demands.
Besides getting enough calories, youth athletes need other
nutrients to be at their peak form, such as:
Protein. Thanks to protein, muscle
tissue is able to build and repair. Protein-rich foods include lean meat, fish,
poultry, soy products, nuts, beans, and dairy products. However, too much
protein can lead to calcium loss and dehydration.
Carbs.Carbohydrates provide energy for the body and are an important source of fuel for every
young athlete. There is no need to eat a lot of carbs before a big game, but
without them, children would be running on an “empty tank.” Carb-rich foods
include brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, whole-grain cereal and bread, and plenty
of vegetables and fruits.
Vitamins and minerals.
For athletes, iron and calcium and the two most important minerals. Iron helps
carry oxygen throughout the body, and iron-rich foods include chicken, lean
meat, salmon, tuna, fortified whole grains, eggs, leafy green vegetables, and
dried fruits. Calcium helps our bones be strong to resist stress fractures and breaking.
Some of the calcium-rich foods are cheese, yogurt, milk as well as leafy green
vegetables.
Fluids. Dehydration
can zap energy, coordination, and strength, so young athletes must drink enough fluids
to prevent it. The feeling of thirst is not a reliable sign of one’s hydration
status. Experts recommend that children should drink water (or other fluids)
every 15-20 minutes during their physical activity.
On Game Day
On game days, it’s essential for young athletes to eat well.
The game-day meal shouldn’t be much different from the one they would have
eaten throughout their training. They can choose to eat healthy foods they
believe will boost their performance and don’t cause stomach upset or other problems.
Three hours before a
game – the meal should have enough carbs and protein, but must be low in fat
and fiber because it can cause digestion problems.
●
If children eat less
than three hours before practice or game, they should consume a snack or lighter
carb-rich meal that includes easy-to-digest foods like bread, crackers, fruit,
and vegetable or fruit juice.
After the practice or
game, kids should eat carbs within 30 minutes after activity and again two
hours later. That’s when your kid’s body is replenishing energy stores and
fluids as well as rebuilding muscle tissue, so it’s crucial that the post-event
meal be a balance of protein, fat, and carbs.
When it comes to young athletes, eating for sports should be
an extension of normal healthy eating for life. Young athletes should eat the
right mix and amount of foods to support their increased level of activity.
However, their nutrition regimen shouldn’t be too different from a regular,
healthy diet.
Every coach aiming to be a great coach needs to learn how to
run the tryouts properly. We know that this is essential knowledge, which is
why we wanted to help you with some advice and tips that will enable you to run
tryouts correctly.
A Good Plan Is a Necessity
No tryouts can be accomplished successfully unless you’ve
prepared a plan for it. The method needs to include the athlete check-in but
also a detailed overview of everything that you want to achieve with your
players. These accomplishments should be comprehensive, meaning they need to
include specific skills, team situations, physical testing, drills, and more.
The plan shouldn’t omit the staff, and it should include
what everyone on the staff will be doing during the tryouts. No one should have
too much to do, and all work needs to be separated according to the abilities
of everyone on the staff.
When the plan is ready, you can conduct a session to see if
it will all work well in practice.
You Need to Have all
the Equipment Prepared
The equipment we are talking about is all the equipment used
by you, the staff, and the players. Make a checklist of everything needed and
go through it once all the things are collected, prepared, and ready.
Never forget to have a tryout evaluation form or at least a
printed list of players to take notes on. The Forms need a clipboard as a
basis, and you need pens and pencils to write on them.
Furthermore, all players should have name tags through which
you can identify them and stay organized.
You should also keep a fully charged phone or an extra
battery as you’ll have to use it for taking pictures and videos when you need
and to keep track of the time.
In the end, never forget your whistle or water and snacks
for both the players and the staff. You don’t want anyone getting dehydrated or
spending energy on an empty stomach.
Don’t Forget Warm-Ups
and Cool Downs
For some reason, warm-ups are often overlooked in tryouts,
which is why you should make sure they are included. Every player needs to
properly warm up their muscles as that will reduce the chance of injury.
Warm-ups are also useful for keeping athletes focused and
for keeping them in the same area. They are also beneficial for you if you need
time to talk to the parents.
As much as stretching matters before
physical activities, they also matter immediately afterward. A cool down is a
bit different from the warm-up as it should be a period where players are doing
some more gentle stretches designed to get their heart rates back to normal.
The Bottom Line
If you can follow everything laid out here, you’ll have no
problems while running tryouts. However, remember that everything needs to be
done on time and according to schedule.
Now all that’s left for you is to contact
us if you happen to have some questions.
Many things factor into how well a sport can be played. The
equipment, the weather conditions, the type of field, are all factors. That’s
why we wanted to discuss the difference between synthetic turf and natural
grass field in youth sports and how each affects the way the youth players play
the game.
The Benefits of Grass
Some would say that the main benefit of grass is that it’s
natural and looks far better than synthetic turf. However, that’s mostly a
matter of opinion. The more measurable benefits are certainly the facts that
grass does not overheat, and it helps in improving the quality of the air the
players breathe.
Unlike all synthetic grass, natural grass cannot overheat
during the summer when there are more games, and the temperatures are much higher.
When water runs through real grass, the moisture remains in it, which helps it
stay cooler, something that is not the case with synthetic turf.
As for better air quality, grass, just like all other
plants, breaks down pollutants from the air and produces oxygen. That’s useful
for all of us anywhere, but it’s especially helpful if the field in question is
in a larger city where pollution is on a much higher level than in other areas.
The Benefits of Turf
The main advantages of synthetic turfs or any type of
artificial fields are the fact that they are easy to maintain and that they
have a much longer life expectancy. It doesn’t matter how much playing happens
on that turf; it is evident that this type of field lasts much longer than
other types of fields, especially natural grass.
The synthetic grass used in turfs is not immune to problems
as it’s not resistant to tears and rips that soccer shoes and other athletic
equipment usually cause. However, these things still happen less often than
with other fields. That’s also one of the main reasons why there’s less
maintenance required in these fields. There is no mowing and watering to be
done, and there’s no care and fertilizing needed as is the case with natural
grass. There is only occasional rinsing and brushing.
Which is Better?
It’s not an easy question to answer all in all. It seems to
depend on what you and the players require from the field and which benefits
you feel are more desirable.
However, it’s also worth mentioning the injuries that can
occur depending on the type of field the youth players are using. We’ve already written about it before, and it
seems that all research points to the fact that artificial or synthetic turf
can cause more injuries to players than natural grass can.
Now, for some, this might be enough of
a reason not to use synthetic turf as the preferred type of fields on which the
youth athletes are playing. However, it’s still evident that if we are going to
care about the well-being of our children, we shouldn’t opt for turf instead of
grass, even though there’s more maintenance involved.
If your child is suffering from stress and anxiety due to
school or something else, you should consider getting them interested in
sports. Even though there are fewer children playing sports now than before,
you should work towards changing that but getting your children to participate
in a youth sport of their choosing, or even more than one.
We say this because sports has scientifically been proven to
help with anxiety and stress in both adults and children. Let’s take a look at
how that works in youth sports and how your child can benefit.
It’s More Than
Another Additional Activity
Physical activity should not be considered as a chore, even
though some children might feel like that. Physical activity and sports, in
general, are more beneficial than they are problematic. Even though your child
might already have a lot to do every day, and by adding another ‘chore’ you
both might feel like it would do harm, the reality is the exact opposite.
Playing sports will bring your child a lot. They will start
leading a healthier lifestyle and will improve their social skills and
cooperation. They will learn and gain a lot that will eventually benefit them
in later life – competitiveness, ambition, and they will build character.
All of this is why your child should play sports even if
that means that they will have a lot more to do every day. It will be stressful
at first as those problems don’t go away overnight, but once they get into it,
these practices and matches will ease their anxiety and stress.
What Do Sports Do for
Our Bodies?
They stimulate the
production of endorphins
Sports and other physical activities are essential when it
comes to our endorphin production as they stimulate its production. Endorphin
is, as you probably already know, responsible for our mood. Essentially, youth
sports can help your child feel better and thus ease stress and other problems.
They promote
socialization
It might seem like something that won’t work on stress and
anxiety, but in reality more socializing can help your child in many ways.
Children need socializing, the need to make bonds with other children, and they
need friendship. The best way to get all of that is by playing team sports.
That socialization will eventually relieve them of stress and anxiety with
which they’ve been struggling before.
They lower depression
levels and promote better sleep
Finally, it’s worth noting that there
are a lot of studies that show that sports can help ease the symptoms of
depression and can also promote improved sleep patterns. Sleep on its own is a
great way to alleviate anxiety and stress, and when sports induce it, it’s even
better.
The Bottom Line Once you consider all of this, it becomes quite evident that youth sports can benefit your child in more ways than you previously thought. It’s thus imperative to get your child to play sports if they are having problems with stress and anxiety. However, make sure you are not pushing them too hard because over-training can bring these problems back.
Football is still America’s game in U.S. high schools, drawing more
than a million athletes each year. But concerns over the lasting effects
of concussions have caused youth participation in the sport to dip in
recent years.
Vicis, a Seattle startup, wants to help preserve the game for younger
athletes with a high-tech helmet that recently ranked first in Virginia
Tech’s inaugural youth football helmet safety ratings.
But many youth programs are finding it difficult to pay the $495
price tag, sparking questions of fairness: should the safest helmet only
be available to those who can afford it?
Five Seattle-area football programs announced
that they would be using the Vicis helmet earlier this month, but
several are from the region’s wealthiest areas, such as Bellevue and
Mercer Island, Wash.
Just down the street from Vicis’ production facility in Seattle, the Ballard Jr. Football program launched a crowdfunding campaign
that aims to raise $50,000 to pay for the helmets, which are designed
to mitigate the forces thought to cause concussions. Neighborhood news
site MyBallard first reported the fundraising effort, which has taken in more than $8,000 so far.
“We’re definitely not in the best position to pay for [the helmets]
or fundraise for them in our community,” said Andrew Muller, the Ballard
program’s league president.
Inequality in youth sports has been documented over the past several years, with some pointing
to the high cost of youth sports as a reason for declining athletic
participation. In Washington State, the governing athletics association
recently approved an amendment intended to help low-income schools be more competitive in sports.
But protecting a teenager’s brain adds another layer to the debate.
Justin Pressley, head football coach at Volunteer High School in
Church Hill, Tennessee, told GeekWire that the high price point is
prohibitive for most teams.
“I actually really love the Vicis helmets. I would love for our kids
to get a chance to wear them,” he said in an email. “If it’s truly the
safest, it has to be affordable for everyone if they care about the
sport of football.”
Pressley estimated that it would cost $30,000 to equip his youth team
with Vicis helmets. For high school teams, the cost would be even
higher, since older students need to buy the $950 Vicis ZERO1 helmet.
Nearly half of parents say they would sway their kids away from playing football due to concerns over concussions, according to a poll last year from NBC and The Wall Street Journal. Participation in high school football has declined 6.5 percent in the past decade as increasing research links the sport to brain disease.
Another crowdfunding effort
in Boca Raton, Fla. aims to purchase Vicis helmets for schools in the
area. The effort was spearheaded by Adam Levine, whose son Miles
suffered a serious concussion last year during a football game. Several
other individual players and teams have turned to websites like GoFundMe
to raise money for the helmets.
Levine said that the players at his local school, who live in a
wealthy area, are still “wearing the helmets that I wore when I was
there.” Levine received more than $50,000 in support to help pay his
son’s medical bills, but has only been able to raise $500 toward the new
helmets.
“[The Vicis helmets are] really expensive,” he said. “No public school is spending that kind of money on helmets.”
The ZERO1 Youth helmet is more than double the price of the
second-rated helmet in the Virginia Tech safety rankings, the Xenith
Youth X2E+. But it’s also less expensive than the third-rated helmet,
the Schutt Youth F7, which sells for $570.
The difference in performance between the top two helmets was stark:
Xenith’s helmet came in 1.4 points behind Vicis’ on a 5-point scale,
which measured the ability to reduce acceleration due to impact.
Vicis has raised $84 million since spinning out of the University of
Washington in 2014. After only two years on the market, 28 NFL teams and
120 NCAA programs now use the company’s helmets.
But the startup’s long-term goal is to offer its products to younger
athletes. Vicis first introduced the youth version of its ZERO1 last
fall and will begin deliveries of the helmet in June. Vicis’ youth
version is nearly half the cost of its ZERO1 adult helmet, which retails
for $950.
Tony Titus, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Vicis,
said the company has invested $20 million into research and development
to create its helmets for youth and adult players.
“The thing we won’t ever sacrifice — and haven’t — is to put the
money and the time in up front to design a really good product,” he
said. “We want to make our product as accessible as possible, but not at
the cost of performance. There’s always a challenge when you innovate
that you don’t want to leave anybody behind.”
Vicis has group discounts for youth football programs that can reduce
the cost of helmets by as much as 20 percent. It also offers financing
programs and has partnered with FundMyTeam, a crowdfunding website for
youth sports teams, to offer fundraising services at a reduced rate.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers participated in a $28.5 million funding round
last year that coincided with the launch of the youth helmet. “We
invested in VICIS because its commitment to player safety — specifically
at the youth level — is one we wanted to support,” Rodgers said in a
statement at the time.
For Muller, the Ballard football coach who is fundraising to purchase
the Vicis helmets, the decision to go with Vicis was “a no-brainer.”
Muller’s players have tested helmets for Vicis in the past and have even
appeared as models in the company’s marketing.
“I love the game of football. I don’t want to see it go away,” he
said. “But I also want to make sure that we’re doing everything possible
to make sure our kids are playing the game as safely as possible.”
Vicis said it has sold thousands of the new youth helmets, but most programs won’t place helmet orders until June or July.
“Over time, as we achieve volume and cost savings, we are going to pass that along to make it more accessible,” said Titus.
