by lnetwork | May 9, 2019 | Blog
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.
by lnetwork | Apr 11, 2019 | Blog
It’s worth noting that the world’s best athletes have
pre-game routines, and it’s been like that for as long as we can remember. But
why is that the case? Do these routines play any significance in these
athletes’ performance?
In this article, we will give you three compelling reasons
which adequately explain why pre-game routines are essential for every athlete
to have.
1.
They Are the Best Preparation Method
First and foremost, pre-game routines are the best
preparation method an athlete can use. Why? Mostly because habits develop your
abilities and skills, they essentially get you ready for the match ahead. An excellent pre-game routine will enable you to
ascertain everything you know you can do essentially.
Routines do this by making sure that everything you have
learned in practice will now be effectively performed in the game. You can
develop these routines during practice and repeat them before a match, and that
should be enough to get you truly ready for the game.
2.
They Build Confidence in Your Abilities
The only thing in a game that you can control is yourself.
You can do nothing about the weather conditions or the knowledge of your
opponents. You can barely even control how your team performs. The only thing
that you can control is your playing
and your ability.
Even when you’re a great player, you’ll still lose faith in
yourself from time to time, which is where routines will come in handy. They
enable a player to build their confidence and get them mentally ready for the
game at hand.
3.
They Calm You Down
We all, as human beings, love routines. We like having some
consistency about a lot of things in our lives. It calms us down because it
reassures us that everything is alright. That all works on a deep psychological
level and in an effort not to get too technical – routines are familiar, we
know how they unfold and what will happen, and this certainty inherently breeds
safety.
The same can be said for sports and pre-game routines. By
repeating particular moves, we’ll naturally feel safer and thus more calm in
that period when most athletes are under stress. The game that’s about to start
won’t be a scary thing anymore once all the frequent moves, i.e., your routine,
have been performed.
Build Your Perfect Routine
There’s no routine out there that can help you achieve what
you want to achieve, but you can certainly build one for yourself.
Every player needs to take a look at what works best for
them and develop that into a sequence of moves that will work as a pre-game
routine.
If you are a coach, you should explain
this to your players and get them to start developing their routines if they
don’t have ones. Explain to them that the habit will end up being more than
merely helpful. They might even lead them to have the best game of their lives.
If you’re interested in more articles like this
one, feel free to take a look at our blog, or contact
us if you want to get more information.
by lnetwork | Mar 29, 2019 | Blog
It often happens in youth sports that the coach chooses to
use the same players many times over. It leaves the parents of the kids not
getting to play puzzled and sometimes angry.
Why is the coach not picking my child? Do they not like my
child? Is my child not good at this sport? There are a lot of questions that
naturally arise in such situations, and all of these are valid concerns. There
can be a lot of reasons why a coach is choosing certain players and not others.
However, the reality is usually straightforward. The coach
chooses specific players because they think those are the best players on the
team and the coach wants their team to win.
Having Favorites – Is It Good?
For many, this is the clear case of a coach having
favorites, and it can get very annoying for both the looked over players and
their parents. In the end, the most important thing for both players and their
parents is for the players to play the game. Winning matters, but playing is more important
to most of those involved.
We at League Network believe that youth sports need
to be more about playing and having fun and not about winning. Yes, winning
does matter, but it can’t always come at the cost of most players having the
chance to shine.
In youth sports, it’s essential for the children, especially
in their pre-teen days, to have enough chances to learn and train – and they
can’t do that unless they get the opportunity to play in matches.
So, mostly, having favorites cannot be a good thing,
especially as it leads to coaches rarely using other players, which leads to
resentment and a desire to stop playing the sport altogether.
What Can You Do?
If you’re a parent of a child not getting enough chances to
play, the first thing that you should do is discuss this with the coach. Most
coaches are reasonable, and they just got carried away with their desire to
win. They will give your child a chance if you explain to them what’s going on.
However, sometimes coaches will not listen to reason, and
they will remain firm in their stance to only choose their favorites as that’s
the best way for them to win the game.
In such cases, the only thing that you can do is to get your
child to practice more and try to become much better.
On the other hand, in some situations coaches have favorites
because of their relationship with the parents – for example, the parents are
their friends, or they are wealthy and support the school, and they demand
their child to play. In such cases, it can even happen that the child is a
terrible player, so such favoritism is bringing no one any good.
In these cases, the only thing that can be done is for a
larger group of parents to confront the coach and try and convince him or her
to turn over a different leaf and stop having favorites.
All in all, a conversation is always the best course of
action when coaches are playing favorites.
by lnetwork | Mar 11, 2019 | Blog
Team moms are an essential part of the team, even though
they’re not playing or coaching. However, many team moms go overboard and
become something like a helicopter parent, which is not something that any
reasonable parent would want to be.
If you want to avoid hovering and acting like a helicopter
parent, there are some things that you need to know. The following tips will
help you become a great team mom without the hovering and other
annoying things.
Know the Game
The problem with many team moms is that they don’t know the
game and that’s somewhat understandable. But there’s no need for you not to
know the basics at least, and maybe the terminology used.
Knowing the game will get you respect from your child and
other team members and it will also help you support your young athlete
properly. However, that doesn’t mean that you should go overboard because
children often feel embarrassed if their parents get too invested in the game
and overreact to everything they’re doing.
Be All in but Let Others Have Responsibilities as Well
There’s no way for you to be a capable team mom if you don’t
commit. You need to go all in and consider your job to be just that – a job.
However, you shouldn’t go too far, or you’ll appear to be a
helicopter parent. To avoid that, you should delegate tasks to others. Find
people to assist you with certain things like getting snacks, game films, etc.
Additionally, this will help you hover around less, and
you’ll also be able to rest a bit and not tire yourself too much.
Be Ready for Injuries and Don’t Freak Out
Injuries happen in sports, and they are a fairly regular
occurrence. If it happens to your child, you needn’t worry too much. Try to do
your best to help them and don’t freak out. If you do, you will appear
hovering, and you won’t be a capable team mom.
Make sure that it’s nothing serious, but do it calmly
because doing it otherwise would be a disservice to everyone, both your child
and you.
Relax and Enjoy Yourself
The underlying problem with the hovering and helicopter
parenting is that the parents who are like that are usually very uptight and
worried. There’s no reason to be like that. Everything would be much better if
you were to relax and start enjoying the fact that you’re a team mom.
You’re there to help and have specific responsibilities, but
you are also there to enjoy yourself. Sport is about fun, and it’s there to connect people as well. The sooner you realize
that; the less this hovering thing will be a problem. It will disappear
entirely.
With this and all the other tips we
gave you, you’ll quickly become the most active team mom which a mom can be,
and your child, as well as all the other children on the team, will love you
for it.
by lnetwork | Feb 26, 2019 | Blog
Catching a baseball or softball looks easy when you’re the
spectator, but there’s a lot more to it, and many players know it. Even young
athletes can bring their catching technique to resemble an art form if they
employ several tricks and techniques that can help.
With that in mind, we wanted to give you a guide of sorts on
the best techniques and tricks for catching a baseball or softball.
Tricks Every Young Player Should Know
- They should always be
confident and comfortable when preparing to catch. It will enable the player to
move more naturally.
- There’s no need for
too much specialization. Many would say that a specific position is vital for a young athlete, but the exact opposite is the truth.
At such early stages, athletes need to strive to be well-rounded and more
complete.
- When teaching the
player, proper positioning is critical. They need to know the details of their
task, how to stand, how to move, etc.
- Repetition makes
perfect. That’s also key in learning to be a great catcher. The young athlete
needs to practice
the move over and over again, and they should never stop practicing, even when
they become great.
- In the end, it’s not
all about the move itself. When a player becomes good, it’s time to turn part
of their focus on the overall strategy of the game. Including them in other
aspects of the game will mean a lot for their confidence.
- Learning from the pros should be part of the training. Children love to see the
professionals play and they always want to imitate them, which proves to be a
big advantage in the end.
The Best Techniques to Adopt
Being a great catcher is all about mechanics and repetition.
A catcher has a single move, and that’s precisely why it’s all about the
mechanics of the movement and learning to do it by repeating it.
Assuming the proper position involves bending the knees
slightly and lunging a bit forward. It gives the player flexibility, improves
speed, and keeps their mind sharp and focused.
The shoulders need to be positioned toward the target as
that will make it easier to react with enough speed. Furthermore, the player
should stand on the balls of their feet not by completely touching the ground.
It will also allow more speed.
Many players don’t watch the ball enough, which proves to be
detrimental. The key is never to keep your eyes off the ball, which is something
that every great catcher would say.
Staying fixated on the ball allows the
player to move if necessary, and maneuver they should if the ball is not going
straight towards them. Their eyes should remain on the ball because that will
allow them to stop when they’re directly in the path of the ball.
If you can manage to explain all of this to your
catchers and get them to follow these tricks and techniques, they are bound to
get much closer to becoming true professionals at a young age. If you want to
get more information or tips, feel free to contact
the League Network.
by lnetwork | Feb 14, 2019 | Blog
Moving is usually the hardest on children. They get used to
the life they have and moving means starting everything over from scratch.
A move is especially tough on young athletes who have become
very connected to their team.
So if you have to move abruptly and your child needs to
transition to another team in the middle of the season, what are the things
that you can do to help them? What can you do to guide them to transition
effectively and efficiently?
Help the Child Learn and Adapt to the New Team
We are assuming that you’ve already talked to your child
about the whole move and that they have learned to accept it and are starting
to get back to regular life.
If all of that is said and done, the first thing that you
should do is reassure your athlete that everything will be fine. Explain to
them that nothing will change, they are still as good of a player as before and
are now playing with different children. They don’t have to worry about being a
mediocre player as they were already great before, and will continue to be so
as long as they remain confident with their abilities.
Help your young athlete understand how everything works in
the new team and what’s expected of them. Learn the protocols and procedures of
the team together to help them get used to everything.
In the end, you can also have a long talk with the coach to
see how everything works and if your child will fit in easily.
If or when something goes wrong and your child is having a
problem in the team – not being accepted by others, or something similar – talk
to them. Understand the problem and work together to overcome it.
Nothing Needs to Change
The thing about a move is that the child will get used to it
if they try to meet new friends and get their life to what it used to be.
Children are very adaptable, and with a little encouragement
and help from your end, they will get back to a life similar to the one they
had before.
Encourage your child to be optimistic, to attempt to make
new friends at school, but most importantly – try and become a real part of the
new team.
Tell them to continue training and play as they did before.
It will show to the team that they have a new player they can rely on. Very
soon after, the entire team will want to befriend your child.
When your child starts feeling like part of that team, it
will do wonders for their self-esteem and all other pieces of their life will
fall into place quickly.
When you look at it
like that and try to help your child in the way we described, they will once
again start having a great life. If you want to get more advice on these and
similar issues, feel free to take a better look at our site.
